Presentation to

AMTA Access Committee

Bruce Maguire, Policy Officer, Australian Human Rights Commission

November 1 2006

Thank you AMTA for support in attending the first meeting of the TEITAC Committee, held from Sep 27-29 at the National Science Foundation in Arlington Virginia, near Washington. While in Washington I also had a meeting with the Telecommunications Industry Association during which I briefed them on the legislative background and current situation concerning access to telecommunications products and services in Australia by people with disabilities.

1. About the US Access Board:

• 1965-68 Accessibility Becomes a Major Concern

An increasing awareness of the problems many Americans were encountering with barriers to accessibility led Congress to take a careful and extensive look at the problem in 1965. In September of that year Congress created the National Commission on Architectural Barriers to Rehabilitation of the Handicapped. The Commission's charge was to: determine to the extent to which architectural barriers prevented access to public facilities, report on what was being done to eliminate barriers, and propose measures to eliminate and prevent barriers. The Commission's report, issued in June 1968, laid the groundwork for succeeding legislation.

• 1968 The Architectural Barriers Act Becomes Law

Congress began implementing the Commission's recommendations by enacting the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) on August 12, 1968. In passing this law, Congress aimed to make Federal facilities fully accessible to people with disabilities. Congress also expected the Federal government's activity in eliminating barriers to set an example for state and local governments and private industry.

• 1973 The Access Board is Created

Several years after the ABA had become law, Congress observed that compliance had been uneven and that no initiatives to create Federal design standards for accessibility were underway. Clearly, one central agency needed to take charge of enforcing the ABA and ensuring development of design standards. The concept of such an agency began to take shape as Congress considered the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 502 of this law created the Access Board, originally named the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. The Board was charged with ensuring Federal agency compliance with the ABA and proposing solutions to the environmental barriers problems addressed in the ABA.

• 1974 The Board Holds its First Meeting

Through amendments to the Rehabilitation Act in 1974, Congress strengthened the Board's compliance authority and made it be "final and binding on the Department, agency, or instrumentality ... and may include the withholding of Federal funds ...." In addition, the Department of Defense became a Board member and the Secretary of HEW was designated as Board chairman. The Board was directed to appoint a Consumer Advisory Panel, the majority of whom were to be persons with disabilities, and to hire an executive director and other staff.

• 1975-77 The Work of the Access Board Begins
• 1978 Major Changes to the Board

The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1978 added to the Board’s mandate and changed its structure and composition. The new law authorized the Board to establish minimum accessibility guidelines under the ABA and to ensure compliance with the requirements. The Board's technical assistance role was expanded to include providing help on the removal of barriers including for the first time, communication barriers in federally-funded buildings and facilities.  In addition, the Board was directed to provide technical assistance to private entities to the extent practicable.

• 1982 Board publishes Minimum Guidelines for Accessible Design
• 1990 The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Expands the Board’s Mission

During the 1980's, the Board continued its work in enforcing and providing technical assistance on the ABA as it applied to Federal buildings and facilities. Increasingly, however, the Board was asked to take part in research and testimony before Congress on a range of accessible design issues which would come together as part of the civil rights legislation known as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

On July 26, 1990, President George Bush signed the ADA into law. "In this extraordinary year," said President Bush at a White House ceremony, "we have seen our own Declaration of Independence inspire the march of freedom .... It is altogether fitting that the American people have once again given clear expression to our most basic ideals of freedom and equality.  The Americans with Disabilities Act represents the full flowering of our own democratic principles."

The ADA expanded the Board's mandate to include: developing the accessibility guidelines for facilities and transit vehicles covered by the law; providing technical assistance and training on these guidelines; and conducting research to support and maintain the guidelines.

• 1991 Board Publishes the ADA Accessibility Guidelines

The Board began immediately to develop accessibility guidelines under the ADA and published its final guidelines on the first anniversary of the ADA’s signing, July 26, 1991. On the same day, the Department of Justice adopted ADAAG as the standard for the construction and alteration of places of public accommodation and commercial facilities.

• 1992 (to present) Board Training and Rulemaking Under the ADA

After ADAAG was published, the Board instituted a technical assistance and training program on the design requirements of the ADA that continues to this day.

Through the 1990s, the Board continued to supplement and update ADAAG to address areas where further guidance is necessary and to keep the guidelines up to date. It became standard practice for the Board to establish advisory or regulatory negotiation committees to help develop or update its accessibility guidelines and standards. These committees allow interested groups, including those representing designers, industry, and people with disabilities, to play a substantive role in the Board’s development of guidelines which are then proposed for public comment.

• 1996 The Telecommunications Act Adds to the Board’s Mission

The Telecommunications Act of 1996, a comprehensive law overhauling regulation of the telecommunications industry, recognizes the importance of access to telecommunications for people with disabilities in the Information Age. Section 255 requires telecommunications products and services to be accessible to people with disabilities where "readily achievable." Manufacturers must ensure that products are "designed, developed, and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities." Under the law, the Board is responsible for developing guidelines that spell out what makes telecommunications products accessible.

