FCC Committee OKs Reports on Wireline Real-Time Text, TRS on Conferencing Platforms
The FCC’s Disability Advisory Committee approved reports Thursday on real-time text (RTT) on wireline networks and telecommunications relay services on videoconferencing platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex. All FCC meetings have used a video platform since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic almost two years ago.
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FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, speaking at the meeting, said she looks forward to reading both reports. RTT “allows for a lot more conversational text messaging without having to press the send button, and it can make communications feel more natural,” she said. RTT also “provides public safety benefits by making it faster and easier to call 911 and reach out in a crisis,” she said.
COVID-19 made accessibility of conferencing platforms more critical and “it’s a good bet that we will continue to rely on these tools when we get to the other side of this pandemic,” Rosenworcel said. Neither report was released Thursday.
The RTT working group recommends the FCC issue a notice of inquiry on ways to expand availability on wireline networks to “fully evaluate the benefits,” said co-Chair Ian Dillner, Verizon associate general counsel. RTT is already widely used on wireless networks as an alternative to text technology.
The report “considers the benefits of wireline RTT for persons with disabilities, the state of wireline network technology and challenges to deploying wireline RTT natively,” Dillner said: “It discusses over-the-top approaches to RTT deployment … and ongoing RTT standards development.” The report also stresses the importance of education for consumers, he said.
The conferencing platform report looks at problems that sometimes keep the deaf and hard of hearing from participating, said Eric Kaika, CEO of Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and co-chair of the working group that wrote the report. In some cases, users can’t use TRS and have to rely on automated speech recognition, which “can be a bit of a gamble,” he said. “Deaf or hard-of-hearing users who prefer to use sign language or other services, when they find themselves without captions, may have no other way to communicate and participate on calls,” he said.
The report urges the FCC to ask TRS providers and platform companies to develop a technical mechanism for TRS-to-videoconferencing interconnection, Kaika said. Platforms should allow for any TRS platform to be connected, and videoconferencing platforms shouldn't enter into agreement with a single company so only one relay service is available, he said. The report calls for “clear performance objectives to ensure that all videoconferencing platforms have things like closed captioning built in, which is available to all users, including those users who may be making use of free accounts,” he said.
The report recommends the commission clarify its rules, “if necessary, and if necessary, also open a new proceeding to ensure that all certified TRS providers can receive compensation for … integration on videoconferencing platforms,” Kaika said.
“We are not yet at true functional equivalence for all of the services relied on” by the disabled “and we cannot slow our pace,” said Commissioner Nathan Simington. The FCC has done good work on improving its oversight of the TRS, but fees for service provide lower compensation than a year ago because of inflation, he said. “Operators of TRS services must be incentivized to be efficient, but they must all have the opportunity to innovate and that requires capital investment,” he said.
People with disabilities face “unique challenges” from the COVID-19 pandemic, including higher death rates for those with developmental and intellectual disabilities and “limited access to care and amenities due to social distancing,” said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. Mask mandates prevent lip-reading, he said. DAC and the FCC “must continue working together to ensure persons with disabilities have access to the full spectrum of devices, networks, and content available to those without disabilities,” he said.
Starks said people with disabilities continue to be underrepresented on TV. While 25% of Americans have a disability, research indicates only 3.1% of characters on TV screen are represented as disabled, he said: “Children’s television truly stands out here with representation at less than 1%.”