[Electronics-Talk] AT&T and accessibility

[Christopher Chaltain]

There is no misconception here. There is a law on the books called the 
Telecommunications Act of 2010 that says cable providers need to provide 
accessible options to their blind customers.

The FC may or may not choose to enforce it, but that doesn't mean the 
law isn't on the books. IMHO, we need to complain to our cable companies 
and the FC to ensure we have accessible options. If the FCC chooses not 
to enforce the law on the books then we need to lobby for politicians 
and appointees who will enforce the existing laws.

If you listen to the person below then there's never a reason to do 
anything but sit in your living room and tell everyone things will only 
get worse. It used to be that the Chinese manufacturers don't care about 
accessibility, so don't waste your time. Before that, it was the FCC is 
only ever going to slap the cable companies on the wrist with a fine 
which is cheaper then addressing accessibility, so they're not going to 
do anything. I'm sure if we get an administration and an FCC that's more 
aggressive in enforcing accessibility laws then there will be yet 
another reason to sit in the dark and just curse the darkness.

This person never offers any constructive criticism, is nothing but 
negative, and if you listen to him you'd never do anything to make the 
world more accessible for the blind. Fortunately, there are those in the 
NFB who are more positive and work to get laws like the 
Telecommunications Act on the books.

On 12/02/17 12:10, Gerald Levy via Electronics-Talk wrote:
>
> There seems to be a misconception that there is a "law" on the books
> that requires cable companies to provide blind customers with accessible
> cable boxes upon request.  While it is true that the Video and
> Telecommunications Act of 2010 does include such a provision, it is
> essentially useless unless the FCC chairman enforces it, which, by his
> actions so far, demonstrates that he has no intention of doing.  So
> unless the cable companies decide to offer accessible boxes "out of the
> goodness of their hearts", it just ain't gonna happen. Of course, you
> could protest your outrage to the FCC Chairman by sending him a
> petition, but he is reputed to be cold-hearted and mean-spirited with
> regard to protecting the rights of consumers, so go ahead and take your
> best shot and see whether it makes any difference.
>
> Gerald
>
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Sharon Klug via Electronics-Talk
> Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2017 12:42 PM
> To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
> Cc: Sharon Klug
> Subject: [Electronics-Talk] AT&T and accessibility
>
> AT&T was my provider for a while. I called them about a talking box or
> something. I tried their app but couldn't get it to match up with my
> receiver. I was wanting to record shows but couldn't get that to work
> either.
>
> I got mad and got out of the contract. The accessibility department acted
> like they didn't know anything or didn't even know about the law. They said
> we have hearing impaired phones. That was the only thing that they new
> about.
> Sharon
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Electronics-Talk mailing list
> Electronics-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Electronics-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org/bwaylimited%40verizon.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Electronics-Talk mailing list
> Electronics-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Electronics-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org/chaltain%40gmail.com
>

-- 
Christopher (CJ)
chaltain at Gmail