 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Features:
Related Sites:
The ITTATC is not responsible for the content of external web sites.
funded by:
(grant #H133A000405)
| 
|
*** ITTATC has reached the end of its 5-year grant, so (as of 5/15/06) this website is no longer being updated. Please be advised that the information on this site may be out of date. ***
ITTATC Audio Conference Series
Speaking Out About Inaccessible Information and Telecommunication Technology
July 17, 2004
1:00 - 3:00 PM ET
Featured speakers:
Michael Morris-Moderator
Associate Director
Law, Health Policy & Disability Center
University of Iowa College of Law
Washington, D.C.
202-521-2930
mmorris@ncbdc.org
Deborah Bursa
Director of Technical Assistance
The Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center
Georgia Institute of Technology-CATEA
1-866-948-8282 (v/TTY)
Deborah.Bursa@ITTATC.org
Karen Peltz Strauss
KPS Consulting
(and formerly Deputy Chief of the Consumer Information Bureau at the FCC)
202-363-5599
kpsconsulting@starpower.net
Tim Creagan
Director of Consumer Training
The Information Technology and Technical Assistance and Training Center
Georgia Institute of Technology-CATEA
703-528-0883 , ext. 32
703-399-0113 (TTY)
Tim.Creagan@ITTATC.org
Operator: Good day, Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to your Speak Out conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a brief question and answer session and instructions will follow at that time. If anyone should require assistance during today's program, please press star then zero on your touch-tone telephone. I would now like to introduce your moderator for today's conference call. Mr. Michael Morris, you may proceed, sir.
Thank you. Welcome, everyone. This is the voice of Michael Morris. And I am here in Washington DC with Karen Peltz Strauss and Tim Creagan. Also, joining us from Atlanta, Georgia, we will be hearing from Deborah Bursa, who is the Director of Technical Assistance for our primary sponsor, the ITTATC project, the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
We appreciate everyone joining us from across the country. We have host sites, literally from one end of the country to another, from the West Coast to the northeast up in Maine, down to Florida and across the south and Midwest. This really is an unprecedented event to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. We have come together for what is a combination of an educational experience, but also that the education and knowledge gained from our expert presenters will lead to action. And in doing that, we are going to focus today on accessible information technology, as well as telecommunication access in the marketplace and in the workplace. Our goal today is to follow some expert presentations with a question and answer session, and then have an opportunity with the host sites across the country, with your facilitator leads, in each of those sites, to work together on personal experiences and stories that may lead to action; action in terms of interaction with a number of federal agencies that are charged with the responsibility of protecting our rights and protecting access, in terms of information and telecommunication technology.
Let me turn to our first speaker today. The first speaker, as I mentioned is Deborah Bursa, joining us from the ITTATC program in Atlanta. Deborah, as the Director of Technical Assistance, is managing a project team of experts in support of ITTATC's mission, which is to help businesses, state governments and people with disabilities in understanding the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 255 of the Communications Act.
ITTATC works to promote the principles and benefits of universal design in the development of electronics and information technology. And before moving to her current position, Deborah spent most of her career in the business world as a business analyst, a strategic planner, a technical writer and a project manager in the information technology industry, including 12 years at IBM, and two years at a software development company. Ms. Bursa earned her BS degree in industrial engineering from Auburn University, and has an MS degree in management from Georgia Tech.
Deborah, let me turn it over to you to begin our expert presentations.
Deborah Bursa: Okay, thank you, Michael. And I want to welcome everyone to the audio conference this afternoon. What we are going to start with is some presentation materials that we have made available to the host sites, and then also to individual participants through our website. We are going to work our way through the material before we get into the question and answer period.
Now, since this is an audio conference, and I will be splitting this portion of the session with Karen Peltz Strauss, as we make our way through the materials, we will let you know where we are. Because, obviously, since this is an audio conference and we are going to be referring to PowerPoint materials, that we also provided in HTML, we will let you know where we are, so that if you want to take notes or just look at the materials while we are speaking, we will do what we can to keep everybody in sync.
Since Michael's already told you a little bit about ITTATC, I am going to, in terms of the presentation materials, I am going to skip ahead to what is the third page and that is where we have a list of our co-sponsors. I want to say thanks to all of our co-sponsors. In addition to ITTATC, we have had help from the Law, Health Policy & Disability Center at the University of Iowa, the Evert Conner Center for Independent Living, the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, Telecommunications for the Deaf, the National Association of the Deaf, Self-Help for Hard-of-Hearing People, and the American Foundation for the Blind. We have a great group of co-sponsors and we do want to thank them for helping us to make this event happen.
All right, moving to the next slide, which will be slide number 4, it starts out your "Speak Out resource includes." Everyone who is at a host site should have either a printed or a CD version of the Speak Out resource. And the people who are participating as individuals, if you registered pretty close to the event, you may not have yours yet, but it is on its way.
So I want to start out by explaining what the Speak Out is. We developed it earlier this year, and I think it is somewhat unique in three ways. Basically what we have done is we brought all these laws together in one place. There are actually 13 federal laws or sections of laws all brought together in this one resource. And across the laws, we have used a consistent format. For each of these laws, what you will see is some information about who the law applies to, what products and services are covered, what some of the important fine print is that you need to be aware of, what is the specific complaint procedure that you would use, and where do you go if you really want to dig into the details about the law. So it makes it easier to compare and contrast the features of the laws across all the different laws that are in the books.
And the third thing that we have done is we have provided a decision logic or a framework to help you figure out which of these laws apply to your situation. I mean, there are 13 laws in the book, and it can be kind of daunting to figure out, say, for my situation, which one really applies? So we have provided that decision logic to help you figure that out.
We are very interested in your feedback. As I said, it was developed earlier this year and it really needs to be used by consumers. So we would really appreciate, as you are using it, if you find something that needs to be reworked to make it easier to use, or if there are certain things that you particularly like, let us know that. For instance, we had heard from someone in the deaf community that they did not think that the templates were all that deaf friendly. So that is the kind of stuff that we want to hear. Obviously we cannot print the book frequently, but we do have this resource available on our website. It is fairly easy for us to update the web information as we get feedback from our users.
So what is in the book itself? We have a section on the basics of speaking out, which provides some basic tips and techniques that would really apply to any situation when you are going to complain about inaccessible technology.
We provide an overview of your legal rights, and those are the 13 federal laws or sections of laws that I referred to earlier. I will make note that we do not cover the IDEA Law, which is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, because that is really outside of ITTATC's mission. We do not focus on education, but we do cover Section 504 and Title II of the ADA. So if there are any people in the education area that are participating, those two might apply to your area.
We provide the decision logic. There is a section on how to decide which complaint procedure applies to you. And if you find that you really do need legal assistance, we have a chapter at the end that lists some organizations that can provide you with legal information and help. Some of them are free, some of them have a fee, but they are listed there in the back.
We also have some templates for letters of complaint. They are kind of fill-in-the-blank templates, with a little bit of guidance on what you should do to fill in the blanks. And there are three situations that are covered. If there is inaccessible technology that is provided by a business, there is a template for that. We have a second template for technology that supports employment-related activities, and a third for technology that is provided by a governmental agency or department. So we have tried to cover all situations that you might encounter as an individual, if/when you need to complain about inaccessible technology.
And then the bulk of the book is the actual step-by-step instructions that apply to the 13 different laws, the complaint procedures for those 13 different laws.
So if we move on to the next slide, it says "The following complaint procedures," so these are the ones that are actually covered in the book. We have the Rehabilitation Act, and there are three sections that are covered. Section 501, which applies to federal employment, Section 504, which applies to federally funded programs, and then Section 508, which is federal EIT, which is an abbreviation for Electronic and Information Technology.
We also cover the Telecommunications Act, and I have "tele" in parentheses. There is some misunderstanding, I think, in the field, that Section 255 and Section 713 are actually part of the Telecommunications Act, but the Telecommunications Act, which was passed in 1996, added these to the Communications Act of 1934. So technically Sections 255 and 713 are part of the Communications Act. I put that in there, because you may hear both, Telecommunications Act and Communications Act. And just so you are aware of that and will understand where that might be coming from. But we do have Section 255, which covers telecommunication products and services, and then Section 713, which talks about the captioning of TV programs.
Moving on to the next slide, we cover four of the titles in the ADA. We have Title I, which applies to employment, and that is really private employers and state and local government employment.
We have Title II, and there are really two sections of Title II. There is the portion that applies to state and local government programs, services and activities as well as another that applies to public transportation.
Title III applies to public accommodations, which would be like restaurants, stores and hotels. And then Title IV, which covers TRS or Telecommunication Relay Services.
And then, the last laws that are covered are the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act, having to do with phones. The Television Decoder Circuitry Act, having to do with captioning. And then the Televised Emergency Programming Rules, having to do with news bulletins and news programs, that kind of thing.
The next slide lays out today's agenda. What are we going to really dig into? We are going to cover the basics of speaking out, so that will be the tips and techniques. Karen, I will turn it over to Karen, and she will go over an overview of your legal rights, so that would be the 13 laws. Then she is going to hand it back to me, and I will go through the decision logic that we provide to help you decide which complaint procedure applies to you. And then, this is something that is not in the Speak Out book itself, we have developed four scenarios that describe situations involving inaccessible technology. We describe the scenario, and then walk through the decision logic of deciding which laws apply, and then there are some sample letters of complaint. So we will go through those. And that will be the end of the presentation portion of the meeting. And then we will get into the Q&A and then the letter writing sessions.
