A coalition consisting of Amazon, Sony and Kobo has petitioned the FCC to waive e-readers from its rules governing access to advanced communications services (ACS) and equipment by people with disabilities.
The coalition argues that although e-readers can be used for ACS, they are primarily designed for reading and should therefore be exempt from the law. The petition further clarifies that the waiver should only apply to devices with no LCD display, no camera and no built-in ACS client applications, in order to distinguish e-readers in this case from tablets and PCs.
The Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 asserts that “individuals with disabilities have access to emerging Internet Protocol-based communication and video programming technologies.”
The Commission has before granted waivers from the law. Last year, the FCC waived the rules—until Oct. 8, 2015—for Internet protocol-enabled television sets, Internet-enabled digital video players, cable set-top boxes, and gaming consoles, services and software.
The matter is open to public comments until Sept. 3 and replies until Sept. 13.
Filed Under: Devices
