Disability Access Provisions Excerpted from Telecommunications Act of 1996 One Hundred Fourth Congress An Act To promote competition and reduce regulation in order to secure lower prices and higher quality services for American telecommunications consumers and encourage the rapid deployment of new telecommunications technologies. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES. (a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the `Telecommunications Act of 1996'. (b) REFERENCES- Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). TITLE I--TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES SUBTITLE A--TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF PART II OF TITLE II. (a) AMENDMENT- Title II is amended by inserting after section 229 (47 U.S.C. 229) the following new part: PART II--DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETITIVE MARKETS SEC. 251. INTERCONNECTION. (a) GENERAL DUTY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS--Each telecommunications carrier has the duty-- (1) to interconnect directly or indirectly with the facilities and equipment of other telecommunications carriers; and (2) not to install network features, functions, or capabilities that do not comply with the guidelines and standards established pursuant to section 255 or 256. (d) IMPLEMENTATION- (1) IN GENERAL- Within 6 months after the date of enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Commission shall complete all actions necessary to establish regulations to implement the requirements of this section. (2) PRESERVATION OF STATE ACCESS REGULATIONS- In prescribing and enforcing regulations to implement the requirements of this section, the Commission shall not preclude the enforcement of any regulation, order, or policy of a State commission that-- (A) establishes access and interconnection obligations of local exchange carriers; (B) is consistent with the requirements of this section; and (C) does not substantially prevent implementation of the requirements of this section and the purposes of this part. SEC. 255. ACCESS BY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. (a) DEFINITIONS- As used in this section-- (1) DISABILITY- The term `disability' has the meaning given to it by section 3(2)(A) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102(2)(A)). (2) READILY ACHIEVABLE- The term `readily achievable' has the meaning given to it by section 301(9) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 12181(9)). (b) MANUFACTURING- A manufacturer of telecommunications equipment or customer premises equipment shall ensure that the equipment is designed, developed, and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable. (c) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES- A provider of telecommunications service shall ensure that the service is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable. (d) COMPATIBILITY- Whenever the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) are not readily achievable, such a manufacturer or provider shall ensure that the equipment or service is compatible with existing peripheral devices or specialized customer premises equipment commonly used by individuals with disabilities to achieve access, if readily achievable. (e) GUIDELINES- Within 18 months after the date of enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board shall develop guidelines for accessibility of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment in conjunction with the Commission. The Board shall review and update the guidelines periodically. (f) NO ADDITIONAL PRIVATE RIGHTS AUTHORIZED- Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any private right of action to enforce any requirement of this section or any regulation thereunder. The Commission shall have exclusive jurisdiction with respect to any complaint under this section. SEC . 256. COORDINATION FOR INTERCONNECTIVITY. (a) PURPOSE- It is the purpose of this section-- (1) to promote nondiscriminatory accessibility by the broadest number of users and vendors of communications products and services to public telecommunications networks used to provide telecommunications service through-- (A) coordinated public telecommunications network planning and design by telecommunications carriers and other providers of telecommunications service; and (B) public telecommunications network interconnectivity, and interconnectivity of devices with such networks used to provide telecommunications service; and (2) to ensure the ability of users and information providers to seamlessly and transparently transmit and receive information between and across telecommunications networks. (b) COMMISSION FUNCTIONS- In carrying out the purposes of this section, the Commission-- (1) shall establish procedures for Commission oversight of coordinated network planning by telecommunications carriers and other providers of telecommunications service for the effective and efficient interconnection of public telecommunications networks used to provide telecommunications service; and (2) may participate, in a manner consistent with its authority and practice prior to the date of enactment of this section, in the development by appropriate industry standards-setting organizations of public telecommunications network interconnectivity standards that promote access to-- (A) public telecommunications networks used to provide telecommunications service; (B) network capabilities and services by individuals with disabilities; and (C) information services by subscribers of rural telephone companies. (c) COMMISSION'S AUTHORITY- Nothing in this section shall be construed as expanding or limiting any authority that the Commission may have under law in effect before the date of enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. (d) DEFINITION- As used in this section, the term `public telecommunications network interconnectivity' means the ability of two or more public telecommunications networks used to provide telecommunications service to communicate and exchange information without degeneration, and to interact in concert with one another. TITLE III--CABLE SERVICES SEC. 305. VIDEO PROGRAMMING ACCESSIBILITY. Title VII is amended by inserting after section 712 (47 U.S.C. 612) the following new section: SEC. 713. VIDEO PROGRAMMING ACCESSIBILITY. (a) COMMISSION INQUIRY- Within 180 days after the date of enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Federal Communications Commission shall complete an inquiry to ascertain the level at which video programming is closed captioned. Such inquiry shall examine the extent to which existing or previously published programming is closed captioned, the size of the video programming provider or programming owner providing closed captioning, the size of the market served, the relative audience shares achieved, or any other related factors. The Commission shall submit to the Congress a report on the results of such inquiry. (b) ACCOUNTABILITY CRITERIA- Within 18 months after such date of enactment, the Commission shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary to implement this section. Such regulations shall ensure that-- (1) video programming first published or exhibited after the effective date of such regulations is fully accessible through the provision of closed captions, except as provided in subsection (d); and (2) video programming providers or owners maximize the accessibility of video programming first published or exhibited prior to the effective date of such regulations through the provision of closed captions, except as provided in subsection (c) DEADLINES FOR CAPTIONING- Such regulations shall include an appropriate schedule of deadlines for the provision of closed-captioning of video programming. (d) EXEMPTIONS- Notwithstanding subsection (b)-- (1) the Commission may exempt by regulation programs, classes of programs, or services for which the Commission has determined that the provision of closed captioning would be economically burdensome to the provider or owner of such programming; (2) a provider of video programming or the owner of any program carried by the provider shall not be obligated to supply closed captions if such action would be inconsistent with contracts in effect on the date of enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, except that nothing in this section shall be construed to relieve a video programming provider of its obligations to provide services required by Federal law; and (3) a provider of video programming or program owner may petition the Commission for an exemption from the requirements of this section, and the Commission may grant such petition upon a showing that the requirements contained in this section would result in an undue burden. (e) UNDUE BURDEN- The term `undue burden' means significant difficulty or expense. In determining whether the closed captions necessary to comply with the requirements of this paragraph would result in an undue economic burden, the factors to be considered include-- (1) the nature and cost of the closed captions for the programming; (2) the impact on the operation of the provider or program owner; (3) the financial resources of the provider or program owner; and (4) the type of operations of the provider or program owner. (f) VIDEO DESCRIPTIONS INQUIRY- Within 6 months after the date of enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Commission shall commence an inquiry to examine the use of video descriptions on video programming in order to ensure the accessibility of video programming to persons with visual impairments, and report to Congress on its findings. The Commission's report shall assess appropriate methods and schedules for phasing video descriptions into the marketplace, technical and quality standards for video descriptions, a definition of programming for which video descriptions would apply, and other technical and legal issues that the Commission deems appropriate. (g) VIDEO DESCRIPTION- For purposes of this section, `video description' means the insertion of audio narrated descriptions of a television program's key visual elements into natural pauses between the program's dialogue. (h) PRIVATE RIGHTS OF ACTIONS PROHIBITED- Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any private right of action to enforce any requirement of this section or any regulation thereunder. The Commission shall have exclusive jurisdiction with respect to any complaint under this section. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. (a) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS- Section 3 (47 U.S.C. 153) is amended- (2) by adding at the end thereof the following: (38) CUSTOMER PREMISES EQUIPMENT- The term `customer premises equipment' means equipment employed on the premises of a person (other than a carrier) to originate, route, or terminate telecommunications. (41) INFORMATION SERVICE- The term `information service' means the offering of a capability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making available information via telecommunications, and includes electronic publishing, but does not include any use of any such capability for the management, control, or operation of a telecommunications system or the management of a telecommunications service. (48) TELECOMMUNICATIONS- The term `telecommunications' means the transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user's choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received. (49) TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER- The term `telecommunications carrier' means any provider of telecommunications services, except that such term does not include aggregators of telecommunications services (as defined in section 226). A telecommunications carrier shall be treated as a common carrier under this Act only to the extent that it is engaged in providing telecommunications services, except that the Commission shall determine whether the provision of fixed and mobile satellite service shall be treated as common carriage. (50) TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT- The term `telecommunications equipment' means equipment, other than customer premises equipment, used by a carrier to provide telecommunications services, and includes software integral to such equipment (including upgrades). (51) TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE- The term `telecommunications service' means the offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such classes of users as to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used.