> DA 00-2162
>
> Released September 22, 2000

REMINDER TO MANUFACTURERS AND PROVIDERS OF

VOICE MAIL AND INTERACTIVE MENU PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

OF THEIR ACCESSIBILITY OBLIGATIONS UNDER

NEW PART 7 OF THE COMMISSION'S RULES

On September 29, 1999, the Commission released a Report and Order
establishing rules and policies to implement sections 255 and 251(a)(2)
of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 255 and
251(a)(2). Section 255 requires manufacturers of telecommunications
equipment and providers of telecommunications service to ensure that
such equipment and services are accessible to persons with disabilities,
if readily achievable. Section 251(a)(2) provides that each
telecommunications carrier has the duty not to install network features,
functions, or capabilities that conflict with the guidelines and
standards established pursuant to section 255. The Report and Order,
along with the rules and guidelines adopted, was published in the
Federal Register. *See* 64 FR 63235 (Nov. 19, 1999).

In the Report and Order, the Commission determined that in order for it
to implement meaningfully the accessibility requirements of section 255,
comparable requirements should apply to two information services that
the Commission deemed critical to making telecommunications accessible
to and usable by people with disabilities. Therefore, the Commission
asserted ancillary jurisdiction under section 4(i) of the Act, 47 U.S.C.
§ 154(i), and extended the section 255 accessibility requirements to the
providers of voicemail and interactive menu service and to the
manufacturers of the equipment that perform those functions. *See*
Report and Order at ¶¶ 93-108. Requirements applicable to voicemail and
interactive menu services and equipment, which mirror those applicable
to telecommunications equipment and services in 47 C.F.R. §§ 6.1 --
6.23, are contained in 47 C.F.R. §§ 7.1 -- 7.23.

FCC staff has informally received information suggesting that many
consumers with disabilities may be continuing to have difficulties
accessing and using voicemail and interactive menu services. For
example, these systems may remain largely inaccessible to users of text
telephones (TTYs) who wish to interact with these systems directly. In
addition, we understand that TTY users who seek to use
telecommunications relay service (TRS) to access interactive and voice
menus may be frequently encountering lengthy delays or are frustrated by
their inability to complete calls to schools, banks, employers and other
public and private institutions that use these systems. It also appears
that many interactive menus may not allow adequate time for a TTY user
to have the information from the automated device relayed to the
caller's TTY and a response from the caller relayed back to the device
through TRS. We have also received reports that the sounds or
instructions provided with some interactive and voice menus may often be
so fast that a person who is hard of hearing or is cognitively delayed
cannot process them quickly enough. Similarly, we have been informed
that the speed of these menus may not provide persons who are blind or
have a motor disability with enough time to input the numbers or other
information needed to select from a list of menu choices. These
difficulties are exacerbated by the fact that interactive menus
frequently may not offer an option to connect the caller with a human
operator.

As the Commission noted in its Report and Order, the access barrier
created by inaccessible and/or unusable voicemail and interactive menus
makes it "extremely difficult for people with hearing, vision, or
physical disabilities to reach the party to whom they have placed the
call or to obtain the information they seek in their phone call." Report
and Order at ¶101. Manufacturers and providers of voicemail and
interactive menu services and products are reminded of their obligations
to take the appropriate measures to ensure that their products and
services are accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, if
readily achievable. Failure to take appropriate steps to enable such
access may lead to monetary forfeiture orders or other enforcement
action by the Commission.

By: the Chief, Enforcement Bureau; Chief, Consumer Information Bureau;
and Chief, Common Carrier Bureau.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Enforcement Bureau: Thomas Wyatt at
(202) 418-0963; TTY (202) 418-8233 or Suzanne Perrin at (202) 418-2874;
Consumer Information Bureau: Jenifer Simpson at 418-0008; Common Carrier
Bureau: Ellen Blackler at (202) 418-0491.