FCC Acts to Improve Communications Services for Disabled
The FCC approved a package of orders Thurs. aimed at improving communications tools for hearing- and speech- impaired people. At its agenda meeting, the agency: (1) Set standards to make sure Video Relay Service (VRS) functions fully. (2) Decided Spanish translation VRS can be compensated from the interstate Telecom Relay Service (TRS) fund. (3) Clarified that 2-line captioned telephone service also is eligible for interstate TRS fund compensation.
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While traditional TRS involves typing text into a special device, usually with a 3rd party’s help, VRS users communicate over a video link, via a communications assistant (CA) who uses sign language. Such relay services usually are provided by contractors paid with state and federal TRS funds.
Besides mandating answer speeds for VRS and requiring VRS be offered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the new FCC rules permit VRS providers to be compensated for providing VRS mail. VRS mail is used when a hearing impaired person makes a call to a hearing person who isn’t available. The VRS provider leaves a voice message for the hearing person.
In a separate order, the agency ruled that VRS services that translate sign language into spoken Spanish and vice versa are eligible for TRS fund compensation. The action reversed what Comr. Copps called “last year’s misguided decision” to exclude the service from reimbursement. Comr. Abernathy said she is “particularly pleased that we have been able to resolve the cost- containment questions raised by compensating Spanish- language VRS from the interstate TRS Fund.” She said further study shows the Spanish version doesn’t represent significantly more cost, which “warranted reevaluation and ultimately reversal, of our earlier decision denying compensation for such services.”
The FCC said communications occur more naturally with VRS than with a TRS machine. The technology’s popularity has grown quickly since the agency recognized it as a form of TRS in 2000. In April, there were 1.8 million minutes of VRS used, a 10-fold increase over 2 years ago, the FCC said in a news release.
In the 3rd order, the FCC said a type of “captioned” phone service using 2 phone lines is eligible for TRS fund compensation. Captioned service uses a special consumer phone that lets users listen to a call while reading a captioned version on a text read-out. Such service usually is for people with some hearing. The 2-line version gives users call waiting, direct E-911 access and other additional functions. It also allows 2 people to be on a call at the same time.
“The items that we adopt today should improve the quality of life for individuals with hearing or speech disabilities,” said FCC Chmn. Martin. Martin and other commissioners noted adoption of the TRS items coincided with the 15th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.