The Disability Rights Office addresses disability-related matters, including access to telecommunications services and equipment; hearing aid compatibility; access to advanced communications services and equipment; access to Internet browsers built into mobile phones; telecommunications relay services; the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program; accessible video programming and video programming apparatus (access to televised emergency information, closed captioning on television and television programs on the Internet, video description, and accessible user interfaces, text menus, and program guides).
The Disability Rights Office provides expert advice and assistance to other Commission bureaus and offices, consumers, industry and others on issues relevant to persons with disabilities. The Disability Rights Office initiates rulemaking where appropriate. The Disability Rights Office also reviews relevant agenda items and other documents and coordinates with Bureaus and Offices to develop recommendations and propose policies to ensure that communications are accessible to persons with disabilities, in conformance with existing disability laws and policies, and to ensure that they support the Commission’s goal of increasing accessibility of communications services and technologies for persons with disabilities.
Disability-Related Headlines
This page contains the latest notices, public notices, orders, and news releases at a glance.
Contact Us
ASL Consumer Support Line
Emergency Access
Communications Access
Video Programming Access
Disability Related Programs, Projects, and Policies
- Accessible Communications for Everyone
- Accessibility Clearinghouse
- Chairman's Awards for Advancement in Accessibility
- Cognitive Disabilities
- Direct Video Calling
- Disabilities - Frequently Asked Questions
- Disability Advisory Committee
- Emergency Access Advisory Committee (archived)
- Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committee (archived)
- Accessibility of FCC Programs (FCC Section 504 Handbook)
- Understanding FCC Processes
Disability Related Laws Implemented by the FCC
- Telecommunications for the Disabled Act of 1982
- Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Title IV – Telecommunications Relay Services)
- Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990
- Telecommunications Act of 1996
- Twenty-First Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act of 2010
DRO Managers
- Suzy Rosen Singleton, Chief
- Eliot Greenwald, Deputy Chief and Special Assistant to Bureau Chief for Telecommunications Relay Services
- Susan Kimmel, Deputy Chief