[blindLaw] FW: Client Advisory: FCC Issues Citation against VoIP Provider, Signals Broad Expansion of Disability Access/CVAA Enforcement: The Time to Revisit Your C

Thu Aug 19 19:18:44 UTC 2021

This is a huge development in CVAA and Section 255 enforcement. I hope the ViaTalk citation will convince covered businesses who do not yet comply to get their act together.

From: The CommLaw Group <mail at commlawgroup.com> 
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2021 12:30 PM
To: Michal Nowicki <mjn at commlawgroup.com>
Subject: Client Advisory: FCC Issues Citation against VoIP Provider, Signals Broad Expansion of Disability Access/CVAA Enforcement: The Time to Revisit Your C

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Client Advisory: FCC Issues Citation against VoIP Provider, Signals Broad Expansion of Disability Access/CVAA Enforcement: The Time to Revisit Your Company’s Compliance is Now!

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In an unprecedented move, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) issued a citation against ViaTalk, LLC (the “ <https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/lZzMCZ6oDMhorvoCKQuAI?domain=commlawgroup.us2.list-manage.com> ViaTalk Order”), an interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) provider, finding that the company violated the Commission’s disability access rules by its failure to ensure its disabled subscribers had access to the same product support information the company provided to its non-disabled customers.  The FCC also cited ViaTalk for years of failing to file the annual compliance certification, signed by an officer of the company.

The ViaTalk order illustrates that under the  <https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/u2lGC1wnzZhE2gECXueTD?domain=commlawgroup.us2.list-manage.com> Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (“CVAA”) and Section 255 of the Communications Act, it is not enough for telecommunications manufacturers, suppliers and service providers (including I-VoIP and non-interconnected or “one way” VoIP providers) to make their products and services accessible to persons with disabilities, these companies MUST ALSO ensure that their products and services are “usable,” as explained below.

The Usability Requirement

In the telecom disability rights landscape, “usability” refers broadly to the ability of people with disabilities to learn how to use covered products and services, including their accessibility features, effectively and independently. To fulfill this goal, FCC regulations require equipment suppliers and service providers to ensure access to information and documentation provided to other customers for customers with disabilities. Such information and documentation includes user guides, bills, installation guides for end-user installable devices, and product support communications, regarding both the product in general and the accessibility features of the product.

The usability requirement applies to practically everyone in the chain of telecommunications product development and distribution, and to telecommunications providers generally, as well as to advanced communications services (“ACS” and end-user equipment used to access them. ACS include interconnected VoIP, non-interconnected VoIP, electronic messaging, and interoperable video conferencing services.

The ViaTalk Order

The ViaTalk Order arose from an unresolved consumer Request for Dispute Assistance, which escalated into an informal complaint. The aggrieved ViaTalk customer, a quadriplegic, had been a ViaTalk subscriber for more than a decade. After beginning to experience problems with ViaTalk’s service, he opened a support ticket with the company, which sent him a new adapter to resolve his service issue. He then requested a call for additional troubleshooting, because he had difficulty navigating the online support platform due to his disability. Despite multiple requests for ViaTalk to call him to troubleshoot the problem he continued to have with the VoIP service, including installation of the adapter, the company never called or followed up to schedule the requested call.

In the subsequent FCC enforcement proceeding, the company defended its inaction by claiming that the requests to schedule a specific time for assistance were accompanied by threats to take legal action, and that its “support representatives don’t have authority or training to represent ViaTalk regarding legal matters.” In so arguing, ViaTalk assured that it “would have made this accommodation had the legal action statements” not been made. The Commission was not convinced.

Although the FCC concluded that ViaTalk’s VoIP service is accessible to consumers with disabilities, it found that the company violated the usability requirement by ignoring the quadriplegic customer’s request for technical support over the phone. The Commission soundly rejected the company’s “support representatives are not lawyers” defense, noting that “it is not unusual for customers who are dissatisfied with a situation to threaten legal action against a company” and that threats of legal action do not eliminate the obligation to comply with the usability requirement. ViaTalk now faces a possible forfeiture or other sanctions, which will be determined by the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau in a later proceeding.

The ViaTalk Order demonstrates that the FCC takes alleged accessibility and usability violations seriously.

If you are concerned that your covered products or services may not comply with the CVAA or other accessibility laws, or that your products or services lack accessible supporting information or documentation, please contact  <https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/WxEwC2koAZFEPrEC9xQHF?domain=commlawgroup.us2.list-manage.com> Michal J. Nowicki, Esq., at (703) 714-1311 or  <mailto:mjn at commlawgroup.com> mjn at commlawgroup.com.

Being blind himself, Mr. Nowicki has over five years of experience with the CVAA and a strong passion for accessibility. Along with the Chief of the FCC Disability Rights Office and the Vice President of Corporate Design at Poly, Inc. — the maker of various telecommunications devices — he recently hosted a webinar educating businesses on tapping into a market of 60 million Americans with disabilities through accessibility.

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