Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee; Meeting

ARCHITECTURAL AND TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS COMPLIANCE BOARD

Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee; Meeting

AGENCY: Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board

(Access Board) gives notice of the dates and location of the meetings

of the Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee.

DATES: The Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee will meet on

September 25, 26, and 27, 1996. The meetings will begin at 9:30 a.m.

and end no later than 5:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held in the Steptoe & Johnson building,

1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW., Washington, DC on the concourse level.

The meetings are open to the public. The facility is accessible to

individuals with disabilities. Sign language interpreters, assistive

listening systems and real-time transcription will be available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information regarding the

meetings, please contact Dennis Cannon, Office of Technical and

Information Services, Architectural and Transportation Barriers

Compliance Board, 1331 F Street, NW., Suite 1000, Washington, D.C.

20004-1111. Telephone number (202) 272-5434 extension 35 (voice); (202)

272-5449 (TTY). Electronic mail address: [email protected]. This

document is available in alternate formats (cassette tape, braille,

large print, or computer disk) upon request.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 24, 1996, the Access Board published

a notice appointing members to its Telecommunications Access Advisory

Committee (Committee). 61 FR 26155 (May 24, 1996). The Committee will

make recommendations to the Access Board on accessibility guidelines

for telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment. These

recommendations will be used by the Access Board to develop

accessibility guidelines under section 255(e) of the Telecommunications

Act of 1996. The Committee is composed of representatives of

manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and customer premises

equipment; organizations representing the access needs of individuals

with disabilities; telecommunications providers and carriers; and other

persons affected by the guidelines. At its first meeting on June 12-14,

1996, the Committee took the following actions:

The statutory definitions of telecommunications,

telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment are to be

construed broadly.

Providing access is not a ``change in form'' of

information within the meaning of the statute's definition of

telecommunications and, therefore, not excluded.

A listserv was created through the Trace Center: taac-

[email protected]. To subscribe, send e-mail to [email protected]

with the message subscribe taac-l .

At its second meeting on August 14-16, 1996, the Committee agreed

on the following points:

In customer premises equipment (CPE), it is not always

possible to separate the effects of software from hardware and one

manufacturer may choose to perform the same function with one or the

other. Therefore, the guidelines must cover both.

It is not always possible to determine whether a

particular function resides with the CPE, the telecommunications

carrier or the source material. Therefore, the guidelines will be

developed with the assumption that the function resides in the CPE and

urge the FCC to apply the same guidelines to entities and services

under its jurisdiction.

The Committee also agreed that the existing definitions of

CPE and telecommunications equipment are sufficient.

The Committee also took the following administrative and procedural

actions:

While the definition of ``readily achievable'' in the

Telecommunications Act is the same as in the Americans with

Disabilities Act (ADA), the term is applied differently. In the ADA,

the term applies to barrier removal in existing facilities whereas the

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Telecommunications Act applies the term to the manufacture of new

equipment. An ad hoc task group was formed to develop criteria to

assess ``readily achievable'' in this new context.

Subcommittees on Compliance Assessment and Guidelines

content were created. Discussions will be conducted primarily by e-

mail. To participate in a subcommittee, send e-mail to [email protected]

board.gov or [email protected].

The Committee will meet again on: November 6-8, December 16-18, and

January 14-15. Subsequent meetings will be held at locations to be

announced.

The Committee will meet on the dates and at the location announced

in this notice. There will be a public comment period each day for

persons interested in presenting their views to the Committee.

Lawrence W. Roffee,

Executive Director.

[FR Doc. 96-22336 Filed 8-30-96; 8:45 am]

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