[Electronics-talk] Satellite TV, Direct TV specifically

[David Andrews]

You are talking about Section 255 of the Telecommunications act of 
1996.  First, you should know that the section says things should be 
made accessible if "readily achievable."  What that means is probably 
for the lawyers to decide, but is a big out for electronics 
companies.  Secondly, the Act covers telecommunications devices, 
phones and the like, not radios, TV's, satellite receivers etc.

Dave

At 01:35 PM 10/28/2009, you wrote:
>I agree.
>If I am not mistaken the FCC past some laws in 1998 which mandated 
>that all communication devises will be made accessible to people 
>with disabilities.
>They did a lot of testing and determined the technology was 
>available.  All that had to be done was to pull it together and 
>create the accessible devises.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org 
>[mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
>ckrugman at sbcglobal.net
>Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 3:02 PM
>To: Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances
>Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Satellite TV, Direct TV specifically
>
>It sounds like there needs to be increased regulation of cable and satellite
>providers that includes the requirement that on screen software and tuner
>boxes are made accessible. Unless regulation occurs we as blind people will
>be left out of the increased digital age.
>Chuck
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "James Aldrich" <jajkaldrich at gmail.com>
>To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances"
><electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 9:16 AM
>Subject: [Electronics-talk] Satellite TV, Direct TV specifically
>
>
> > Hello all!
> >
> > Dar and I recently had to call Direct TV to have a technician come out to
> > determine what was wrong with the satellite signal in our bedroom.  The
> > Living room TV and digital  Box as well as Satellite Box seemed to be
> > working okay!  I guess that would be all fine and good if they would
> > simply
> > send a technician as we requested!  They seem to be so insistent that
> > they,
> > the customer representative  can solve our problem if we could tell them
> > what is on the screen!  That sounds familiar right?  Depending on the
> > representative, some become so indignant with us if we don't tell them
> > what
> > is on that screen!  It is almost as if they don't believe we are blind,
> > they
> > talk down to us or blame us for the trouble we are having!  We finally got
> > a
> > supervisor and we managed to get a number for our account!  The first
> > technician who came out didn't know what was up or down I don't think!  He
> > called in someone else and the trouble was found and fixed within a minute
> > or so.  The trouble was on the outside hardware!  For whatever reason, our
> > local digital TV box wasn't working but it somehow mysteriously started to
> > work late last night!  Direct doesn't bring in the local channels in this
> > area, have to rely on the on air signal.  Surely!  There is a better way
> > to
> > deal with this problem!  We did tell them to keep in our record that we
> > are
> > blind!  We did have a neighbor come over and he couldn't solve the problem
> > either.
> >
> > Direct TV works well when working properly!  I wish we didn't have to deal
> > with so many indifferent customer service reps just to get something
> > fixed!
> > This of course is a part of being a large company and don't know whether
> > the
> > reps are outsourced yet or not!  Regardless of the situation, I hope
> > something can be done about this and if a repair technician is requested,
> > we
> > can get one, no questions asked!  Hopefully, everything will be fine for
> > the
> > next year or so.  Dar did get a customer agreement where she pays extra
> > for
> > having the extra supportive services.  I'm certain they can solve a good
> > percentage of the problems over the phone if the customer can read the
> > screen!  I understand this and also understand this is how they are
> > trained,
> > but there are situations as ours where sending the technician is really
> > the
> > best plan which usually involves fewer people!  Of course, it would be
> > nice
> > if we could get screen reader technology to work on their hard disks in
> > their receivers but that's another matter!
> >
> > Thanks for reading!
> >
> > Jim Aldrich
> >
> >
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>
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