Now, moving on to the next slide, the scenarios that we go over, in terms of the sample letters of complaint… We have an inaccessible federal website. There is a cordless phone that interferes with someone's hearing aid. We have an inaccessible copier at a county library and an inaccessible telephone banking system. We probably will not go into detail for all of the scenarios, but I do want to, I will go into detail probably in the first one and then touch on the other three. But the materials are available for you to review after the teleconference.
All right, the next slide has to do with our disclaimer. ITTATC does not provide legal advice; we want to make sure that that is clear. Basically it is not in our mission. I am surrounded by a bunch of attorneys here on the panel, and I am the only non-lawyer, so I cannot tell any lawyer jokes while I am participating in this because I would end up getting beat up. So we have a lot of legal brainpower here today, but, really, we are serving as educators. And what we want to do is convey this information to you and provide you with some guidance. If you need legal advice about your specific situation, you should go to that chapter that we had at the end of the book, and look for a resource that might help you, in terms of getting specific legal advice for your situation. So, enough of the disclaimer, and we will move on to the basics of speaking out.
Now we are on the slide that begins with, "before you speak out." The main thing you want to do, really to start with, is you want to understand the accessibility problem. And in this case, you want to identify the features and functions that are inaccessible, and then articulate those concerns. Idenitfy what makes it inaccessible, in a clear and concise manner, because that is the main message that you need to convey to the person that can make the difference.
As you are defining the problem, also think about the solutions. You know, what would make this product or service more accessible to you? And then actually suggest improvements, if you can think of any.
Third, you want to gather your documentation. If you bought a product that is inaccessible, try to find the receipts, the warranty, try to figure out what the model number is. And then once you start complaining, keep copies of your letters or e-mails. And if you have phone conversations, either during the conversation or right after, record the gist of that conversation and include the dates of the conversation and who you spoke with, because that is the kind of stuff that might come in handy as you move through the process, if you need to escalate it through a channel.
Fourth, you want to figure out who should actually receive your complaints. And the short answer is that you want to complain to the person who is most directly involved in providing the product or service. Now, if you are working with a business that might be the person who sold you the product or service. If it is a company that has a customer service department, they would be a good contact for you. Some companies actually have accessibility program managers. And a lot of times, this is in the larger companies, because these are really your internal champions, the people who work within the companies to promote accessibility. They can be a great advocate for you. If you find that a company has that type of person that would be a great person for you to make contact with. And then if all else fails, find the senior management in the division that you are working with.
If you are involved in a situation where employers are providing inaccessible technology, you want to start by complaining to your manager. And then, if it is a government program or service, you would go to the manager of that department or agency. You may have to be a sleuth here to figure out who should receive your complaint, but a lot of this information is available on the company websites, or you know, the yellow pages. You just need to do a little leg work to figure out who that is.
Next, you want to understand your legal rights. Ideally you are going to press for changes without having to actually pursue any kind of legal remedies. But it can help, you know, as you do complain, to let the company or your organization know that you are aware of your legal rights, and it may add a little weight or oomph to your complaint.
And then you want to be persistent. Initially, and then any time you really are moving on to a next step, you want to propose a deadline for the organization's response to you. If they do not meet that deadline, follow-up with phone calls, e-mails and letters to push the process along, if necessary.
Moving on to the next slide, you want to be polite but firm. I know it can be very frustrating. You can get angry sometimes when dealing with inaccessible technology, but you need to try to channel that frustration energy into an argument, a persuasive argument that really articulates the problem and how you would like, what changes you would like to see.
Next you want to praise the good features. If this product has some features that are particularly accessible, point them out, because it is like sweetening the vinegar with a little sugar. It may go down a little easier. And I had actually heard someone say that industries receive so few letters of praise for their accessibility that those can actually stand out, and the internal accessibility champions can use those to get notice within the company.
And then lastly, know when it is time to move on to your legal remedies. Basically that is when you are getting to the "when all else fails" step. You have not been able to reach resolution with the organization that is most directly involved and you need to resort to legal measures.
And speaking of legal measures, this is where I am going the turn it over to Karen Peltz Strauss, who is going to go over the federal laws.
Michael Morris: Thank you, Deborah. This is Michael Morris again, interjecting for a moment, just to introduce Karen Peltz Strauss to our audience across the country.
Karen has worked on legal and policy issues concerning the rights of people with disabilities for more than 20 years. First on behalf of consumer organizations, then as Deputy Bureau Chief of the FCC's Consumer Information Bureau, and at present, as a consultant to national relay service providers, consumer groups, companies, and research organizations.
In the 1980's and 1990's, Miss Strauss co-authored and guided efforts to pass several key pieces of federal legislation, including Sections 255 and 305 of the Communications Act of 1996. Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act, mandating relay services, and the Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 mandating caption decoders in television sets. Throughout this term of work on a federal level, Ms. Strauss often was called upon to present Congressional expert testimony, and has served on several federal advisory committees, including the presidentially appointed Gore Commission, on the public interest obligation of digital television broadcasters.
Karen is in the process now of completing a book, documenting the history and scope of the Telecommunication Access Movement by the deaf and hard-of-hearing community across this country. Karen holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a Master of Law from Georgetown University's Law Center.
Karen, thank you for being with us.
Karen Peltz Strauss: Thank you, it is a pleasure to be here. What I am going to do today is, I am going to go through these various laws that Deborah mentioned one-by-one. I only have about 20 minutes to do it, so it is going to be a brief overview. But hopefully it will give you a sense of what the laws are like.
At the start, I just want to explain that, these laws differ in a lot of respects. Some of them apply to employers, some of them apply to employers that are private, others to employers that are at a government. Some apply to companies that actually use telecommunication equipment for communication with the public, while other laws apply to the companies that make the equipment and services themselves.
Also you will see there is overlap across the laws; sometimes you have a choice of various laws to use for particular issues. And which law you choose may depend on either, where you are located or what you want to get out of your complaint.
We are now on slide number 14, which begins with a discussion of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This is one of the older laws and has several sections that touch on technology. The first of the sections is Section 501; this is a law that applies to employees and applicants of the Federal Government. What that means is that if you are applying for a job and you need a certain technology, such as telephone access, such as web access, you have to have that under this law. If you are an employee and you need the technology to perform the essential functions of your job, then you would be able to invoke this particular law.
What is the key here is that Section 501 applies to individuals. There is nothing in this law that says that the government, in this particular law, there is in other laws, but there is nothing in this law that requires a federal employer to make all of it technology accessible. That is another law that we will talk about later on, rather this is individual-based. So the employee, to invoke this law, has to go to his or her boss and say, "I need such and such technology to be able to perform my job." And that is what distinguishes this law from some other laws.
It does apply to obtaining equal benefits and privileges of employment, including training. It is not only getting the job, it is also getting training to improve your status within the job. Credit unions, if they are sponsored by the governmental entity, cafeterias, and even parties. I have been asked a lot about social events. If it is a government-sponsored event, then it is definitely covered. This is enforced by the Equality Employment Opportunity Commission. I am sure that Deborah later on will be going into detail about how you complain. But basically you start with the agency and then the complaint gradually moves up to the EEOC.
The next slide, slide number 15, moves to Section 504 of this same act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This applies to programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance, typically federal funds or grants, and to programs that are conducted by a federal agency. To give you some examples of programs and activities that get federal money: schools, hospitals, parks, recreational facilities, occasionally libraries.
To give you an example of programs that are conducted by federal executive agencies, it would be, for example: Social Security programs. A long time ago I had a case with Social Security beneficiaries that wanted to get information by phone via TTY. This is going back to the '80's, and the Social Security Administration was not providing TTY access; that would be covered by this. It also covers such agencies as: the Internal Revenue Service, the Immigration Service, any dealings that you have as a member of the general public with a federal agency, that federal agency has to make its technology accessible. Again, unlike a later law that we are going to talk about, which is 508, this is individual-based, the individual has to make the specific request for the specific technology.
It applies to telephone access, web access, and other types of technology access. You have to have a disability to file this complaint. And, under 501, as well, because it is individual-based, both laws require a reasonable accommodation. Again, there is an individual determination. You look at the individual; what does that individual need to interact effectively with the Federal Government? And then the government looks, as well, at what is reasonable for that individual? It cannot just be anything; it has to be something that is reasonable. And, in fact, there is actually a defense that the government can invoke. It is called an undue burden defense; for 501, I believe it is undue hardship. It is the same factors: you compare the cost of the accommodation and the nature of the requested accommodation with the resources that the governmental entity has. Our Federal Government happens to have a lot of money, so more often than not, if your request is reasonable at all, and it usually is when it comes to technology, you are going to get what you want if you file a complaint. This law is enforced by individual agencies.
