GSC11_USERWORKSHOP_03

1
SOURCE Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions
TITLE User Accessibility Requirements
AGENDA ITEM GSC11 User Workshop 6
CONTACT Timothy Jeffries, (tjeffries_at_atis.org)
GSC11_USERWORKSHOP_03
Meeting the Users Requirements
Addressing Accessibility through Participation
and Consensus in the Industrys Standards Process
and Compliance Efforts Timothy Jeffries, V.P.
Technology Development Alliance for
Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS)
2
Drivers for Including Accessibility

• Manufacturers and service providers are motivated
  to address consumer priorities in the standards
  development process to ensure product and service
  acceptance.
• The inclusion of these priorities for the
  accessibility of telecommunications products and
  services by those consumers with disabilities is
  a growing market driver both nationally and
  internationally.
• Social Responsibility
• On a national level, social factors such as the
  aging of America, and a late-disabled population
  resulting from military service also creates
  potential growth in the need for accessible
  products and services.
• Market
• There are an estimated 600 million individuals
  worldwide with disabilities whose use of
  telecommunications may be compromised by them,
  including those with impairments of vision,
  hearing, dexterity, and cognition.
• Mandate
• In the United States, the telecommunications
  industry has the responsibility to ensure
  disability accessibility through compliance with
  federal legislative and regulatory law including
• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act,
• Sections 255 and 251 of the Telecommunications
  Act,
• Telecommunications Accessibility Enhancement Act
  of 1988,
• Telecommunications for the Disabled Act of 1982,
• E9-1-1 (CC Docket 94-102),
• Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) Act (CC Docket
  01-309) and the
• Americans with Disability Act (ADA).

3
Effective Solutions Add Value

• ATIS specific accessibility activities
• AISP.4-HAC Hearing Aid Compatibility Incubator
• Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Accessibility
  Forum
• TTY Forum (Text Telephony)
• Additional response and solutions around
  accessibility are being addressed within the
• Emergency Services Interconnection Forum (ESIF),
• Industry Numbering Committee (INC),
• IPTV Interoperability Forum (IIF), and
• ATIS NGN Requirements, Roadmap, and Gap Analysis.
  
• Within ATIS, issues are addressed and solutions
  are found by
• Clearly identifying stakeholders and their roles
• Finding consensus through open discussion and
  debate
• Identifying and carrying out activities, work
  plans or timelines in support of an acceptable
  solution for all involved stakeholders

4
Participation Results in Progress

• AISP.4-HAC Hearing Aid Compatibility Incubator
• The ATIS HAC Incubator was established to
  investigate performance between hearing aids and
  wireless devices and to determine methods of
  enhancing interoperability and usability for
  consumers with hearing aids in response to FCC
  requirements for interoperability in its revision
  to the HAC Act to include previously exempt
  devices and services.
• Stakeholders include wireless device
  manufacturers, wireless service providers,
  hearing aid manufacturers, government entities,
  consumer advocates for those with hearing loss,
  trade associations, and testing laboratories.
• Specific technical, educational and outreach,
  and regulatory activities take place in open and
  objective working groups comprised of experts in
  a particular aspect of achieving compliance with
  the FCCs requirements, resulting in progress.

5
Participation Results in Progress

• Technical Progress
• Collaborative efforts include
• Extensive review and validation of the testing
  methodology found in the C63.19 Standard to
  ensure accurate and repeatable results for the
  testing and classification of wireless devices
  for RF interference and magnetic coupling
  ability.
• Engaging in laboratory and field testing of
  wireless devices and their interaction with
  hearing aids
• Review and analysis of data known on hearing aid
  immunity and performance upon which the Standard
  was based, and new data upon which revisions to
  the Standard should be made.
• Investigation of the interaction between digital
  hearing aids and wireless devices operating in
  the low bands and at higher power than those that
  were operating in the United States at the time
  the C63.19 Standard was originally written and
  proposing frequency banding for RF interference
  based on the results.
• Proposing a repeatable and mathematical based
  method for determining Articulation Weighting
  Factor (AWF) for current and future air interface
  technologies.
• Active Participation in the standards development
  process by submitting recommendations to Standard
  revisions.

