Capitol Correspondence - 02.11.19

Who Will be Advising the FCC on Disability Issues? Learn here!

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has nominated 37 individuals to its Disability Advisory Committee, which “provides advice and recommendations to the Commission on a wide array of disability matters specified by the Commission.” The nominees hail from the disability advocacy community, state and local governments and the private sector – including communications and media companies. The FCC oversees a range of issues such as internet access, cell phone access and other issues that play a key role in maintaining people with disabilities’ independence and well-being. We saw a recent example of this with the FCC’s recent call for stories from the disability community, which ended this past Friday, February 8.

As shared by the FCC: “During the Committee’s third term, it is anticipated that the Committee will meet in Washington, DC for a minimum of three (3) one-day plenary meetings per year. In addition, as needed, working groups or subcommittees will be established to facilitate the Committee’s work between meetings of the full Committee on accessibility-related matters that include, but are not limited to: communications transitions, telecommunications relay services, emergency access, and video programming accessibility.

The first meeting of the third term of the DAC will be announced at a later date. Meetings of the DAC and any working groups or subcommittees will be fully accessible to individuals with disabilities.

To obtain further information about the Committee, visit www.fcc.gov/dac, or contact: Will Schell, DFO, (202) 418-0767, or [email protected]; or Debra Patkin, Deputy DFO, (202) 870-5226.”