Workshop: Broadband Accessibility for People with Disabilities II: Barriers, Opportunities and Policy Recommendations

Barriers, Opportunities, and Policy Recommendations will continue the open discussion among the FCC and all who have a stake in the future of broadband and its accessibility for people with disabilities, including the disability community, network and service providers, equipment manufacturers, and software producers, technologists, economists, academics, representatives from trade associations and non-profits, and representatives from tribal, local, state, and federal governments.

The goal of this follow-up workshop is to clearly identify (i) accessibility and affordability barriers faced by people with disabilities in accessing broadband capabilities; (ii) opportunities that broadband can present for people with disabilities; and (iii) policy recommendations that will address the barriers to broadband for people with disabilities and maximize the opportunities related to broadband for people with disabilities.

In conjunction with the panels, there will be exhibits of assistive technologies that are used by people with disabilities to access broadband technologies as well as universally designed mass market broadband technologies that can be used by people with disabilities.

Simultaneous with the webcast, the meeting will be available through Accessible Event, a service that works with your web browser to make presentations accessible to people with disabilities. You can listen to the audio and use a screen reader to read displayed documents. You can also watch the video with open captioning. Accessible Event is available at, http://accessibleevent.com/.

The web page prompts for an Event Code which is, 005202376.

To learn about the features of Accessible Event, consult its User's Guide at, http://accessibleevent.com/doc/user_guide/.

Topics

The following are some of the preliminary topics that will be covered at this workshop. If you would like to discuss any other topics, please send us your suggestions.

• What are the specific barriers to broadband accessibility and affordability for (i) people with sight disabilities; (ii) people with hearing disabilities; (iii) people with speech disabilities; (iv) people who are deaf blind; (v) people with mobility disabilities; and (vi) people with intellectual disabilities and social communication disabilities, including autism?
• What are the technological barriers, solutions, and costs as they relate to broadband networks, services, equipment, software and tech support that affect people with disabilities?
• What is the potential for broadband to further education, job creation/entrepreneurial activities, health care, civic participation, emergency preparedness and response, telework, social networking, and other national purposes for people with disabilities?
• What programs and services currently exist that provide or subsidize broadband equipment and broadband internet access for people with disabilities, and what lessons have been learned from these programs?
• What specific policy recommendations related to disability access should be included in the National Broadband Plan?

