Disability Advisory Committee; Announcement of Next Meeting

AGENCY:

Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This document announces the date of the next meeting of the Commission's Disability Advisory Committee (Committee or DAC). The meeting is open to the public. During this meeting, members of the Committee will receive and discuss summaries of activities and recommendations from its subcommittees.

DATES:

The Committee's next meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 23, 2016, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EST).

ADDRESSES:

Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554, in the Commission Meeting Room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Elaine Gardner, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau: 202-418-0581 (voice); email: DAC@fcc.gov; or Suzy Rosen Singleton, Alternate DAC Designated Federal Officer, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau: 202-510-9446 (VP/voice), at the same email address: DAC@fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Committee was established in December 2014 to make recommendations to the Commission on a wide array of disability matters within the jurisdiction of the Commission, and to facilitate the participation of people with disabilities in proceedings before the Commission. The Committee is organized under, and operated in accordance with, the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The Committee held its first meeting on March 17, 2015.

At its February 23, 2016 meeting, the Committee is expected to receive and consider a report on the activities of its Communications Subcommittee; a report and recommendation from its Emergency Communications Subcommittee regarding the provision of N-1-1 services through telecommunications relay services; an update from its Emergency Subcommittee regarding improvements to Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) proposed by the FCC in November 2015; a recommendation from its Relay & Equipment Distribution Subcommittee regarding the compatibility of the Commission's Accessible Communication for Everyone (“ACE”) platform with Next-Generation 911 services; a recommendation from its Technology Transitions Subcommittee regarding ways to address the transition to real-time text; and recommendations from its Video Programming Subcommittee regarding (1) interagency collaboration to address access to captioning and video description in places of public accommodations and other venues, such as aircraft, where video programming may be shown; and (2) questions for the Commission to consider in a rulemaking that may address the number of television programming hours that must be video described. The Committee will also (1) receive a report on the communication needs of deaf people with mobility disabilities from Mark Hill, President of the Cerebral Palsy and Deaf Organization; (2) hear presentations from Commission staff on recent activities; and (3) discuss new issues for its consideration.

A limited amount of time may be available on the agenda for comments and inquiries from the public. The public may comment or ask questions of presenters via the email address livequestions@fcc.gov. The meeting site is fully accessible to people using wheelchairs or other mobility aids. Sign language interpreters, open captioning, and assistive listening devices will be provided on site. Other reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. If making a request for an accommodation, please include a description of the accommodation you will need and tell us how to contact you if we need more information. Make your request as early as possible by sending an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or calling the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY). Last minute requests will be accepted, but may be impossible to fill. The meeting will be webcast with open captioning, at: www.fcc.gov/live.

To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).