Slide 16 is Section 508. I have made a few references to this section; there is a huge difference between this section and Sections 501 and 504. As I mentioned, for Sections 501 and 504, the individual employee has to go to the federal agency and say, "I need this, I want this. You have to provide this for me as a reasonable accommodation." Section 508 does not talk in terms of reasonable accommodations; rather, it talks in terms of requiring the entire Federal Government or federal agencies to make its electronic and information technology, including its telecommunication systems, accessible to all of its employees and all members of the public, who need to access federal information.
What does that mean? That means that when the government procures technology, or purchases it, or maintains it, it has to make sure that it is accessible to its employees. You can still file a complaint, as an individual, and that is the way a lot of this section will probably be enforced, but the difference is that this section requires a form of Universal Accessibility throughout the Federal Government. The Federal Government is, on its own, supposed to take the measures that it needs to take when it procures technology to insure that that technology is accessible to everyone. And it applies to technology purchased by the Federal Government after June 21st, 2001. So it is several years ago that this went into effect, and because technology is changing at such an extraordinary pace, it is going to apply to good percentages of the governmental technology soon, if not already now.
It is one of the most broadly worded statutes in that it covers virtually all technology, as compared to a lot of other statutes that I will talk about later on that are more specific. It includes computer hardware and software; telecommunication products, such as telephones and pagers, including wireless telephones; information kiosks and transaction machines, such as ticket transaction machines; websites, both intranet for federal employees and Internet information and applications; multimedia, including instructional videos, flash animations, and streaming video, for example, which should, if it is produced by the Federal Government have captions; and Section 508 even covers office equipment, including copiers and fax machines. Again, this is also enforced by individual federal agencies.
Moving to slide number 17, we get to a different law, Section 255 of the Communications Act. As Deborah mentioned, this was added to the Communications Act by the 1996 Telecommunications Act. This law is more similar to Section 508 than it is to the two sections before that, in that, again, it is a law that talks about Universal Accessibility. The one big difference between this law and 508, is that 508 applies to the Federal Government, which is a purchaser of equipment; Section 255 applies to the makers of the equipment. Section 255 applies to the private manufacturers and the private service providers that provide telecommunication equipment and services. It requires those companies to make their products and services accessible, which means that these products and services have to be able to be used by individuals with disabilities.
Some examples are putting a nib on a 5 key of a keypad. There is recently a case that was brought at the FCC involving making cell phones accessible to people who are blind. Basically any type of, not accommodation, but change or modification to a device to make it accessible to people with disabilities is required by this law, so long as it is readily achievable. It is a standard that is a little bit different than used under the Rehabilitation Act. It means easily accomplishable without much difficulty or expense. But the factors that go into that standard are the same as undue burden. And in determining whether a company has to make a product or service accessible, the company has to compare the cost of doing so, making the access, providing the accessibility with its resources. Again, because the telecommunication companies in our country tend to be fairly well off, more often than not, incurring the cost of maintaining accessibility is going to be something that will be required.
This law also requires companies to make their products and services usable, which is a little bit different than accessible. It has been defined as making product information, product manuals and customer service centers accessible, so that once you have gotten that product, if you do not know how to use it, you can look it up in the product manual. They have to be provided, for example, in Braille. The customer service centers have to be accessible through relay services and TTYs, that type of thing.
It also requires, if a product cannot be made accessible, it has to be made compatible with specialized customer premises equipment, such as TTYs or other types of assistive listening devices, or screen readers for use by people who are blind, if doing so is readily achievable.
Section 255 is a little bit narrower than Section 508. It does not cover information services, which is basically web-type, computer-type services, at least not yet. It really focuses more on telecommunications products, such as telephones, including wireless and cordless phones, fax machines, answering machines, pagers, as well as telecommunication services, which includes telephone calls, including call waiting. Some of the fancy features of telephone calling, as well, including speed dialing and call forwarding.
There is one type of information service that is covered under Section 255, the FCC added it. (FCC stands for Federal Communications Commission.) It is voice mail systems and interactive voice mail systems, or voice response systems. These are the systems that you use when you dial a telephone number, for example, for a bank or a governmental agency and you get various choices. Press 1 for, you know, banking information; press 2 to find out about your account, et cetera. Those types of systems are supposed to be accessible under this law.
The next slide, slide number 18 is Section 713 of, again, the Communications Act of 1934. This requires televisions programming providers to make their programs accessible through captioning. Basically it says caption your programs. And the FCC has a schedule of captioning requirements that the FCC developed to gradually implement this particular law. Right now, all television providers are supposed to caption approximately 75 percent of their programs. That is going to jump to 100 percent by 2006. There are a few exemptions: for overnight programming, specifically programming between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., and commercials are exempt, if they are under 5 minutes. Some local programming is exempt, though the news is not exempt. It includes digital captioning, as well. So as our television providers switch from analog to digital, they have the same requirements.
Older programming, programming that was first produced or exhibited before January 1st, 1998, goes by a little bit of a different schedule. I am telling you this, because if you are watching TV and a particular station does not have a lot of captioning on certain programming, it might be because it is what is called pre-rule programming. Only 30 percent of that programming is required now to be captioned. And it jumps to 75 percent in 2008.
There are different requirements for Spanish language programming. Let me just say that if you want any information on this, go to the FCC's website, www.fcc.gov. Scroll down until you get to the Consumer and Governmental Affairs bureau. Scroll down again until you get to the Disability section. You will be presented with an enormous amount of information, not only this law, but a lot of the laws that the FCC implements
If you find that there is a program that has bad captioning, missing captions, just inadequate captions, you can file a complaint. It is a lot harder to file a complaint for the failure to caption, because you would have to sit and watch programming all day long to figure out whether or not they are meeting the 75 percent quota. It will be easier in 2006, when it is 100 percent.
The next law is the ADA. There are various titles of the ADA. I am going to go through them a little faster than I went through the other ones, because they all basically say the same thing. They say you cannot discriminate on the basis of disability.
Title I applies to employers with 15 or more employees, as well as state and local governments, in terms of their employment, and Congress and other entities in the legislative branch.
Again, now we are shifting back. With Section 508 and Section 255, we were talking about Universal Accessibility; that applied also to Section 713. Captioning is absolute, you do not have to ask for it. These are just the requirements.
But now we are going back again to the individual. These ADA laws apply to the individuals. And individuals have to enforce them. So if you have a job and you need technology on it, you have to ask for it under Title I.
Title II of the ADA on slide 20, applies the same rules: prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in state and local programs, including public education (which is schools), employment, transportation, healthcare, social services. You might be wondering, well, you thought I already covered this under the Rehabilitation Act. What is the difference? Well, it is a huge difference. The Rehabilitation Act only applies to programs and activities that receive federal funds. This applies to all state and local programs. As an attorney who worked in trying to implement disability rights back in the 1980's, it was very frustrating for us, because we always had to develop a nexus, a tie between a program and the federal funds that the program received. You do not have to do that anymore. The ADA applies to all state and local governmental programs. And it applies to all kinds of technologies that they use, including their websites, their interactive voice response systems, their telecommunication systems. Again, it is individual-based. And you have to have a disability to file a complaint.
Slide number 21, applies to public transportation services. If you are purchasing a fare card, if there is technology on a train or bus system that gives you information about the stops, these would be examples. Again, you have to file the complaint as an individual. This particular section of the ADA is enforced by the Federal Transit Administration.
Slide number 22, Title III of the ADA. This is a little different; it applies to places of public accommodations. It is actually based on the Civil Rights statutes of the 1950s that says that private entities could not discriminate on the basis of race. The difference is that here, places of public accommodation not only cannot discriminate based on their opinions or their attitudes, but they actually have to provide reasonable accommodations. This applies to restaurants, retail stores, hotels, movie theaters and private transportation services. Just as an aside, movie theaters do not have to "open caption" their movies; that was a provision that was written into the legislative history, it was obtained by the movie industry. But a recent case that was settled is requiring movie theaters to provide a form of captioning through something called rear window captioning, which is a sort of a closed captioning. Again, you have to have a disability to file a complaint under Title III of the ADA.
Slide number 23, Title IV of the ADA really focuses on telecommunications. You see on the slide that captioning is mentioned, but it only pertains to captioning with respect to public service announcements that are produced or funded by the Federal Government. It is really a section to try to bridge the telecommunication gap between deaf and hard-of-hearing and speech-disabled people, and the rest of the world. Before this title, there were some state programs that used operators to relay calls, which is, they basically speak everything that a deaf person types into a TTY (which is a text device for a telephone). The operator would speak everything that the TTY user said to the hearing person and then type everything that the hearing person said back to the TTY user. And this was basically relaying the information back and forth between the two entities.
What this law did, is it took previous programs that were privately operated and under funded and said: we are now going to bump this up and require all telephone companies nationwide to provide these services at no cost to the people across the country. Again, it is intended to bridge the gap that had existed between people with hearing loss and speech disabilities and the general public. The services are provided 24 hours a day 7 days a week with full confidentiality. There are now new kinds of relay services that use interpreters instead of text. So a deaf person logs on to a website and signs to a remote interpreter, who then interprets the call to the hearing person or any other person, it could be a person with a speech disability, any other individual, and then interprets back to the deaf person.
Okay. I have just about three more slides. I am going to go through them quickly, I am sorry for the interruption.
