“Communications technology has the power to transform lives for the better.” Chairman Julius Genachowski

Read the Plan.

At an FCC Accessibility event at the Washington, D.C. Public Library on March 10, disability advocates heard about the consideration of the accessibility and affordability needs by the FCC that inform the Broadband Plan and the working paper that will accompany it.  See a blog post from the event and the archived webcast.

The Plan includes four principles:

1. Enhancing coordination;
2. Improving enforcement and implementation;
3. Using data wisely; and
4. Updating our policies for the 21st century.

Big news for the AT field! In the proposed Plan are:

• An Interagency Working Group to coordinate accessibility policies across agencies
• An Accessibility & Innovation Fund will work to identify and incentivize through a competition best practices and emerging solutions from industry, R&D, and the field
• A commitment to enforcement of accessibility laws and standards across the federal government
• Initiatives to help make assistive and accessible devices and applications more affordable

Add your comments to the FCC website and stay tuned to NCTI on how to leverage the momentum of this and other federal initiatives.

See past NCTI posts about input from the accessibility community to the draft Plan.