The Federal Communications Commission has officially announced and scheduled the first meeting of the new Disability Advisory Committee. Several members of the NIDRR community will serve on the committee, providing advice and recommendations to the FCC on a wide array of disability matters within its jurisdiction.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler says he is excited to the DAC begin its important work. “This new Committee will provide sorely needed expertise and recommendations from consumer and industry stakeholders on communications and video programming issues. We look forward to using this expertise to improve our ability to meet the needs of consumers with disabilities.” (see the full release)
Current and former members of the NIDRR research community who will participate in the committee include:
- Helena Mitchell, PhD, principal investigator for the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies (Wireless RERC) at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
- Christian Vogler, PhD, co-principal investigator for the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Improving the Accessibility, Usability, and Performance of Technology for Individuals who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing at Gallaudet University.
- Larry Goldberg, Director of Accessibility for YAHOO! Media, who served as principal investigator for several accessible media projects at WGBH National Center for Accessible Media.
- Jim Tobias, Inclusive Technologies, a former SBIR grantee.
They join a prestigious group of researchers, industry leaders, advocates, and policy makers whose expertise will be invaluable as the FCC shapes future communication policy. The first meeting of this committee will be March 17th. It is open to the public and will be webcast. See the press release linked above for more information.