[Electronics-talk] Cablevision DVR

[Larry Wayland]

You may be right, but I have learned in my life time is that progress always cost something, especially in the beginning. In this case it may be effort on our part in filing complaints, maybe a little extra cost, which I expect would be very minimal and unnecessary.  I will tell you this, if we don't file the complaints it is for sure nothing will be done.  I am not surprised your cable company doesn't know anything about the law, which by the way is already in place. It is just we can't file formal complaints until after October of this year.  They will not learn anything about it until we tell them about it and the best way to get them to listen is to file those complaints .  
I remember several years ago deaf people had to purchase a very expensive device to receive the close captioning on their TV's.  They lobbied and got a law passed requiring the television companies  to include a chip in each TV set that would do the close captioning.  The cost of each TV set went up by 50 cents. Very minimal.  I can see the same thing happening here. 
Also I would like to add  this law is not just for  television, it is for all communication devices, which might make it possible for some of the blind people on fixed incomes to  be able to find jobs and  increase their income.  Also don't forget, when something is made accessable for blind people it is made better for everyone.
Larry




In practical terms, the Telecommunications Act probably won't change anything in the near future.  Until all the cable companies get together and agree on a standardized, universal set-top box design, they will simply file delaying appeals with the FCC to indefinitely postpone the introduction of accessible boxes on the grounds of insurmountable technical hurdles.  The customer service agents at my local cable provider, Time Warner, seem to know nothing about the Telecommunications Act, and they have told me on numerous occasions that Time Warner has no plans to introduce an accessible cable box anythime soon, if at all.  The practical reality, I'm afraid, is that the cable companies will simply disregard the Telecommunications Act with relative impunity.  At worst, they will be forced to pay fines for noncompliance, which they will subsequently pass on to their customers in the form of higher rates.  So at least in the short run, the Telecommunications Act may have the effect of actually making things worse, not better, for blind cable customers most of whom live on fixed incomes and thus can barely afford the outrageously high cost of cable service to begin with.

Gerald


----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Bahr" <dcbahr1 at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances" 
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, April 01, 2013 11:29 AM
Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Cablevision DVR


> yeah, my fiance has to operate the dvr for me if I want to watch jeopardy 
> which is kind of my addiction when it's not baseball season. it sucks. 
> hmm, regarding the fcc complaint issue, does that complaint have to be 
> lobbied against one particular device or company or is it all across the 
> board of, say, dvrs in general? Because the company making the device 
> could either discontinue it or make a newer model thus making the case 
> moot and you might have to file another one. That's just me thinking 
> aloud, I could be completely wrong about all of that.
> On 4/1/2013 8:10 AM, Larry Wayland wrote:
>> Because of the Communications and video act of 2010 you will be able to 
>> file formal complaints with  the FCC after October of this year.  I 
>> suggest we all be ready and willing to file complaints when our 
>> communications devises are not accessible. Companies are suppose to know 
>> about this law and will have had two years to develop accessible devises.
>> Larry
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Electronics-talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>> Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
>> Sent: Monday, April 01, 2013 7:53 AM
>> To: Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances
>> Subject: [Electronics-talk] Cablevision DVR
>>
>> Does anyone else have Cablevision or Optimum with a DVR?
>> Their ads say that one can manage the DVR online, but, when I go there, 
>> the buttons apparently are part of a picture, and all I see is "graphics 
>> image".
>> My husband and I have complained to Cablevision about it, but who knows 
>> if anything will come of it.
>> I wonder if anyone else has figured it out, or if the cell phone 
>> interface is better, or if anyone else would also complain.
>>
>> We've been using the remote to control the DVR, but Cablevision just 
>> changed its menus and made the whole process a lot more complicated.  Why 
>> use 4 moves to do something, when you can use 10?  What idiot designs 
>> these things!
>> Tracy
>>
>>
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