Slide number 24 is about hearing aid compatibility. Actually, if you have this slide, it should be Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988, not 1998. And this law basically says that telephones must have the capability of interacting with hearing aids in a way that allows hearing aid users to understand what is happening on telephones. And it applies right now to cordless and wire line phones. Within about two years, it will also apply to certain wireless phones.
Slide number 25, let me just back up one second and say that the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act is enforced by the FCC. So is Title IV of the ADA.
The next law is the Television Decoder Circuitry Act. This requires all television sets over a certain size to have built-in decoder circuitry, so that anyone who has one of those sets, can receive closed captioning data and have that data displayed on their television. Basically in laymen's terms, it means you can watch TV with captions. And there are different requirements for analog sets than digital sets, because as you know, digital sets are more rectangular than they are square. You do not have to have a disability to file a complaint. This is one of the laws that is universal in that it applies to all television sets.
The last of the slides I am going to mention is, the Emergency Programming Rules. This is a little bit different than captioning, because it does not specifically require captioning, but it does require all emergency broadcasts, newscasts on hurricanes, tornados, terrorism, public disruptions, et cetera, to be accessible to people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing or who are blind and have low vision. And it covers protection of life, health, safety or property. And it requires that critical information be accessible, including road and school closures, information about where they could obtain shelter and food, and how to respond to these various emergencies.
That concludes my segment. And now I am going to hand it back to Deborah.
Deborah Bursa: Yep.
Karen Peltz Strauss: Okay.
Deborah Bursa: So there are all these laws, and I know it can be kind of a blur since you just got fire hosed with all this information. And it is like, how do I figure out which one of these things apply to me, in my situation? And that is what we are going to get into now. So let us move on to slide number 28.
We are going to talk about the slide that begins with, "Does the problem involve…" And what we have done is we have taken those 13 laws, and categorized them in to five categories. Does this problem involve telecommunication? Does it involve job-related technology? Does it involve technology that is used in a government-funded program or activity? Is it technology that is provided by or used to access private businesses? Or does it involve televised information?
So we have those five categories. And within those five categories, we have placed the different laws, so that you when you are thinking about your situation, you could first start with the five categories and figure out which one is most applicable to your situation. And then focus on those laws that really fall into that category. This is an attempt to provide a framework to organize this information, so that you can figure out what applies and then proceed. There may be other ways to do this. And again, this is an area where, if you think there is a way to improve the way we have set up this decision logic, let us know.
So anyway, does the problem involve Telecommunications? The laws that really fall into this area would be, the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act, Section 255 of the Communications Act, Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 508 of the Rehab Act.
If the problem involves job-related technology, then you might need to check into Section 501, Section 508, or Title I of the ADA. Next slide.
If the technology is used in a government-funded program or activity, then Section 504 may apply, Section 508 may apply, and both sections of Title II of the ADA might apply.
For our fourth category, which is technology provided by or used to access private businesses, we have Title III of the ADA. And then for the fifth category, televised information, there are three laws that fall into this category: Section 713 of the Communications Act, the Television Decoder Circuitry Act and the Televised Emergency Programming Rules.
So we have got this framework for the decision logic. And now we want to work through some scenarios and actually apply that logic, and then go over some letters. Now we are going to get into the scenarios, and I would like to move to slide 32, which is about the federal website.
In this scenario, we have a retiree who has some vision loss and hand tremors, and he wants to access information that is posted on a website, a federal agency's website. And one of the key pieces of information is that the website was developed by a consultant who was hired to do work August 16th, 2001. And if you will recall from what Karen had said, one of the laws applies to any purchases made by the Federal Government on June 21st, 2001 or later, so that is why this is brought out and highlighted as a key point for this scenario.
Moving on to the next slide… In this scenario, we are dealing with a federal agency's website. Does this problem involve telecommunications? No. Is it job-related technology? No. This is a retiree, who is trying to access a federal website. Is it technology that is used in a government-funded program or activity? Well, yes, it is; it is a Federal Government website, so bingo, there is a category that applies, but let us go through the other two. Is it technology provided by or used to access a private business? No. And does it involve televised information? No. So in this case, in this scenario, we want to zero in on the laws that were grouped under the category of "technology used in a government-funded program or activity."
And on the next slide we have those listed. So our choices are: Title II of the ADA, the one pertaining to state or local government, and, no, that does not apply because we are dealing with a federal website. The other portion of Title II is public transit. Obviously that does not apply.
The third law that might apply would be Section 504. And here we say yes, this could apply, if the website is produced by a federal executive agency. So we will put a little tick mark by that one, to say yes, that could apply. The last one that could apply is Section 508, and really that is a direct hit, because 508 applies to federal employees or to members of the public who are trying to access public information. So we have 508 for sure, and then 504 as a potential law that would apply.
Moving on to the next slide, which starts with "the general principle when you have more than one law that could apply." What we are saying is that when you have a general law, in this case, Section 504, which involves reasonable accommodation, discrimination against someone with a disability, and then you have this more specific law, which is Section 508, which is geared specifically at information technology and some specific accessibility standards, it is generally better to use the more specific and often stronger statute. Now, you will see in the letter itself we actually refer to both laws. But if you were going to proceed with a legal complaint, then it would probably be best to start with the 508 complaint procedure.
Next slide, looking at the actual letter of complaint. And what I am going to do for this first scenario, I will actually go through and read the letter, so you can get a feel for how it should be worded. I will not do that for the other ones. But we will read the letter, and then I will stop at certain points to point out things to note, you know, points that you would want to address in your letter.
So you are sending this letter to a federal agency, and I have selected the public communication division as the recipient. And you will see that I have made this an anonymous letter; I have not actually named any kind of federal agency. But it is sent to, to whom it may concern, and it concerns travel advisories that are posted to the www.fedsite.gov website.
It starts out with the following…"On several occasions over the past year, I have tried to access the travel advisory information that is posted on the www.fedsite.gov website. Unfortunately, as a retiree who is starting to feel the effects of aging, that is some vision loss and hand tremors, I have found that your website is not very accessible to me. I am interested in working with you to make it more accessible to senior citizens, such as myself, so that all people can enjoy the convenience of web-based travel advisories."
So in this initial paragraph, you are going to introduce yourself as a member of the public. And then you are going to state the accessibility problem and your willingness to work with the agency to work it out. So you are saying, I am a constituent, there is a problem, and I would like to help you figure out how to fix it.
Moving on to the next slide, and continuing with the letter. "There are a couple of buttons on the web page that are identified only through the use of color, such as click the green button to search. But given my low level of vision, I am not able to easily discern where the applicable buttons are located. In addition, because of my vision loss, I can only read information on web pages that is in a large font with good contrast. The fonts and color choices that are used on your web page make it very difficult for me to read the posted information. A friend helped me set up my own style sheet that specifies how I prefer to view web pages that is in an extra large font with white characters and a black background, but your website is set up to override my style sheet."
Now, obviously we have a very sophisticated user here, but do not be intimidated or worry about getting into any kind of technical description. Basically what you want to do is describe your functional limitation and how it affects your ability to use the system. And then just describe what happens and what does not happen.
Moving on with the letter. "Because I cannot use the travel advisory website, I must call your office to learn about the warnings and other updates that apply to my travel destination. This phone call is long distance for me, and many times I am placed on hold for 10 to 15 minutes before I reach a representative. If I could use the web-based travel advisory page, I could learn this important information in a few minutes, and save myself time and long distance phone charges."
So in this part of the letter, you are going to describe the personal hardship that results from your inability to use the technology. And what you are trying to do is, put this situation in human terms and really try to make an emotional impact on the reader. For the most part, the letter is intellectual, rational, it provides almost a clinical description of the situation. But here you are trying to rouse an emotion on the part of the reader, so that they can connect with you as an individual.
Moving on to the next page and back to the letter. "To resolve the problem, I would appreciate some modifications to the www.fedsite.gov website. The buttons that are identified only by color should also include text that describes their purpose. For instance, the green button that is used to start the search function could be labeled with the word start or go. So I have another way to locate the appropriate button. In addition, your web developers should make whatever changes are necessary, so that their web page specifications do not interfere with my style sheet settings."
In this paragraph, you are actually suggesting some solutions to the accessibility problem. They may not end up being the final solution that is implemented, but at least it gives them something to start with and to think about.
Moving on to the next slide, which is 39 and this is where we kind of pull out the stick and wave the stick a little bit. We are going the mention the laws that apply. "Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires Federal agencies to procure, develop, maintain, and use electronic and information technology that adheres to certain accessibility standards. The purpose of the law is to ensure that members of the public with disabilities have access to the same information and technologies as members of the public without disabilities. It is my understanding that your agency hired a consultant to develop the travel advisory web page in August of 2001, which means that the law is enforceable via the complaint procedure.
In addition Section 504 of the same act states that people with disabilities may not be denied the benefits of a program or activity that is conducted by any federal executive agency. This law also requires that your website be accessible to me and other people with disabilities." So I have told them that I know what my legal rights are. And this is the situation where you can actually pull a lot of the verbiage right from the Speak Out itself and put it into your letter.
In the case of Section 508 and the "purchase" date, if I did not know that it was a consultant who was hired after June 21st, I might just phrase it that way. I would say, if your website was developed after June 21st, 2001, blah, blah, blah, you know, so you can kind of couch it in those terms.