6
Participation Results in Progress

• Educational and Outreach Progress
• Collaborative activities include
• Development and distribution of materials to
  ensure consistent and clear information is
  available to consumers with hearing loss looking
  to purchase wireless devices and services
  compatible with their hearing aids for
• consumers,
• hearing healthcare professionals (audiologists,
  hearing aid dispensers, physicians) and
• wireless industry.
• Development of clear understandable language
  about HAC for use in wireless device manuals or
  packaging inserts.
• Development of consumer recognizable methods for
  labeling wireless device packaging for compliant
  devices.
• Providing expert-developed information to
  academic and industry news, magazine, and press
  outlets.

7
Participation Results in Progress

• Regulatory Progress
• The value of the collaborative nature of the work
  of the HAC Incubator has been recognized by the
  FCC in its decision making process in
• accepting the HAC Incubator as the venue to
  prepare and submit a collective status report
  from the wireless industry to the FCC per the RO
  reporting requirements,
• revising requirements for manufacturers and
  service providers under the HAC Act,
• June 2005 Order on Reconsideration
• September 2005 Memorandum Opinion and Order
• Adopting new standard revisions and laboratory
  certification procedures.

8
Involving Relevant Stakeholders

• TTY Forum (Text Telephony)
• Develops solutions in response to the requirement
  for a technically feasible solution for the use
  of TTYs through digital wireless devices and
  services.
• Stakeholders include wireless device
  manufacturers, wireless service providers,
  emergency and relay service providers, TTY
  manufacturers, and consumer advocates for the
  users of TTY devices.
• Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) Forum
• Investigates and documents potential
  accessibility and usability solutions for
  voice-mail and other interactive voice response
  systems and services such as features that could
  make IVRs easier to use by people with
  disabilities, including interoperability with
  assistive devices and text communication
  features.
• Involves consumer advocates for the disabled,
  government entities, telecommunications equipment
  manufacturers, assistive technology
  manufacturers, and telecommunications service
  providers.

9
Allows Ongoing Address of Issues

• Emergency Services Interconnection Forum (ESIF)
• ATIS ESIF is the telecommunication industrys
  venue for the development of standards for the
  technical and operational interconnection of
  emergency services (E9-1-1) to ensure that
  services are available to everyone in all
  situations.
• Interoperability at the Public Service Answering
  Point (PSAP)
• Resolution of technical and/or operational issues
  related to the interconnection of wireline,
  wireless, cable, satellites, Internet and
  emergency services networks.
• The accessibility of E9-1-1 services to those
  with disabilities now and in the future is
  addressed in an ongoing manner among the telecom
  industry, public safety and government entities,
  and other stakeholders.
• Work is underway through the Next Generation
  Emergency Services (NGES) Subcommittee to ensure
  continued interoperability and accessibility to
  emergency services impacted by NGN.

10
Allows Ongoing Address of Issues

• Industry Numbering Committee (INC)
• ATIS INC is an open forum to address and resolve
  industry-wide issues associated with the
  planning, administration, allocation, assignment
  and use of North American Numbering Plan (NANP)
  numbering resources and related dialing
  considerations for public telecommunications
  within the NANP area.
• Accessibility related issues addressed include
  numbering provision and allocation due to
  regulatory requirements for
• Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS),
  including
• Video relay
• IP based captioning services.
• IPTV Interoperability Forum (IIF)
• ATIS IIF develops standards and related technical
  activities that enable the interoperability,
  interconnection and implementation of IPTV
  systems and services, including video on demand
  and interactive TV services.
• The IIF architecture requirements developed
  include provisions for the function of closed
  captioning to meet accessibility requirements and
  user expectations.

11
Preparation for the Next Generation

• Accessibility will effect the development of NGN
  and Next Generation services.
• Unified User Profile
• As noted in the ATIS NGN Framework Part III
  Standards Gap Analysis, the development of a
  consistent, unified user profile that encompasses
  communication services and web services provided
  by a range of service providers.
• A unified user profile may allow users to engage
  and use a variety of equipment and services in a
  variety of locations without having to transfer
  settings, preferences and other potential
  detriments to use.

12
Creating Future Opportunities

• By creating a venue in which consensus is
  possible and solutions are developed
• Industry and non-Industry stakeholders are more
  likely to enter into dialogue before government
  involvement or mandate for future issues.
• Common understanding of user and industry
  requirements is built among stakeholders.
• Appreciation and understanding of the standards
  process is developed and standards are seen as a
  positive viable solution.
• Awareness of accessibility and impacts to it are
  realized and through proactive standards work can
  be solved to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.