36 CFR Part 1193 Telecommunications Act (Section 255) Accessibility Guidelines

Paragraph (a)

External Electronic Access to All Information and Control Mechanisms

1. Some individuals with severe or multiple disabilities are unable to use the built-in displays and control mechanisms on a product.

2. The two most common forms of manipulation-free connections are an infrared connection or a radio frequency connection point. Currently, the Infrared Data Association (IrDA) infrared connection point is the most universally used approach.

3. The Infrared Data Association together with dominant market players in the cellular and paging industries, Ericsson, Matsushita/Panasonic, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Puma, and TU-KA Phone Kansai, announced on April 25, 1997 a proposed set of standards that will empower wireless communication devices, such as cellular phones, pagers and personal computers to transfer useful information over short distances using IrDA infrared data communication ports. Because the proposed standard is designed to be scalable, it is easy-to-adopt by a wide range of wireless devices from pagers to more enhanced communications tools such as smart phones.

4. Adding an infrared connector to the serial port of a peripheral device or specialized customer premises equipment will make these products more compatible with each other and with customer premises equipment.

5. An infrared link can provide a mechanism for providing access to smaller, more advanced telecommunication devices and provide a safety net for products which are unable to incorporate other technologies. There is a joint international effort to develop a Universal Remote Console Communication (URCC) protocol which would achieve this functionality.