Closing the letter, moving on to the next slide. "Please contact me at the above address or by phone at, blah, blah, blah, to discuss this situation. I would appreciate a reply by March 1st, 2004. I look forward to working with you on a resolution to my accessibility problem." So, I am closing the letter and telling them the best way to contact me. And then I am proposing a deadline for a response, so it is not left as an open-ended issue. And then at the end, I CC a person in the information technology division and the procurement executive. I am copying the appropriate senior management, and in this case, since it is a 508 law, which is a procurement-driven law, I am copying the procurement manager and also the technology manager. You always have that CC where you can cover other bases, if you are not sure exactly who is the best person to directly receive this letter, you can use the CC to cover other people that might apply.
Next slide. Basically this is, when all else fails, you cannot get by working directly with the agency, you cannot get resolution, what you can do is you can bring an official Section 508 complaint, with the applicable federal agency, and you can even bring a civil action in federal court, if the agency does not comply.
So that is the end of the first scenario, and we are at 2:00 here. What I would like to do is just a beginning of the next one, where we go through the decision logic, and then I will stop, if that will be okay.
One more application of the decision logic. We have a cordless phone, and what we have is a man who is hard-of-hearing. He wears a hearing aid with a telecoil, and he purchased a cordless phone that interferes with his hearing aid.
Slide number 43. Let us figure out what category this falls in. Does it involve telecommunication? Yes. So we have a checkmark there. Is it job-related technology? No. Is it technology that is used in a government-funded program or activity? No. This is a cordless phone that I bought. Is it technology that is provided by or used to access private business? Which would be like the public accommodations. No. And does it involve any kind of televised information? No. So in this case, that telecommunication category applies. And we are going to zero in on the laws that fall into that category.
And on the next slide you will see those laws. Our choices are Title IV, but our situation does not involve telecom relay services. Our second choice is Section 508, but the Federal Government is not involved in any way.
Section 255 could apply, because that is a pretty broad law covering telecommunication products and services. but then we also have the HAC Act, the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act, which is a direct hit, that is our bingo.
And in this case, moving on, you will see that we have two laws that might apply, 255 being the more general law, and then the HAC Act being the more specific law. If push came to shove, and I was going to pick one, the HAC Act would be the one that I would go after first, because those mandates are absolute. With Section 255, the manufacturers have that readily achievable defense that they can use.
And I am going to stop there. You have the materials; you can read the letters and the scenarios. They are available on our website. And then if you have any follow-up questions, you can always contact us after the audio conference. But I am going to turn it back to Michael, so we can go to the Q&A period.
Michael Morris: Thank you, Deborah. Just adding to what Deborah said is, I think when you look further in the PowerPoint presentation, you can see a variety of situations that one may be confronted with beyond website, beyond cell phones, it could be access to a copier in a public library, other situations involving other kinds of equipment. But let me stop here, because we want to give you an opportunity to ask questions of either Karen or Deborah, as well as Tim Creagan, who is here with me in Washington DC. And Tim is the individual who is working on consumer training on behalf of ITTATC, the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center.
Here is what we are going to do, in terms of taking questions from sites. The operator will queue up phone questions, which will be handled on a first come, first served basis. The phone-submitted questions will be controlled by the operator. But those of you who are submitting questions through the chat function, those will be offered, as well, by the moderator vocalizing the chat questions, so that the captioner can type those out for full accessibility to all participants on this call.
So let me turn it back to the operator, to ask whether in fact there are any questioners who have been queuing up?
Operator: Ladies and Gentlemen, if you have a question or a comment at this time, please press the 1 key on your touch-tone telephone. If your question has been answered or you wish to remove yourself from the queue, please press the pound key. Our first question comes from Matt Morris.
Male Participant: We have a question here at our site. If a state has adopted Section 508 standards for state and local government, would the state law or the ADA be stronger, a stronger leg to stand on for a complaint?
Michael Morris: Karen, do you want to try to answer that?
Karen Peltz Strauss: I think it would depend on what your state law has in it, and it also depends on what issue you are interested in enforcing. If you are interested in enforcing something that has to do with information or electronic technology, and you are just trying to simply choose between 508 and the ADA, I would say that 508 would probably be a bit stronger, because it is more specific and generally we like going to the more specific law, rather than the more general law.
Tim Creagan: Also, this is Tim Creagan. I would just like to jump in for just a second. One of the things that the ITTATC project has done, because one of our audiences is state governments, we have developed a resource that is available on our website. It has excerpts from and links to state accessibility-related laws, policies and procedures, and where you would get that is by going to the ITTATC website, http://www.ittatc.org/laws/stateLawAtGlance.cfm, and what you can do is, you can go there and you can look for the name of your individual state, and pull up the exact text of your state law.
Karen Peltz Creagan: Repeat the website. Do it slower.
Tim Creagan: The website again is http://www.ittatc.org/laws/stateLawAtGlance.cfm. All together no spaces dot cfm. No @ sign for those of you who are following the captions, it is the word "at" typed out.
Michael Morris: Do we have other questions?
Operator: Yes, I have a question coming in from the chat function.
Michael Morris: Please go ahead.
Operator: This is from Cheryl. Could you please provide more clarification on the movie theater and rear view captioning?
Michael Morris: That is clearly a question for Karen.
Karen Peltz Strauss: Oh, sure. Unfortunately, or it depends I guess on your perspective, but many of us are advocates, so unfortunately, when the ADA was under deliberation in Congress, there was a lot of pressure from the movie industry not to require open captions. And so there is legislative language in the history, the legislative history of the ADA that says that movie theaters are not required to open caption their movies.
However, there is very, very good language in the ADA that talks about providing accommodations for public accommodations, places of public accommodation, including movie theaters. And so using that language, one can argue that other forms of captioning are required in movie theaters. And it was using that language that prompted some lawsuits that have resulted in requirements for captioning in certain movie theaters in the DC area.
If this is the Cheryl who I think it is, you are probably aware that there was a lot of controversy about this, because the deaf community prefers open captioning. The hard-of-hearing community I think is more mixed. But the problem is that there is only one technology right now, it is called rear window technology, which uses captions that appear at the back of a movie theater in reverse on an LED screen, that then are projected onto a little plastic template that is used at your seat. And you can see the captions that way. And there is considerable amounts of controversy over whether this is the technology to go with. That is basically it in a nutshell.
Michael Morris: Do we have our next question?
Operator: Next question comes from Kathy Taylor.
Actually, Susan Gilchrest is going to ask this question.
Michael Morris: Please go ahead.
Female Participant: I notice that when we get our cell phones, that all our cell phones are smaller, which makes them harder to dial. And the other question is, why are cell phone wireless carriers requiring people to purchase phones with their service? Which I think is kind of interesting since landline phones are not required to do that.
Karen Peltz Strauss: I can take it again. This is Karen. You are absolutely right about the size of cell phones and the difficulty in pushing the buttons. And if it is something that concerns you, I would complain about that. That is definitely an accessibility feature. We have talked to telephone companies about that. And, in fact, some of the companies right now are working to improve the buttons on their phones, because of complaints. So that is definitely something that they can work on. Their concern is to make the phone as small as possible for the general market, but they do have accessibility obligations and they need to make those phones, at least the buttons accessible to people with disabilities.
The wireless carriers' issue, actually I do think that you can, you must purchase service, if you purchase one of their phones, although you can purchase phones in other locations. So say, for example, you can go, without endorsing any companies, to a Radio Shack or a Best Buy or someplace like that, and purchase a phone and then use it with another carrier. You can purchase phones separately. But getting into the question of why you must purchase service when you purchase a phone from a carrier, is a question that I think goes beyond the scope of this particular proceeding and something you may want to complain about to the FCC.
Michael Morris: Thank you, Karen. Is there a next question?
Operator: I have another question from the chat box, from the University of Maine. Can you reference the laws that require public universities to provide accessible websites?
Michael Morris: Again, in terms of a university, most universities receive federal funding, so there will be requirements of accessibility both under Section 504, as well as under the Americans with Disabilities Act. And so there are opportunities there for coverage both ways.
Karen Peltz Strauss: There is also some coverage under 255, because a lot of universities have their own telecommunication systems. So they actually, if you go to the FCC's website that I mentioned before, www.fcc.gov, you will see that if you go to the disability rights section, there are points of contact for telecommunication manufacturers and service providers. Those are the contacts where you can complain to. And you will notice there are a huge number of universities listed in those points of Section 255 contacts.
Michael Morris: Is there a next question?
Operator: Our next question comes from Michael Leon.
Male Participant: The question is representative from the National Federation of the Blind, reports that the NFB has had greater success arguing Section 504 rather than Section 508, where issues of accessibility to federal information are concerned. Is there any truth in that? That would seem to be counter to the general principle of the more specific law being more effective.
Karen Peltz Strauss: I have not heard of that specific claim. The only reason that that might be, that might have a shred of truth, is because remember again that 504 is individually-based. So if you are going, if you are asking for something under 504, it probably is going to be asking for something less than under 508, because you are just asking for an accommodation yourself. So it is kind of easier for a federal agency to say, Okay, I will help you, but not deal with the issue on a more global basis.
