The FCC extended the disability access requirements that currently apply to traditional phone services to providers of interconnected VoIP services and to manufacturers of specially designed equipment used to provide those services.
The FCC's existing Section 255 rules, adopted in 1999, requires:
- that manufacturers of telecommunications equipment or Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) to ensure that their equipment is designed, developed and fabricated to be accessible to individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable;
- that telecommunications service providers ensure that their service is accessible to individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable;
- that manufacturers and service providers to evaluate the accessibility, usability, and compatibility of covered services and equipment; and
- that manufacturers and service providers to ensure that information and documentation provided in connection with equipment or services be accessible to people with disabilities, where readily achievable, and that employee training, where provided at all, account for accessibility requirements.
In addition, the FCC said that interconnected VoIP providers were subject to the requirements of Section 225, including contributing to the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund and offering 711 abbreviated dialing for access to relay services.
http://www.fcc.gov