The Board’s guidelines, published in February 1998, were developed with help from an advisory committee the Board created for this purpose. The Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee included product manufacturers, service providers, disability groups, and experts in communication access. This committee developed recommendations upon which the final guidelines are closely based. The guidelines were published in proposed form and made available for public comment in April 1997. Structured as performance requirements, the guidelines detail the operating characteristics and product capabilities necessary for access. This approach was taken because the products covered are varied and ever changing through technological innovations. The guidelines address products and equipment, including input, output, operating controls and mechanisms, and product information and documentation. Access is covered for people with disabilities affecting hearing, vision, movement, manipulation, speech, and interpretation of information. The Board developed these guidelines for use by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is responsible for rules and policies to enforce the law.

• 1998 Board Mission Broadened to Cover Electronic and Information Technology

On August 7, 1998, President Clinton signed into law the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 which covers access to federally funded programs and services. The law strengthens section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and requires access to electronic and information technology provided by the Federal government. The Board is responsible for developing accessibility standards for such technology for incorporation into regulations that govern Federal procurement practices. The net result will be that Federal agencies will have to purchase electronic and information technology that is accessible except where it would cause an "undue burden." The law also provides a complaint process under which complaints concerning access to technology will be investigated by the responsible Federal agency.

The law requires that the Board, in developing the standards, consult with a number of Federal agencies, representatives of the information and technology industry, and organizations representing people with disabilities. This the Board achieved through the creation of the Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee. This committee completed its work and submitted a report to the Board on May 1999. The Board used this report as the basis for final standards it published in December 2000.

2. Establishment of TEITAC Committee.

The Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC) was established on April 27 2006. The Committee shall advise the Access Board on issues related to revising and updating accessibility guidelines for telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment and accessibility standards for electronic and information technology. The Committee shall act solely in an advisory capacity to the Access Board and shall neither exercise any program management responsibility nor make decisions directly affecting the matters on which it provides advice.

3. DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS: Consistent with the scope and objectives described in paragraph 4 of this charter, the Committee is authorized to make recommendations to the Access Board on:

(a) types of products to be covered;

(b) barriers to the use of such products by persons with disabilities;

(c) solutions to such barriers, if known, and research on such barriers;

(d) harmonization with international standards efforts in this area; and

(e) contents of the revised and updated guidelines and standards.

4. MEMBERSHIP: The membership will be balanced in terms of points of view represented, including Federal agencies; the telecommunications and electronic and information technology industry, including manufacturers; organizations representing the access needs of individuals with disabilities; representatives from other countries and international standards setting organizations; and other organizations affected by the accessibility guidelines and standards. Representatives of each of these interests shall be selected by the Chairperson of the Access Board and appointed as Committee members for the duration of the Committee’s existence.

There are 41 members, including 4 international (Australia, Canada, EU and Japan.

5. First meeting sept 27-29 2006 in Washington. Emphasised throughout that there is a keen desire to harmonise standards globally, so input from Australia is especially valued.

Much of first meeting taken up with process issues such as the approval of the Committee's operating protocols and procedures for nomination of additional members (AOL was voted onto the committee). 8 subcommittees established:

• Subpart A (Purpose, Application, General Exceptions, Definitions, Equivalent Facilitation)
• Audio/Video
• Desktops, portables, peripherals, and other computer hardware
• Documentation and technical support (§508 Subpart D)
• Self contained, closed products
• Software, Web and Content;
• Telecommunications

6. Most of the technical work will be done at the subcommittee level through teleconferences and email. The subcommittees will report back to the full committee at each of the committee’s meetings. 6 meetings of the full committee are scheduled, culminating in July 2007. The next meeting will be on November 8-9. Hoping to participate via teleconference. Commission is currently assessing the extent to which we will make resourcing commitments, having regard particularly to the benefits to Australia of the TEITAC Committee’s work and also noting that participation in teleconferences is challenging as they occur during the night owing to the time difference.

7. Issues with lack of access to mobile phones, especially by people who are blind or vision-impaired. These were raised at the national telecommunications accessibility forum organised by the Commission in November 2003, and again in the Telecommunications Accessibility Update that I prepared in June 2005. To date, I am not aware of any real progress that has been made on these issues, and the result is that Australia is lagging further and further behind other countries such as the US and UK. Now that screenreading software is available for mobile phones based on the Symbian 60/70 operating system, and also the Smartphones based on Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone Edition, we would strongly encourage AMTA to develop innovative solutions. People who are blind or vision-impaired by and large don’t have even fairly basic access to mobile phones (such as being able to send SMS messages and easily change the phone’s setings). We do feel that it’s likely that DDA complaints will result if the situation doesn’t improve soon.