The other thing is 504 is older. It is more established. It has been tested over and over again. Federal agencies feel comfortable about what they can and cannot do under it. 508 is still fairly new and there is a settling-in period.
Michael Morris: Do we have our next question?
Operator: Our next question comes from Leslie Brewer.
Female Participant: Hi, I have a question from one of the consumers here. Go ahead.
Female Participant: I have problems with TVs, because some people cannot read the closed captioning. It is too fast, it goes by and you cannot read it. Sometimes special reports have no captioning, and if I cannot hear, I cannot read it. So it should be closed captioned everywhere when it appears on the television as a report.
Karen Peltz Strauss: If it is an emergency, it has to be closed-captioned, well, it has to be visually accessible. Typically that means closed-captioned, because there is not really any other effective way of making it accessible. So if you encounter a situation where a news report is reporting on something that constitutes an emergency, and they are not captioning it, I would highly recommend complaining to the FCC.
If it is not an emergency, again, there is a schedule of captioning. Right now, it is not 100 percent. The FCC felt that it had to ease the industry into these requirements. And it set up a schedule back in 98. So we are fairly far along in that schedule right now, as I said, approximately 75 percent of all new programming should be captioned. It is going to be a lot easier to enforce this law in two years when it jumps to 100 percent. Then when you see something not captioned, you can complain about it. It is a little bit hard now, because stations come back and say "Well, we met our 75 percent," but we are getting there. This is one you just have to be patient on.
Michael Morris: And, Karen, again, that type of complaint would go where?
Karen Peltz Strauss: Typically that type of complaint would go to the FCC.
Michael Morris: Is there a next question?
Operator: I have a question from the chat box. The Department of Housing for the State of Virginia has videotapes that they use for voucher trainings, which are not captioned. I feel this is a federal issue. Is that true?
Karen Peltz Strauss: Well, they are violating Title II of the ADA, if it is a state or local program. And they are producing, what are the videotapes used for? Who sees them? Is it? Hello?
Michael Morris: It is chat.
Karen Peltz Strauss: Oh, it is chat, I am sorry. Okay, let me just tell you. The two scenarios, if it is used for employees, then you can use Title I or Title II of the ADA. If it is used for consumers, then it is definitely covered under Title II and you can file a complaint with the Department of Justice.
Michael Morris: That is the kind of example, actually, both in the previous administration and in this administration, they actually have focused on Title II situations that involve both cities and local governments, as well as state government. And they actually, Justice has actually brought quite a lot of negotiated settlements to bear, to just emphasize the point that these issues also affect the way government transmits its information and has to meet accessibility requirements, which are also part of issues for other sectors.
Karen Peltz Strauss: Absolutely. And the U. S. Department of Justice's website on the Americans with Disabilities Act has a lot of terrific information, in terms of guidance to the states on how they can comply.
Michael Morris: That would be probably www.doj?
Karen Peltz Strauss: I am not sure if it is doj, usdoj, I am not sure, but you can Google it, and just put in Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice and Americans with Disabilities Act, and you will, it is very easy to find. [Note: The correct website is http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm.]
Michael Morris: Another source of information, and there may be some participants who, I hope are familiar with this source of assistance with that type of ADA-related concern, would be the regional Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers or sometimes known as DBTAC, standing for D-B-T-A-C. And I believe you can reach any of the DBTACs, there are 10 regional operations, but they touch through affiliate organizations, every state in the country. You can find them online at http://www.adata.org/centers.htm, which can then connect you to the appropriate agency and organization in your region.
Both the DBTACs and ITTATC are funded by NIDRR, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and both, I hope you will look too as future sources for assistance.
Is there another question?
Operator: Our next question comes from Connie O'Day.
Female Participant: The question that I have is in California, as other states, Section 508 has become mandated for any agencies that received state funds. Do you have information, as far as how to follow with that law for employees or for any agency that receives state funds?
Tim Creagan: This is Tim. I am going to refer back to an answer that I gave to an earlier question where I referred people to the ITTATC website, where we have a listing of all the state laws in the country. And what you can do is go to the website, and put in California and it will pull up the specific state statutes that applies to it in California. The web link again for that is http://www.ittatc.org/laws/stateLawAtGlance.cfm.
Michael Morris: Just to go a little bit further than Tim. This is Michael again. I work for the Law, Health Policy & Disability Center at the University of Iowa. And we are one of the partner organizations with Georgia Tech in implementing activities for ITTATC. We are the lead, in terms of those kinds of research issues related to state law and policy changes on information technology accessibility.
And again, by contacting the ITTATC website, where you will see on the site "contact us" as well as there is also an 800 line, which is 1-866 the number 9 and then ITTATC, or it is also, 1-866-948-8282. You can start that technical assistance request there. Actually Deborah Bursa will be one of the first people that you will be dealing with, but in turn, you will connect with us. And we would certainly be willing to look at more specifically some of the issues that you raised about the California policies, as it relates to the federal Section 508. Is there a next question?
Operator: I have a question from the chat box. This is from Tim Felton. What is the obligation of a private organization, i.e., political functions or Chamber of Commerce, which, I am, networking events accessible?
Michael Morris: I am not sure what you mean by a networking event. Can you provide a little bit more explanation?
Male Participant: This is Tim Dalton. It is a social event where people network.
Michael Morris: Karen's going to try, and then we will.
Karen Peltz Strauss: Okay, maybe what we ought to, we are sitting here debating the private or public nature of a Chamber of Commerce. Public accommodations are private under Title III and do have to provide some type of accommodations for the public. But it is usually, places of public accommodation usually apply to places where the public is invited. And so I am trying to think about whether the public is invited to Chamber of Commerce events.
Where it could apply, potentially, is under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, if it employs more than 15 employees at a networking event and it involves employees.
It could also potentially apply, if it is an event that is open to the public. And then Title III of the ADA would apply, and they would have to provide accommodations in that situation, as well.
Michael Morris: Is there a next question?
Operator: Our next question comes from Steve Blank.
Hello?
Male Participant: Okay. My question is first of all, what are employers' requirements, as far as providing technology that will help access, like reading materials, whatnot, like CCTV for a visually impaired person or whatnot? And are there differences between private employers' requirements and requirements for, let us say, state and local or Federal Government agencies?
Karen Peltz Strauss: Generally the requirements are actually pretty similar for state and local versus federal agencies, because they all are guided by this general undue burden standard, which means that you have to compare the cost of the accommodation versus the resources of the entity.
The real key for employment is the extent to which the accommodation is needed to perform a job function. When you are looking at employment that is what a reviewing entity that has responsibility for the complaint is going to look at. So if, for example, you mentioned I think captioning on television, if a person happened, if there happens to be a TV someplace in the building, and captioning on that television is not needed to perform job functions, then it is going to be much harder to argue that that is a reasonable accommodation. The two are pretty much linked. It is reasonable accommodations to be able to perform your job.
Michael Morris: Is there a next question?
Operator: I have a question from the chat box. This is from Lisa. My question is, do cell phone companies have to, by law, excuse me. My question is, do cell phone companies have to have, by law, a volume threshold that is more accessible to people with hearing loss, to make up for the environmental surroundings?
Also, the reconditioned phones that are sent through the replacement program are not as good quality as brand new. And after four months, my phone is not accessible to me, because of the quality of the phone. How can we make sure this they are sending a quality phone through their replacement programs?
Karen Peltz Strauss: Do you want to take it?
Tim Creagan: This is Tim. I guess what I would say briefly is, yeah, under 255 and also under 508, there are volume requirements for phones that they establish. The volume has to go up in certain increments, and there is a threshold by which phones can only go up to a certain amount.
Now, with regard to the phones, you are saying that you have a replacement program. You purchased a phone for your company and the phone does not work. So it seems to me that what you are faced with is a situation where, yeah, it does not work, so you, (what a minute, reading to himself), you are saying that, because it is a reconditioned phone and it is not working, it is not performing the functions for which it is supposed to do, and it is not accessible to you because of that, well clearly you would have a complaint under 255, because it is not doing what it is supposed to do.
When you talk about, could you explain a little bit more about the replacement program?
Operator: We are waiting for a response.
Karen Peltz Strauss: While you are responding, I just want to add one more thing. There are actually specific volume control requirements, amplification requirements that were issued by the FCC. Actually, they went into effect around January 2000 that specifically apply to cordless and wire lined telephones. And those were released under the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act. So there actually are specific amplification volume control thresholds that must be met in addition to under 255 and under 508, specifically under the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act. They might not always make up for environmental noise, but they are supposed to go up to a significant degree.
Companies can actually exceed that amount and go up actually higher, but there, that enters a different area, and they have to be able, those phones have, for the most part, unless they get a waiver, have to revert back to a lower threshold. In other words, they are allowed to get very, very high, as long as there is an automatic reset. Although they can even get a waiver for that automatic reset, as well, if they want it.
Operator: I have a response from the chat box from Lisa. She says, "You pay in and get lost or damaged phones replaced. They send you reconditioned phones. And the service was not good. They will not replace my phone, because it is been over 60 days since the damage, being that I told them it did not work from the beginning.
