FCC Releases 2022 Biennial CVAA Report to Congress

to monitor accessibility developments and gaps, Congress may wish to examine whether the CVAA should evolve to keep pace with technological development,” the report said. It concludes progress has been made in accessible products over the past two years but said some products and services still don’t include accessibility features. “In particular, commenters discussed how people with disabilities were unable to use features of some video conferencing services needed for work, school, and healthcare during the pandemic,” the report said. The report lists difficulties with automatic captions on video conferencing platforms, plus inaccessible chat features. Only some videoconferencing software has features to support the use of screen readers when users share screens, the report said. Some telehealth technology also lacks accessibility features, the report said. “In a 2020-2021 telehealth accessibility survey of people who are deaf or hard of hearing, two-thirds of the respondents reported communications challenges.” From Jan. 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2021, consumers filed 49 requests for dispute assistance (RDA) alleging violations of accessibility rules, the report said, with eight of those against Lifeline providers. The FCC’s Disability Rights Office resolved 47 RDAs through “facilitated dialogue and negotiation” while the remaining two led to informal complaints, the report said.