The FCC adopted new accessibility rules for user interfaces,...

The rules implement sections 204 and 205 of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, the commission said. Although the specific text of the order hasn’t been released, an FCC official said Section 205, which requires on-screen text menus and guides that are audibly accessible, will apply to all navigation devices, not just ones issued by multichannel video program distributors. Section 204 will apply to all other digital apparatus, the official said. NCTA, American Council of the Blind, American Foundation for the Blind and CEA had reached a consensus that Section 205 should only apply to MVPD provided equipment. The dividing line for what is covered under each section is determined by whether a device has “conditional access” to content, the FCC official said. Devices with CableCARDs -- such as TiVo boxes -- or that require a cable or DBS connection to show content are navigation devices; a DVD player or a TV without a CableCARD will fall under Section 204, the official said. Devices under 204 that include any of the 11 “essential functions” -- from a list created by the FCC Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committee -- will have to make those they include accessible, the FCC official said. The list included on/off, volume control and similar basic functions. The order will also require all devices to have “a mechanism that is comparable to a button, key or icon for activating certain accessibility features, such as closed captioning” the release said. The FCC official said the rule will have an implementation deadline of three years, as requested by CEA, with a five-year extended deadline for small cable operators as requested by the American Cable Association. “This action represents the final major step in the FCC’s implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA), enacted in 2010 to bring people with disabilities access to the modern and innovative communications technologies of the twenty-first century,” said the release.