Tim Creagan: Well, I think in a situation like that, I mean I would make the argument that you would go to the FCC website. Contact the company and complain about the phone that does not work.
Now, it sounds like what they are trying to say is that it was under a warranty. And they are going to argue that this is outside the period of the warranty, and they notified you of it and you did not make your claim within time that it does not apply. Well, what I would say is go ahead and make the complaint, anyway. And then just see what the response is. The point is they are supposed to provide you a product that works.
Michael Morris: Okay. I want to take one more question, because I then want to shift us into the last segment of this audio conference, both sharing of information and move to the action strategy part of this event. Is there one more question in queue?
Operator: Our next question comes from Matt Morris.
Michael Morris: Okay, Matt?
Male Participant: Yes. Go ahead.
Male Participant: This question is kind of a reversal from most of the questions you have gotten so far.
Working with an agency or group that probably does get funding from both the federal and state government, and seeing as most of the stuff we have been talking about is the laws when you have to make a complaint, if you are an agency, and you want to try to forego situations, basically try and make things accessible for people, what kinds of things can you look at, or what could be done so that as resources, especially with electronic equipment with telecommunication equipment, is there anything that is out there, as far as resources available for people, so they can kind of look and see what things are accessible or could be usable for people who are agencies?
Tim Creagan: This is Tim. I just wanted to, as we have been saying all along, one of the resources, one of the things that ITTATC does, is we try to provide resources and links to information. So that kind of stuff can be found on our website.
A specific example to really drill down deep is, a number of companies will have websites which will say "accessible features or accessible product lines," and again, I am not trying to focus on any particular company, but, for example, Microsoft, on their website has accessible product features. Verizon, other phone carriers and other phone manufacturers will often have things on their website, which will mention accessible features in their product.
Another thing I would like to mention, just as a plug for ITTATC. We have a number of training materials, one of which this Speak Out is incorporated into, which has to do with consumer products. And we have a training called, "How to Find and Buy Accessible Information Technology," and what it does is, it is a training that takes consumers through a series of steps and resources they can look to, to find accessible products and accessible features.
Just real quickly. Some of the resources are the Job Accommodation Network, where people can get information, the State AT Act, which are found in every state. The links to all these are on the ITTATC website.
Another thing you can do as an entity is, oftentimes you can contact disability membership organizations such as, Self-Help for Hard-of-Hearing People, National Association for the Deaf, American Federation of the Blind, they often will have suggestions and will be very happy to work with either companies or agencies, if you say, you know, what are the types of requirements, or what are the types of functionalities that your members would want in a product? These are just some brief suggestions.
Michael Morris: Thank you, Tim. I know there probably are some other questions in line, and, again, those questions can be sent in to us after this audio conference event by contacting the ITTATC website.
But I want us really to move to the final segment of our session today, and that is for those of you who are at sites that are hosted, where there are a group of people, and those are scattered across the country, as well as those of you who may be listening to this call or participating by wherever you are located. It could be, I know some people are calling in from offices and participating from their homes and other sites. This is an opportunity for you to think about some of the information that has been provided, some of the back and forth during the question and answer session, to think about your own personal experiences. Have you personally been in a situation, where you feel that in some way, it may have been a product, it may have been the communication of information, it may be the way services were provided, information was attempted to be transmitted that you, in some way, feel that one of these different legal protection areas that your rights were not fully met.
And what we are interested in, for really about the next 20 minutes, probably even a little bit before that, that you talk at your host site. We will stay online here and be willing to take additional questions from a host site. But I would really want to turn it back to the host facilitators for you to really, with those people that you have assembled, to talk about, might we have an area for a letter of complaint? What might be, as Deborah Bursa took us through, what might be the protected coverage through one of the different laws and legal protection areas that we very quickly went over? We would really like you to spend the next 15 minutes talking in your group, trying to identify a personal experience that may lead to your actually putting together, in writing, an inquiry to one of the administering federal agencies.
We are willing to help you with those. We are certainly willing to provide a back-and-forth exchange to help support that process. Again, really trying to translate your personal experience, your own personal dissatisfaction is the next step, in terms of some type of action, and help direct you, in terms of what would be the appropriate agency, the appropriate approach to take utilizing some of the materials that were there and are there with you, in terms of Speak Out, as well as some follow-up opportunities that we may be able to provide you through ITTATC.
So let me stop there, and turn it back to you, in your local meeting places for your own discussions, and we will remain online, as well, to provide some further assistance and comments and feedback. But let me cut us off here now, in terms of the formal Q&A, question and answer session, and turn it back to you to see, in terms of your own discussions you may have there. Someone's personal experience which really may be, I think important, may be an experience others have had, which is the whole reason for using some of the complaint process which is carefully laid out in the Speak Out material. So I will stop there and turn it back to the host sites. Please, engage each other in conversation, discussion. And we remain online for some further targeted assistance. Let us take it from there. Thank you
[Indistinct talking]
[Silence for a period of time]
Operator: Pardon me, Mr. Morris?
Michael Morris: Yes.
Operator: There is someone that is actually in the queue. I believe they might want to share something.
Michael Morris: Sure, please.
Operator: Catherine English, your line is now open.
Michael Morris: Catherine, go ahead.
Male Participant: Oh, yes. I am with the Department of Developmental Disabilities in New Jersey.
Michael Morris: Yes, okay.
Male Participant: They are telling me that they have the Developmental Disability Rehab Act. I am trying to tell them as an advocate that they are now, that has now been amended into the ADA. They have no clue as to what I am talking about. So they have so graciously referred me to self-advocacy, they have no clue as to what I am bringing forth to them.
Michael Morris: Well, there may be a combination of issues there. Maybe rather than sorting out the differences between the different laws and their coverage, do you have, were you, have you had an experience, something where someplace or somewhere where you had difficulty either using a product or gaining information that maybe you want to share?
Male Participant: I have trouble with engaging in their, some of their services, because they deal more with the cognitive disability. And I laid this out as just a physical disability and they want nothing to do with me.
Michael Morris: Well, it sounds like the issue you are raising may be more about getting specific services, which may not be based on information technology, I am guessing at that. If that is the case, I would suggest that you may want to talk with an agency in New Jersey, all states have what are called the Protection and Advocacy Agencies.
Male Participant: Yes, that is what I have been doing.
Michael Morris: Okay, and are you working with them?
Male Participant: Yes, I am waiting on someone to get back with me now.
Michael Morris: Okay. Because I think that is the right place to go and let them work through with you some of the challenges, some of the problems you may be facing in getting the services that you want.
Male Participant: I just would like to let people know that if they are in a state agency that receives federal funding, they may have difficulties in trying to rationale the same issues that they do not want to come forth with, and they make the person look weaker than really they want to be.
Karen Peltz Strauss: One thing you should know is that the ADA has not necessarily replaced other acts. It is in addition to other acts.
Male Participant: Right, yeah. But I mean all the Acts, are based on the same issue, discrimination.
Michael Morris: There are protections within both the Rehabilitation Act, which you were talking about, and that Karen went over very quickly, in terms of protections under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and added protections, which came many years later and much more recently, beginning in 1990, under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But one did not replace the other, as Karen said. And you may have different rights and you may even have different reasons to complain, in using both Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But the agency that really should provide you quite a bit of help in New Jersey is that Office of Protection and Advocacy.
Male Participant: Right. I noticed that in the policies and procedures of private sectors, under the Developmental Disability Rehab Act, that is all they can do is use an advocacy group or a self-advocate.
Michael Morris: Is your name Chris?
Male Participant: No, Eric.
Michael Morris: Eric, I would say the best thing to do would be, I would be willing to talk to you off this call, just because of probably the very specific situation you may be facing.
Male Participant: Yeah, yeah.
Michael Morris: And why don't I give you, let me give you, do you use E-mail? Can you reach me by E-mail address?
Male Participant: No, I would have to reach you by phone.
Michael Morris: Let me give you my phone. Are you ready?
Male Participant: I will jot it down in my Speak Out book.
Michael Morris: Okay, great. My phone number is (202)…
Male Participant: Got it.
Michael Morris: ..521…
Male Participant: All right.
Michael Morris: …2930. And Eric, I would be glad to talk to you.
Male Participant: Okay, thanks.
Michael Morris: Okay.
Operator: I have a question from the chat box.
Michael Morris: Yes.
Operator: This is from Cheryl. She says, many times I ride the train between New York and Connecticut, as well as the subway system in New York City. Unfortunately, there are very few, if any, trains equipped with a display as to the next station, or have no ability to display emergency information. How can this and that of the airlines with communication on-board, be addressed as a formal complaint?
Karen Peltz Strauss: Okay, well, if it is a train or a bus that is privately owned, then you would bring a complaint under Title III of the ADA with the U.S. Department of Justice. If it is a public train that is operated by a state entity, then you would bring a complaint under Title II of the ADA. If it is an airline, it gets a little bit more complicated, it is a different act altogether. Airlines are not covered by the ADA, or any of the laws that we talked about. To a limited extent, they are covered by the Air Carriers Access Act. And they are required, I am just, I am thinking out loud. Airports, are airports covered? Airports are covered under the Air Carriers Act, as well, and there are requirements under that act for airline transportation to be accessible, and for airports to have visual information about flight changes and other important information for airlines.
