FCC Extends Accessibility Requirements To Videoconferencing Services

Under the provisions of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA), communications providers and manufacturers of communications equipment generally must make their services and equipment accessible to and usable by people with all types of disabilities, including vision, hearing, and physical and cognitive challenges. Accessibility requirements apply to virtually all equipment and technologies that allow consumers to communicate, even when the communications function is an ancillary feature, such as player in-game texts and chats using a video game console or a communications device in an automobile. However, because of uncertainty about a specific word in the CVAA, accessibility requirements have not been applied to videoconferencing. That is about to change.