21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act

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On July 10, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it will hold a public event entitled “Accessing Social Media” on Thursday, July 17, 2014, under the banner of its Accessibility and Innovation Initiative. The event will be held at the FCC’s Washington, DC headquarters at 445 12th Street SW from 9am to 4pm and…

On January 28, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) issued an Order granting an August 2013 request filed by the Coalition of E-Reader Manufacturers (“Coalition”) seeking a waiver of the Commission’s disabilities access rules as applied to e-readers. As previously reported on this blog, on October 22, 2013, the Commission granted a temporary waiver for the class of e-readers in order to give the FCC time to further evaluate the Coalition’s petition.

With this latest ruling, electronic text-based readers that are capable of accessing advanced communications services (“ACS”) like electronic messaging and that meet the distinct, narrow definition are exempt from making their products accessible to individuals with disabilities until January 28, 2015. This new class waiver joins a limited set of waivers that the Commission has granted for IPTVs (and IP-DVPs), cable set top boxes, and certain game consoles, game distribution and online game play services, and game software. …
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In a Public Notice released last week, the FCC announced new procedures for consumers to file complaints against companies to allege violations of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (“CVAA”), the goal of which is to ensure that people with disabilities have access to advanced communications services (“ACS”).  Generally, ACS is…

Kelley Drye Telecommunications paralegal Jennifer Rodden contributed to this post.

Earlier this year, a coalition of e-reader manufacturers (Amazon, Kobo and Sony Electronics) petitioned for waiver from the disabled access requirements applicable to Advanced Communications Services (“ACS”) under the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (“CVAA”). The Coalition seeks a class waiver …