Telecommunication Position Paper
DIDM'93 DISABILITY INDEPENDENCE DAY MARCH Telecommunications For People with Disabilities DIDM ‘93 Position Paper Adopted July 6, 1993 Dr. Frank Bowe, Author
Telecommunications: Four Principles for New York
Introduction
People with disabilities have a large stake in the future of telecommunications in New York State. No one–no one–stands to gain more from advances in communication. The first principle is that of fairness and equity. Whatever is done should serve all New Yorkers: that is called universal service. We also propose accessibility, broadband-or-better, and open competition as bedrock principles.
The universal service obligation is why phone service is as affordable, and ubiquitous as it is. Universal service means service available to us that we can afford. Accessibility means service we can use: it offers us information in the medium we need (it “talks” for blind people, “hears” for deaf people, etc.). Technology makes this possible; New York State should no longer accept solutions that we cannot use. Broadband-or-better means voice, data and video service. That is vital for distance learning and effective telecommuting.
Open competition means just that: all communications companies should be allowed to compete for our business, under the same ground rules, particularly universal service and accessibility. It is urgent that any, and all, new services be tested among people with as well as people without disabilities. The only way to make sure that people with disabilities can use new services is to include them in product and service development, and in testing. The role of State Government should be to set the ground rules for competition. We believe these principles meet the need.
Universal Communication
DiDM ‘93 brings together New York’s community of people with disabilities. We come together to affirm our desire to participate fully in our home, neighborhood, and work communities. In the 1990’s, communication is vital to our quality of life. This “Information Age” requires that we have access to communication. That is why we unite behind these themes, and urge New York to implement them at the earliest possible opportunity.
We recognize the great contribution of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Title IV of that 1990 statute entitles TTY (telecommunication device) users to full and equal access to the telephone network–and everything reachable through it. Title IV is responsible for the fact that all 40 local telephone companies in New York sponsor the New York Relay Center. Through the Center’s operators, TTY users throughout the State may make local, long-distance, and even international calls 24 hours/7 days. At the same time, we are very aware that TTY users are not the only individuals with disabilities who today have less-than-equal access to the Information Age.
People with cerebral palsy, individuals who are blind or have low vision, people with quadriplegia, persons with arthritis, many individuals with mental retardation, and many who have various kinds of learning disabilities today suffer from less than adequate telecommunication services. We think that is inequitable. We believe these non-TTY users should be entitled to the same full access, on a 24-hour, 7-day basis as are TTY users.
We also are very aware that telephonic communication is not the only form of communication essential for full citizenship in the Information Age. We know that television is another key part of communication. Interactive TV is rapidly coming, as are 500 cable channels. A world of information soon will be at our fingertips–but only if we can gain access to, and use, that information.
Theme I: Universal Service
Fairness and equity dictate that the Information Age serve all New Yorkers. Local and long-distance telephone providers obey this principle of universal service. Because they do, telephone service is available to all of us, in all of New York’s thousands of neighborhoods, no matter how rural, no matter how “inner city.” Because they do, telephone service is affordable; lifeline and other support programs subsidize services for those who cannot pay. And because they do, telephone service is accessible to many people with disabilities. Those who cannot dial may touch “O”, and the operator will dial. Phone bills may be sent in Braille.
Not all information providers obey universal service rules, however. Cable franchises caption very few movies, programs, sports events, or other broadcasts. Captions, or subtitles, help deaf viewers understand dialogue and narration; they also help some people with learning disabilities, and some with mental illness who have difficulty focusing attention. Cable companies almost never offer Descriptive Video Service, which provides a second channel of spoken description of screen action so blind viewers can follow the program or movie. Despite the fact that deaf, blind, learning disabled and mentally disabled cable subscribers receive far less from cable, they are forced to pay full price. We believe that is not fair. We think universal service should apply to cable. They should make their offerings accessible to all of us.