Agenda

9:15 am	Welcome: Sherrese Smith, Legal Advisor for Media, Consumer, and Enforcement Issues, Office of the Chairman Logistics: Cheryl J. King, Disability Rights Office, FCC
9:30 am	Panel 1: Leveraging Federal and State Resources to Make Broadband Accessible and Affordable Moderators: Cheryl J. King, Deputy Chief, Disability Rights Office, FCC Elise Kohn, Deputy Director, Adoption and Usage, FCC Broadband Team Panelists: Gary Bojes, Ph.D., Senior Level Program and Policy Advisor, Rural Utility Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture C. Marty Exline, Director, Missouri Assistive Technology Program Richard L. Horne, Ed.D., Director, Division of Policy Planning and Research, Office of Disability Employment Policy, Department of Labor Jennifer Sheehy, Director of Policy and Planning, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Department of Education Terry Weaver, Director, IT Accessibility & Workforce Division Office of Governmentwide Policy, General Services Administration (GSA) Daniel Weitzner, Associate Administrator for the Office of Policy Analysis and Development, Department of Commerce, NTIA
10:30 am	Panel 2: Accessibility and Affordability Barriers to Broadband and Internet Use Faced by People with Disabilities Moderators: John Horrigan, Consumer Research Director, FCC Broadband Team Elise Kohn, Deputy Director, Adoption and Usage, FCC Broadband Team Panelists: Eric Bridges, American Council of the Blind (ACB) Rosaline Crawford, Esq., Director, Law and Advocacy Center, National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Paula Durbin-Westby, Member, Board of Directors, The Autistic Self Advocacy Network Margaret V. (Peggy) Hathaway, Vice-President for Public Policy, Spinal Cord Advocates Rebecca Ladew, East Coast Representative, Speech Communications Assistance by Telephone, Inc. (SCT) Elizabeth Spiers, Director of Information Services, American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB) Jim Tobias, President, Inclusive Technologies Elizabeth Weintraub, Member, Council on Quality and Leadership
11:30 a.m.	Panel 3: Advancing National Purposes for People with Disabilities Moderator: Kristen Kane, Director of National Purposes, FCC Broadband Team Steve Midgley, Education Director, FCC Broadband Team Jing Vivatrat, Workforce Development Director, FCC Broadband Team Ronnie Cho, Program Analyst, PSHSB Jennifer Manner, Deputy Chief, PSHSB Panelists: Jim Fruchterman, President, Benetech (Education) Margaret V. (Peggy) Hathaway, Esq., Vice-President for Public Policy, Spinal Cord Advocates (Jobs/ Civic Participation ) Ishak Kang, CEO/Founder, dot UI (Smart Grid) Katherine D. Seelman, Ph.D., Professor, Rehabilitation Science and Technology, University of Pittsburgh (Healthcare: Telerehabilitation) Claude Stout, Executive Director, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI) (Public Safety)
12:30 p.m.	Break for Lunch on Your Own
1:30 p.m.	Panel 4: Technological Barriers and Solutions Moderator: Walter Johnston, Chief, Electromagnetic Compatibility Division, OET, FCC Panelists: Greg Elin, Chief Technology Officer, United Cerebral Palsy and Executive Director, Life Without Limits Jim Fruchterman, President, Benetech Dale Hatfield, Executive Director, Silicon Flatirons John Snapp, Senior Technical Officer, Intrado Gregg Vanderheiden, Ph.D., Director, Trace Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
2:30 p.m.	Policy Roundtable (Welcoming Remarks by Commissioner Michael J. Copps) Moderators: Commissioner Michael J. Copps Elizabeth Lyle, Policy Advisor, Broadband FCC Broadband Team Erik Garr, General Manager, FCC Broadband Team Mary Beth Richards, Special Counsel for FCC Reform, Office of the Chairman Sherrese Smith, Legal Advisor for Media, Consumer, and Enforcement Issues, Office of the Chairman Jennifer Schneider, Broadband, Wireline and Universal Service Legal Advisor, Office of Commissioner Copps Government Observers: David Furth, Deputy Bureau Chief, PSHSB, FCC Jane Jackson, Associate Bureau Chief, WTB, FCC Cheryl King, Deputy Director, Disability Rights Office, CGB, FCC Mark Stone, Deputy Bureau Chief, CGB, FCC Terry Weaver, Director, IT Accessibility and Workforce Division, GSA Participants: Rob Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Ellen Blackler, Executive Director, AT&T Alan Brightman, Senior Policy Director, Yahoo! Kathryn Brown, Senior Vice President, Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility, Verizon Deborah Buck, Executive Director, Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP) David Capozzi, Executive Director, U.S. Access Board Larry Goldberg, Director, Media Access Group at WGBH Patrick Halley, Director, Government Affairs, National Emergency Numbering Association (NENA) Dale Hatfield, Executive Director, Silicon Flatirons Matthew Knopf, Vice President, Business Development, PLYmedia Jane Mago, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Helena Mitchell, Ph.D., Executive Director CACP And Principal Investigator, Wireless RERC, GA Tech Randy Pope, American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB) Ken Salaets, Director, Global Policy, Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) Paul Schroeder, Director, Programs and Policy, American Foundation for the Blind Grant Seiffert, President, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Dane Snowden, Vice President, External and State Affairs, CTIA-The Wireless Association ® Claude Stout, Executive Director, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI) Karen Peltz Strauss, Co-Chair, Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technologies (COAT) Jim Tobias, President, Inclusive Technologies Gregg Vanderheiden, Director, Trace Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison Joe Waz, Sr. Vice President, Comcast Corporation
4:30 p.m.	Closing

Related Documents

September 18, 2009
Comment Sought on Broadband Accessibility for People with Disabilities Workshop II: Barriers, Opportunities, and Policy Recommendations
Public Notice DA 09-2080


Workshop Transcript
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