[BlindTlk] [PhonesForTheBlind] Hence why blind people must not use these feature phones for the blind. (fwd)

Fri Jul 12 16:03:56 UTC 2024

-- 
 Jude <jdashiel at panix dot com>
 "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo.
 Please use in that order."
 Ed Howdershelt 1940.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2024 13:16:25
From: Muhammed 3198Denix <muhammed3198 at gmail.com>
Reply-To: PhonesForTheBlind at groups.io
To: phonesfortheblind at groups.io, blindandroidusers at groups.io
Subject: [PhonesForTheBlind] Hence why blind people must not use these feature
    phones for the blind.
Resent-Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2024 08:40:40 -0700
Resent-From: muhammed3198 at gmail.com

[Tech-VI] FCC: T-Mobile US unit gave blind customer the runaround in massive
tech support fail
[Tech-VI] FCC: T-Mobile US unit gave blind customer the runaround in massive
tech support fail

From the Tech-VI list owner:

Passing this on from Jack McElaney’s excellent Accessibility in the News weekly
newsletter.
Visit this link to subscribe.

Original Source

FCC: T-Mobile US unit gave blind customer the runaround in massive tech support
fail

22 comment bubble on whitecomment bubble on white

Assurance Wireless must sort out accessibility after handing customer a phone
without a screen reader

iconicon
Jude Karabus

Fri 5 Jul 2024 // 20:02 UTC

In January 2021, Kenneth Geaniton, a blind consumer who subscribed to the
Lifeline service provided by T-Mobile US offshoot Assurance Wireless, found he
couldn't access the service after his feature phone died.

But according to an order handed down this week by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), that was just the beginning of a three-year journey that
allegedly included months-long pauses in service provision, required Geaniton to
make multiple calls to customer service to perform simple functions, and much
back and forth with inappropriate devices being sent. The document details
Assurance's alleged failures to comply with multiple sections of the
Communications Act and lists what the service provider needs to do.

In 2021, Geaniton had been an Assurance customer for over a decade, using a push
button feature phone with a screen reader, rather than a touchscreen smartphone
without one, for reasons that would be immediately apparent to readers with
visual disabilities or techies with 20/20 vision and a little imagination. (We
should add that many visually impaired people are perfectly able to use
smartphones with touchscreens and accessibility features, notwithstanding that
Geaniton found that feature phones were more accessible.)

But according to the FCC order, Geaniton has spent years filing complaints,
receiving several seemingly unsuitable devices with and without screen readers,
starting with a smartphone he was unable to use.

braille screen and computer keyboardbraille screen and computer keyboard

Blind man sues Dell over inaccessible website

READ MORE

Now the federal agency has said that Assurance, which receives subsidies from
the FCC under the terms of the Lifeline program, needs to make things right with
Geaniton and make sure the next visually impaired customer doesn't face the same
uphill battle.

Lifeline is a FCC program that, as part of the Universal Service Fund, provides
qualifying low-income consumers with voice telephony service, broadband internet
service, or bundled voice broadband packages through eligible telecommunications
carriers. The service bundle is supposed to include a free mobile phone.

According to the
order
 [PDF], an infuriating read, the company said in its defense that it had
"manufacturer representations" that it had a device in its portfolio that was
operable "in at least one mode" without vision. It said it relied on the OEMs
that make the phones "to ensure the accessibility and usability of any of the
provided devices."

But the FCC disagreed this was sufficient, stating: "Even if the devices had one
mode that was operable without vision, Assurance is a service provider and as
such it had a responsibility under the Rules to ensure that the devices it
provided to Mr Geaniton – as the input/control function to the service – were
appropriately integrated into and synced up with the Lifeline service provided
by Assurance to Mr Geaniton."

The order claims that at one point, Geaniton was provided with a feature phone,
a Coolpad Belleza. "However, the phone was not activated, and he could not make
or receive phone calls."

"As of March 22, 2023, Mr Geaniton was still unable to make or receive calls
using the provided Coolpad and a network ticket was submitted. The Company's
records indicate the network ticket was still being investigated as late as
April 5, 2023. On May 10, 2023, Mr Geaniton submitted another [Request for
Dispute Assistance with the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau] alleging
that he continued to be unable to make or receive calls because the Coolpad
still had not been activated. On May 18, 2023, T-Mobile engineers identified and
resolved the provisioning issue for the provided Coolpad. However, a Company
representative further identified that the Coolpad did not have a native screen
reader as requested."

It added:

The only pertinent evidence that is in the record – Mr Geaniton's inability to
use the devices provided to him to enable access to Assurance's service –
strongly suggests that Assurance's service was not operable without vision. For
example, the Company provided a Schok Volt SV55 which contains a screen reader
functionality, however, it is not evidenced that the device was successfully
provisioned to the network nor does the record indicate that Mr Geaniton was
able to access and use Assurance's service through the Schok Volt SV55.

list of 4 items
• AT&T forbidden from cutting landline services to large parts of California
• Microsoft updates accessibility feature Voice Access to auto-restart
• 40 years since Elite became the most fun you could have with 22 kilobytes
• The rise and fall of the standard user interface
list end

By September 2023, Geaniton found he could once again not make calls, according
to the filing. After he filed another Request for Dispute Assistance (RDA) with
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) in October 20, the order says
that the company eventually transported him "to a store location for assistance
... after over a year of service interruptions and his filing of five (5) RDAs
with the CGB."

The order notes: "The Company's records indicate that Mr Geaniton's device was
in Airplane Mode and service was restored by simply turning the Airplane Mode
off ... A simple question may have disclosed the nature of Mr Geaniton's
problem."

The complainant told the FCC that the service was restored until December 16,
2023, when he claimed to have once again experienced an additional service
interruption. This time, according to the document, he filed a complaint with
the FCC itself, which it served on Assurance in January.

Under the terms of this week's order, Assurance needs to identify a device
accessible to Geaniton that is compatible with Assurance's network, and allows
him to "reliably access and use" Assurance's Lifeline service.

It also has to make sure its customer support personnel have trained people
capable of providing accessibility information and troubleshooting issues that
make Assurance's service unusable to consumers with disabilities, as well as
make information on accessibility features on the devices Assurance provides
publicly available.

Lastly, the FCC asked the mobile arm to implement a complaint system that
"tracks complaints alleging accessibility issues" so representatives can have in
front of them what actions were previously taken with a specific consumer.

The Reg has asked Assurance parent T-Mobile for comment. ®

More about
list of 1 items
• Network
list end

More like these

22 comment bubble on whitecomment bubble on white COMMENTS

TIP US OFF

Send us news

David Goldfield,

Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group.
View/Reply Online (#9218): https://groups.io/g/PhonesForTheBlind/message/9218
Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/107184462/11102
Group Owner: PhonesForTheBlind+owner at groups.io
Unsubscribe:
https://groups.io/g/PhonesForTheBlind/leave/11606392/11102/2054492871/xyzzy
[jdashiel at panix.com]
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-