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ADA - Title IV Telecom Relay Service Complaint Procedure
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| "I'm deaf, and I want to be able to use telephone services. Don't I have a right to access?" Telephones are important parts of everyday life. Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires telephone companies to provide services that facilitate telephone communications between people who have hearing or speech disabilities and people who may or may not. |
Summary of this part of the ADA: Title IV requires common carriers (telephone companies) to provide interstate and intrastate telecommunications relay services (TRS) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at no extra cost to callers. TRS enables callers with hearing or speech disabilities to communicate by phone with other individuals through a third party operator called a communications assistant. There are various types of relay services: text-to-speech services, which enable individuals who use TTYs, also known as telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs), to communicate with other people; speech-to-speech services, which enable people with speech disabilities to communicate by telephone through communication assistants that are specially trained to interpret difficult-to-understand speech; and video relay services, by which users of American Sign Language use video equipment to communicate with hearing people through remote sign language interpreters. Text-to-speech and speech-to-speech services are mandated. Video relay is not, but it is reimbursable. The FCC has set minimum standards to ensure high quality and confidential TRS services. Title IV also requires closed captioning of Federally funded public service announcements (PSAs).
When to use this procedure: You are a consumer, and you believe that a relay service has violated one of the FCC's minimum standards for relay operation. There are two parties (at least) to every relayed call. Either party - whether disabled or not - can file a complaint.
| Note: In addition to Title IV of the ADA, a separate law called the Telecommunications Accessibility Enhancement Act (TAEA) requires the Federal government to provide relay services for calls to, from, and within the Federal government. The General Services Administration (GSA) is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operation of the Federal relay. The TAEA also requires the GSA to maintain a Federal directory of TTY numbers and to publish TTY numbers in other phone directories developed by Federal agencies. Complaints about the Federal relay service should be directed to GSA. There is no specific complaint procedure, but individuals may bring complaints about the Federal relay system to the attention of GSA. For more information about the Federal relay system, see www.fts.gsa.gov/frs. |
Products and services that are covered by ADA - Title IV:
- Interstate and intrastate telecommunications relay services
- Closed captioning of federally funded public service announcements
Other "fine print":
- Under Title IV, all telephone companies must provide free relay services either directly or through state programs throughout the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all of the U.S. territories. Relay users only pay what they would have paid were their relay calls made directly to their recipients.
- Video relay services are not yet mandated, but providers who do offer these services must also meet the minimum standards established by the FCC for all relay providers.
- Although the ADA does not specifically include enforcement or complaint provisions for closed captioning of PSAs, complaints about the failure of an agency to caption these announcements should be made to the agency that has failed to comply with this mandate.
How to proceed with the complaint process:
| Contact your state's TRS provider and try to resolve the problem | Relay Service Providers | ||||||||
| Document your interactions with the TRS |
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| If you cannot resolve the problem by working directly with the TRS provider... | |||||||||
| Document the complaint |
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| Send the complaint to your state's point of contact |
Forward documentation of your case - including your interactions with the TRS provider - to your state's
point of contact: TRS Points of Contact for Complaints Note: The state has 180 days to resolve your complaint. If your complaint is against a provider that offers interstate services only, go to the next step, which explains how to send an informal complaint to the FCC. |
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| If the state fails to act on your complaint within 180 days, you are dissatisfied with the state's resolution, or your complaint is against a provider that offers interstate services only (including all video relay services)... | |||||||||
| Send an informal complaint to the FCC |
Forward documentation of your case - including your interactions with the TRS provider and the state - to the FCC using one of the following methods:
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| If you are dissatisfied with the provider's response to the informal complaint or the FCC's decision to terminate the complaint... | |||||||||
| File a formal complaint with the FCC | The information required for the informal and formal complaint processes are the same. The formal complaint, however, must be in writing and mailed to the FCC. In addition, you may need to obtain legal counsel when bringing a formal complaint. | ||||||||
| The FCC will forward the complaint to the TRS provider named in the complaint. The TRS provider must satisfy or answer the complaint within the time specified by the FCC. | |||||||||
If you are interested in learning more about the ADA and TRS, check out these resources:
- The Department of Justice's Guide to Disability Rights Laws
- The Department of Justice's Questions and Answers on the ADA
- FCC's Information Links on TRS
- FCC's Dial 7-1-1 for Telecommunications Relay Service
- FCC's Regulations for the Provision of Telecommunications Relay Services, including Section (6) Complaints
- The Federal Citizen Information Center's Consumer Action Website page on Disabilities
- Gallaudet University's Technology Access Program
Go back to Table of Contents Go back to Complaint Procedures Go forward to Hearing Aid Compatibility Act Complaint Procedure
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Telephone: 1-800-726-9119 (Voice/TTY) · Fax: 404-894-9320 · Email: ittatc@ittatc.org
Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center
Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access
Georgia Institute of Technology
490 10th Street NW · Atlanta, GA 30318
Telephone: 1-800-726-9119 (Voice/TTY) · Fax: 404-894-9320 · Email: ittatc@ittatc.org