Withdrawn: 28 CFR Parts 35 and 36, Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by State and Local Governments and Places of Public Accommodation; Equipment and Furniture (ANPRM)

i. EIT for effective communication in accessible rooms

The Department's title III regulation, 28 CFR 36.303(d)(1) requires places of public accommodation that provide customers, patients, or clients the opportunity to make outgoing telephone calls on more than an incidental convenience basis to make TTYs available for the use of customers, patients, or clients who have communication disabilities. It has been suggested that the Department should expand the coverage of this section to require covered entities to provide recognize that there are a wide range of devices now used as communication aids by individuals with disabilities. Therefore, the Department seeks comments regarding the incorporation of EIT into this requirement as it applies to accessible sleeping rooms in facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, or other places of lodging to permit effective communication by individuals with disabilities, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

New technologies have emerged that permit the use of EIT for effective communication. As telecommunication technologies are developing, persons with disabilities are transitioning from analog or legacy devices to digital telecommunication devices. Among these devices are video phones (including web cam), text messaging pagers and computers, and captioned telephones. Video relay services (VRS) permit individuals who use sign language for communication to use a video remote interpreting service (VRI). The relay services are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission. Text communications can be divided into two types: real time, and non-real time. Real-time text communications refer to those that are sent and received on a character-by-character basis; the characters are sent immediately once typed and also displayed immediately to the receiving person. Non-real time communications rely on messaging capabilities where users "type-enter-wait-read-respond-reply"—e.g., short messages service (SMS) texts, multimedia messaging service (MMS), instant messaging (IM), text chat, and email.

Question 19. What types of EIT would permit individuals with communication disabilities to most effectively communicate from an accessible hospital room, nursing home facility, guest or sleeping room? Should the Department regulate effective communication from such facilities? What are the costs associated with various types of EIT in such settings?