Theme II: Modernization
Daily life for many people with disabilities demands access to a great deal of information. Is that restaurant we want to go to accessible? Does the bus that goes there have a lift? Will the after-dinner play be interpreted? Does Medicaid cover this device I need? Does that store offer free delivery? The questions go on and on, day after day. We envision a modern communications network that will help us to answer these questions–easily, rapidly, affordably. Most of us do not have personal computers. But we know the capacity exists to use an intelligent network so we really don’t need PCs. We could find out the time of departure, place of departure, lift-equipped status, and route of any bus in a metro transit system-just with a telephone, listening to speech-synthesis spoken information from the transit database. We know Social Security data is computerized–and could be spoken so we could listen to database entries about eligibility, qualifications, etc. We know library card catalogs and abstracts are on computers, and those entries, too, could be spoken. We also know that White and Yellow Pages, including ads, are on computer, and again could be listened to–from an ordinary telephone. Looking further afield, we can imagine installation into the telephone network of speech recognition so that we can say commands that lead us through database menus. The combination–we speak to activate choices, then listen to data we need–requires only that we have a telephone and perhaps also a television. Some 94% of New Yorkers have phones, and 98% have TVs. Most of us have both. So a modernized network is one we could use–with inexpensive personal equipment at home or work.
These things are coming–and could come fast, if New York decides to accelerate investments in the communications infrastructure. We are determined that any company that develops these state-of-the-art information services test the services with us first. We are tired–very tired–of always playing catch up. Prodigy, for example, has been available to most Americans for five or six years. Even now, however, blind people cannot use it. Prodigy has an odd graphics overlay that does not work with synthesizers.
We believe this is very wrong. Not only is offering a service that blind people cannot use wrong–it is also wrong to force blind people to wait seven, ten or more years before they can gain access. All because Prodigy did not test it with us first. Access to information is vital not only for our daily lives, but increasingly for employment. More than 70% of all adults with disabilities in New York State are jobless. More and more, jobs require that we gain access to, manipulate, and report information. For hundreds of thousands of us to work, we need access to information.
Theme III: Broadband (Fiber)-or Better!
We are excited about the potential of fiber optics and broadband communications. These technologies carry voice, data and video–all at once. We believe they will offer an urgently needed option for many of us. Inaccessible public transit, especially in rural parts of the State, prevent many of us from attending continuing education or college courses-especially during inclement weather! Fiber optics–or something better, when it arrives–would allow us to stay home sometimes–and see and listen to the professor and fellow students.
The same technologies would allow us to work more hours, and more days each week, by using telecommuting on a part-time basis. Instead of making the often-arduous commute ten times weekly, we might do that four times (two days) or six times (three days) each week. Many jobs require that we go to meetings in other parts of the city, or State. Again, that is difficult for many of us. But if we could substitute telecommuting for some of those meetings, it would help a great deal. For some of us, it would make the difference between being unable to work–and able to work.
Fiber optics also would help deaf and hard-of-hearing people move beyond the ADA Title IV relay. They could sign to each other, on the phone. Broadband would also make much better use of the scarce supply of sign-language interpreters. Today, they spend as much as half their workweek traveling between jobs. With fiber optics, they could sit in an office and “go” from job to job just by picking up the phone. New York has a desperate shortage of interpreters, a shortage not likely to be resolved any time soon. Teleconferencing via broadband would greatly alleviate the problem.
Theme IV: Greater Competition
People with disabilities have a lot of experience with the bad effects of limited competition. Many products we need are made only by one, or a handful of, small companies. We suffer with high prices, difficulty with repair, few and far-between upgrades. So we know from personal experience that we benefit when competition to serve us is as vigorous as possible. That’s why we urge New York to let any communication provider in to the market–as long as they agree to universal service, modernization, and broadband-or-better technologies. That way, there is a level playing field. All competitors play by the same rules. We welcome the support of all New Yorkers for these four themes.