NEWS Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974). News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS CONTACT: October 16, 2009 David Fiske, 202-418-0513 Email: david.fiske@fcc.gov TUESDAY STAFF WORKSHOP TO CONTINUE FOCUS ON BROADBAND ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Washington, D.C. -- The Federal Communications Commission will hold a daylong staff workshop to further address broadband accessibility for people with disabilities as part of the development of a National Broadband Plan. The workshop will discuss accessibility and affordability barriers faced by people with disabilities, opportunities that broadband can present people with disabilities and policy recommendations to address these barriers and maximize opportunities. See agendas below for participants. TIME: Tuesday, October 20, 9:15 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET LOCATION: FCC Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St. SW, Washington D.C. 20554. Those attending are asked to register in advance at http://www.broadband.gov/ws_accessibility_disabilities.html. ONLINE: Press and public attending online must register in advance at http://www.broadband.gov/ws_accessibility_disabilities.html. During the workshops, audience members -- both in the room and online -- will have the opportunity to suggest questions in writing. Questions will be reviewed and, time permitting, may be asked by the moderator. Staff workshops are being held to promote an open dialogue between the FCC and key constituents on matters important to the National Broadband Plan. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 directed the FCC to submit a National Broadband Plan to Congress by February 17, 2010 that addresses broadband deployment, adoption, affordability, and the use of broadband to advance solutions to national priorities, including health care, education, energy, public safety, job creation, investment, and others. Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. The request should include a detailed description of the accommodation needed and contact information. Please provide as much advance notice as possible; last minute requests will be accepted, but may be impossible to fill. Send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY). Simultaneous with the webcast, the meeting will be available through Accessible Event, a service that works with your web browser to make presentations accessible to people with disabilities. You can listen to the audio and use a screen reader to read displayed documents. You can also watch the video with open captioning. Acccessible Event is available at, http://accessibleevent.com. The web page prompts for an Event Code which is, 005202376. To learn about the features of Accessible Event, consult its User’s Guide at, http://accessibleevent.com/doc/user_guide/. Updates about the Federal Communications Commission’s development of the National Broadband can be found at http://blog.broadband.com and at http://www.broadband.gov/news.html. You can also follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/FCC. Tuesday, October 20 BARRIERS, OPPORTUNITIES AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS 9:15 a.m. FCC Participants: · Cheryl J. King, Deputy Chief, Disability Rights Office · Elise Kohn, Deputy Director, Adoption and Usage, Omnibus Broadband Initiative · John Horrigan, Consumer Research Director, Omnibus Broadband Initiative · Kristen Kane, Director of National Purposes, Omnibus Broadband Initiative · Stagg Newman, Chief Technologist · Elizabeth Lyle, Policy Advisor, Omnibus Broadband Initiative Panel 1: Leveraging Federal and State Resources to Make Broadband Accessible and Affordable · Gary Bojes, Ph.D., Senior Level Program and Policy Advisor, Rural Utility Service, Department of Agriculture · C. Marty Exline, Director, Missouri Assistive Technology Program · Jennifer Sheehy, Director of Policy and Planning, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education · Terry Weaver, Director, IT Accessibility and Workforce Division, General Services Administration · Daniel Weitzner, Associate Administrator, Office of Policy Analysis and Development, National Telecommunications and Information Administration Panel 2: Accessibility and Affordability Barriers to Broadband and Internet Use Faced by People with Disabilities · Eric Bridges, American Council of the Blind · Rosaline Crawford, Esq., Director, Law and Advocacy Center, National Association of the Deaf · Paula Durbin-Westby, Member, Board of Directors, The Autistic Self Advocacy Network · Margaret V. (Peggy) Hathaway, VP for Public Policy, Spinal Cord Advocates · Rebecca Ladew, East Coast Representative, Speech Communications Assistance by Telephone, Inc. · Elizabeth Spiers, Director of Information Services, American Association of the Deaf-Blind · Jim Tobias, President, Inclusive Technologies · Elizabeth Weintraub, Member, Council on Quality and Leadership Panel 3: Advancing National Purposes for People with Disabilities · Sheri Farinha, Executive Director, NorCal Center and Co-Chair, E911 Stakeholders Council · Jim Fruchterman, President, Benetech · Margaret V. (Peggy) Hathaway, Esq., Vice-President for Public Policy, Spinal Cord Advocates · Ishak Kang, CEO/Founder, dot UI · Katherine D. Seelman, Ph.D., Professor, Rehabilitation Science and Technology, University of Pittsburgh Panel 4: Technological Barriers and Solutions · Greg Elin, Chief Technology Officer, United Cerebral Palsy and Executive Director, Life Without Limits · Jim Fruchterman, President, Benetech · Dale Hatfield, Ph.D., Executive Director, Silicon Flatirons · Rich Schwerdtfeger, Distinguished Engineer, SWG Accessibility Architect/Strategist, IBM · John Snapp, Senior Technical Officer, Intrado · Gregg Vanderheiden, Ph.D., Director, Trace Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison Policy Roundtable: · Rob Atkinson, President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation · Ellen Blackler, Executive Director, AT&T · Alan Brightman, Senior Policy Director, Yahoo! · Kathryn Brown, Senior Vice President, Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility, Verizon · Deborah Buck, Executive Director, Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs · David Capozzi, Executive Director, U.S. Access Board · Larry Goldberg, Director, Media Access Group, WGBH · Patrick Halley, Director, Government Affairs, National Emergency Numbering Association · Dale Hatfield, Executive Director, Silicon Flatirons · Matthew Knopf, Vice President, Business Development, PLYmedia · Jane Mago, Executive VP and General Counsel, National Association of Broadcasters · Helena Mitchell, Ph.D., Executive Director CACP and Principal Investigator, Wireless RERC, GA Tech · Randy Pope, American Association of the Deaf-Blind · Ken Salaets, Director, Global Policy, Information Technology Industry Council · Paul Schroeder, Director, Programs and Policy, American Foundation for the Blind · Grant Seiffert, President, Telecommunications Industry Association · Dane Snowden, VP, External and State Affairs, CTIA - The Wireless Association · Claude Stout, Executive Director, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. · Karen Peltz Strauss, Co-Chair, Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technologies · Jim Tobias, President, Inclusive Technologies · Gregg Vanderheiden, Director, Trace Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison