Dear friends of the Wireless RERC,

Thank you for your many years of subscribing to our electronic newsletters, which have been in circulation since 2002. In the newer iteration, Technology and Disability Policy Highlights (TDPH), editor Salimah LaForce brought you expanded monthly news on accessibility issues and disability policy. Our wide coverage came from legislative, regulatory, industry, other RERCs, and disability news. As of October 1, 2021, the newsletter has been discontinued as a product of the Wireless RERC. This is our last issue which we proudly share with you. But stay tuned for a re-emergence of a publication in 2022, bringing you technology equity and access news.

As some of you know, the Wireless RERC at the Georgia Institute of Technology has had numerous partners over our 20 years. Each five-year grant was re-competed, and we were successful in gaining refunding. Our research, development, training, and capacity-building projects raised the bar for better user experiences, inclusive emergency lifelines, the introduction of next-generation technologies, and understanding multiple platforms are needed to deliver services to diverse populations within the disability community. New generations of users with disabilities have been an important part of the ever-changing wireless technology landscape, leading to the incorporation of inclusive design elements in products and the training of inclusive technology advocates. Over the 20 years, we have witnessed the movement of the wireless industry mindset from a reluctance to develop accessible features to one where they are at the forefront of accessible and usable products, including people with disabilities early in their design process. As a result, better systems, products, and services are available for all.

Going forth, we are sharing with you that a new era has begun, and the University of Pittsburg, Dr. Dan Ding, and her team, has been awarded the 5-year NIDILRR grant. Their center, "Promoting Mainstream Wireless Inclusion through Technology Services (PROMISE)," began on October 1st, 2021. We wish them success in undertaking the greatest fulfillment of helping ensure people with disabilities are always at the table on improving wireless services through research and development of tools to achieve independence, improved quality of life, and enhanced community participation. We will let you know more details on how to access the archival issues of the TDPH and the Wireless RERC 2001 – 2021 resources once we have specific information. The overview of this issue is below.

Sincerely, Helena Mitchel, Ph.D. & Salimah LaForce, M.S.

In September, the FCC celebrated Lifeline Awareness Week from the 20th through the 24th to bring attention to the Lifeline program and increase enrollment of eligible households. While in August, the Senate passed a $550 billion bill entitled the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In the Act, there are specific federal provisions related to broadband. This newsletter highlights the six major provisions that the bill outlines to improve broadband and wireless connectivity in the United States. Of note, many of the provisions aim to decrease the digital divide and offer substantial funding to achieve these goals. In efforts to decrease disparities in emergency response, the House of Representatives saw the introduction of the  Information Sharing and Advanced Communication Alerting Act (ISAAC) [H.R. 5208]. This legislation seeks to establish a requirement for the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 's Technological Advisory Council to produce a report on the feasibility of establishing a 9-1-1 disability alerting system (DAS). H.R. 5208 directs the FCC to explore a process that permits users to create, within DAS, a profile associated with an individual with a disability containing pertinent information such as whether the individual is nonverbal, can be combative under stress or anxiety, or is a wandering risk. 

In other regulatory news, the FCC released statements about two new programs related to digital equity. To address affordable communications, in a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking  [CG Docket No. 12-375], the FCC is extending its request for public input on the functionally equivalent access and affordability of telecommunications for incarcerated persons with disabilities. This month also marks the release of the FCC's broadband map, which demonstrates connectivity and broadband access by the four major wireless carriers across the country.

In Wireless RERC news, the Proceedings of the Wireless RERC 2021 State of Technology Forum is now available online. The Forum Proceedings is an interactive document with papers, presentations, videos, and bios from the two-day event. Further, it opens with a summation of the event and closes with a chapter on key activities to pursue to ensure inclusion is always at the forefront of wireless technology, design, development, and deployment.

Funded by Wireless RERC, the Smart Home Helper (SHH) app, developed by The IDEAL Group, was released on the Google Play Store. SHH is a free Android app that enables individuals who are nonverbal and individuals with speech disabilities such as stuttering, apraxia, and dysarthria to issue verbal commands to voice-activated smart home devices using Android's Text-to-Speech engine. SHH enables users to issue smart home commands in any one of 63 languages/dialects. Smart home voice commands can easily be created, organized, and shared with other app users.

Other items of interest include a study examining the communities served by the BeltLine and whether it can be used as an emergency management asset. (Take the Atlanta BeltLine Survey)

This issue also includes news about the latest Android accessibility updates, assistive technology,  Spectrum Innovation Zone, AI, Accessible Kiosks, Evinced, MakerSpace, Voice Commands, and more.

On a final note, our social media outlets have been renamed. Still, they will continue to keep you connected to us and other industry, academic, advocacy, and policy stakeholders regarding access, equity, and inclusion.  

• Communications Access, Equity, & Inclusion on Twitter!  Read, tweet, re-tweet at https://twitter.com/CACPGT_Access.
• Technology Access, Equity, & Inclusion on Facebook!  Visit and LIKE us at https://www.facebook.com/TechAccessEquity.
• Join the Accessible Technology Policy Group on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1854667&trk=hb_side_g.
• Technology Access, Equity, and Inclusion on YouTube! View our videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/WIrelessRERC/featured.

Thanks for reading!