Michael Morris: A group again that I mentioned earlier that could get very specific information that might help you on that question, would be the Disability Business Technical Assistance Center, for, if you are in that northeast corridor. Again, go to the Disability Business and Technical Assistance Center (http://www.adata.org/centers.htm). And I think they can search that issue down a little bit into more detail.
Karen Peltz Strauss: And if you were the Cheryl that asked about movie captions, then you were not the person that I thought you were before, so I hope that I was able to give you the correct information before.
Operator: One more question from the phone lines.
Michael Morris: Okay.
Operator: It is from Leslie Brewer, it is a follow-up question I believe.
Female Participant: Hi, this is Leslie Brewer from [Inaudible]. We had a consumer that still had a question that we cannot figure out how to answer.
Michael Morris: Okay.
Female Participant: Go ahead.
Female Participant: Pager questions for the deaf. When you buy a pager and you go to one store and it says it is $100, and another store of the same brand, same thing, they will charge $250 for it. So that is not right, what, how can they do that?
Karen Peltz Strauss: That is called the free market in a competitive society. I would go to the store that sells it for $100 and walk away with your bargain.
Michael Morris: None of these, this is Michael, none of these laws controls price, which is an interesting issue. Price does not necessarily equate with lack of access. It is not something that these laws protect, unless it was offered through a government-funded service or agency, and then there could be issues of access, in terms of discrimination under Title II of the ADA.
Karen Peltz Strauss: And the other thing is that you are not supposed to be charged more for access. It should be equivalent pricing.
Female Participant: Well, that is true. But the problem is, is that if the store closes business, then where do I go, if I want to buy it? And oftentimes I will ask where can I go now and they will not tell me? And that is not right.
Michael Morris: I think that that is something, as Tim mentioned earlier, you may want to contact the ITTATC, you know, direct contact the phone number and the website, because, again, ITTATC has worked on some materials to identify, where, how to look at purchase of accessible products. Also from the ITTATC website, you can be connected with, every state has what is called a state AT project, State Assistive Technology Project. And that may be a source of information for you, as well. And all of that would, again, be accessible for free. And may be able to help you find answers, even though that one store may have gone out of business, there probably are other outlets that would charge less money than you would be stuck paying that extra money from that one store.
Karen wants to add something.
Karen Peltz Strauss: The other thing is, remember earlier I mentioned that the FCC's website has points of contact for companies. So if there is a particular product that you want, because it met your accessibilty needs and you cannot find it anymore, I would highly suggest going to the FCC's website, again it is www.f as in Frank, C as in Candy, c.gov, that is v as in Victor (www.fcc.gov). Find the Disability Rights Office section, and go to Section 255 and find the points of contact, because that way you can go to the company directly and ask where you can buy that product.
I see the captions are still not getting to the website. So I am going to say it again, www.fcc.gov, right, thank you.
Female Participant: Thank you.
Karen Peltz Strauss: Another question?
Operator: Our next question comes from Angela Creech.
Female Participant: I was just wondering, the letter of complaint, where does it go after you write it? And if they do not solve the letter of complaint, what is your next option?
Karen Peltz Strauss: Well, this is a complicated question, where a person goes if the FCC does not resolve the letter of complaint.
There are two different processes that you can file a complaint, for filing a complaint at the FCC. One is an informal process and one is a formal process.
If you follow an informal process, you file an informal complaint, the FCC sends that complaint to the company and the company has 30 days to respond. After that, the company, the FCC will tell you what the company's response was. And if you are not satisfied, you can then bring a formal complaint. Unfortunately, formal complaints are much more complicated, and typically you need a lawyer. But you do have the option to do that.
The other thing that you could do if you are not happy is to send a copy of the complaint to the FCC's enforcement bureau. Recently, they have taken an interest in pursuing more informal complaints, as well. And I am trying to think of the best way for you to do that. Okay. You can send the complaint to the following address. I am giving you somebody's name, but they have told us that we can do this. So I am going to go ahead and do it.
It is www.mark M-A-R-K.stone S-T-O-N-E @fcc.gov. I am sorry; I am going to correct that. It is not www. It is just an E-mail, mark.stone@fcc.gov. He is in the Enforcement Bureau, and if you are not happy with the resolution that you got, feel free to send him the complaint.
Female Participant: Thank you.
Karen Peltz Strauss: You are welcome.
Operator: Our next question comes from Sylvia Ramirez.
Female Participant: Hi, how are you?
Michael Morris: Okay. What is your question?
Female Participant: Hi, how are you?
Karen Peltz Strauss: Good, thank you. How are you? Can we have your question?
Female Participant: Yes, I am calling from San Juan Puerto Rico. So my question is, what kinds of accessibility are you thinking about the disability person?
Karen Peltz Strauss: The definition of disability is very, very broad under these particular laws. There is a specific definition of disability under the ADA. You either, it basically has to impair a major life function, such as walking, breathing, speaking, hearing, seeing, et cetera. Or you have to be perceived as having a disability, what is the third prong? So in other words if you have an unusual scar on your face or something like that, or you have had an illness in your past, and people perceive you as having a disability, you would be covered, as well. That one and having a life impairment. What is the third?
Female Participant: I have problem in Puerto Rico for the transportation for the disability person. That is the reason for our participation, you know. For what kind of the mobility of transportation you offering for our people?
Karen Peltz Strauss: If you have a problem with mobility, with getting around, that is going to be covered by the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. That is exactly the type of thing that those laws cover.
Female Participant: Okay. Thank you very much.
Karen Peltz Strauss: Sure.
Operator: There are no further questions from the phone lines.
Pardon me, this is the operator again. You have two more questions.
Michael Morris: Please go ahead.
Operator: Our next question comes from Isaac Leff.
Male Participant: Yeah, Hi, This is not so much of a question as a resource that people can use if their problem comes down to needing a lawyer. As was mentioned previously, each state and also each federal territory has a Protection and Advocacy Office available to them. And if people were to need a lawyer, they can look on the website at the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems, which is at www.napas.org. And they can find a link to the protection and advocacy system in their state or territory.
Karen Peltz Strauss: Thank you very much for adding that.
Tim Creagan: This is Tim. I would just mention that, the website you just mentioned, as well as about six other websites where you can get legal advice are in the section of the Speak Out book that says, "Where To Go For Help," so thank you for mentioning NAPAS. But there is also information on the DBTAC, the Disability Rights and Defense Fund, also known as DRDF. National Association for the Deaf, which has a law center, which Karen used to work for. Disability Rights Advocates, so these are all listed in the back of the Speak Out.
With contact information and phone numbers.
Male Participant: Thank you.
Tim Creagan: You are welcome. Did you say there was another question?
Operator: Yes, a next question is a follow-up question from Catherine English.
Female Participant: Thank you, go ahead, Ruth.
Female Participant: My name is Ruth Bryant, and I am a senior citizen. And I have a son that lives in Daytona Beach, Florida. He is disabled, and he wants to come to New Jersey to live. Is there a way to get an apartment here? Or it all must be done down there and transferred? What must he do?
Karen Peltz Strauss: I think the question you are asking focuses more on housing rather than technology. Is there a technology-related issue?
Female Participant: Housing more than anything else.
Karen Peltz Strauss: I think it is not within the scope of what we are here to discuss today. We are really focusing on telecommunication, information technology, et cetera. I am trying to think, is there a housing office that?
Michael Morris: I would suggest, again, that the Protection and Advocacy Office, as the previous participant mentioned, particularly the office in New Jersey, but you can find the New Jersey office by going to www.napas.org would be your best bet.
Female Participant: Thank you.
Female Participant: Thank you.
Karen Peltz Strauss: And there are housing laws, as well, the fair housing amendment, so they can help you with that.
Michael Morris: I am going to break in here, because I want to be very conscious of the time. We are at 3:00. Could those of you who are talking together in your local groups, do not stop because we have run out of time here.
There are two things, though, to be aware of that we want you to do. One is there is an evaluation form that we ask that you complete, send those back in. But second is, please let us hear from you by contacting us through the ITTATC website. It is imperative, it is very important for us to understand: did you get some things going there in terms of discussion that needs some further assistance; we would like to provide that to you. If there are complaints that need to be assisted with, we want to know, we want to provide more assistance.
Let me thank at this point, because we are going to close off now. Let me thank Deborah, Karen and Tim for their participation today. I think we need to look at this event today as a beginning, not an end, to increasing people's awareness of opportunities, really to protect one's rights, related both to products, access to information and services, in terms of accessibility for people with disabilities. It is quite a maze of laws and regulations that cover this area. But hopefully through Speak Out, and as you look through other materials from ITTATC, follow-up on some of the contacts, we will have even more exchange of information and can continue to build a country that is more accessible in terms of information technology.
You will also be sent a soft copy of an ITTATC products brochure, which can give you even more information and opportunities to access resources.
So with that, I am going to call this event to a close. Please do continue where you are, and we would love to hear from you in the future. We will be back in touch and we welcome, as well, you contacting us. Thank you and good afternoon.
Operator: Ladies and Gentlemen, this concludes today's presentation. You may now disconnect.
Home
|
About ITTATC
|
User Agreement
|
Contact Us
|
Webmaster
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
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