36 CFR Parts 1190 and 1191 ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines - Preamble (Discussion of Comments and Changes)

217 Telephones

Access to telephones is covered for people who use wheelchairs and those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Scoping applies to various public telephones, including coin and coin-less pay telephones, closed-circuit telephones, courtesy phones, and other types of public telephones (217.1). Provisions are provided for wheelchair access (217.2), volume controls (217.3), and TTYs (217.4), which are devices that enable people with hearing or speech impairments to communicate through the telephone. Revisions made in finalizing the guidelines include:

• clarifying coverage of courtesy phones (217.1)
• applying requirements for wheelchair accessible telephones to exterior sites (217.2)
• adding an exception for drive-up public telephones (217.2)
• increasing scoping for volume controls on public telephones (217.3)
• clarifying the application of TTY scoping requirements to exterior sites (217.4.4)
• incorporating requirements for transportation facilities, including rail stations and airports, that were previously located in Chapter 10 (217.4.7)
• relocating TTY signage requirements from 217 to the signage scoping section (216.9)

Comment. Section 217.1 lists various types of public telephones covered by this section. Commenters requested that courtesy phones be addressed along with other types of public phones.

Response. The Board has interpreted the reference to "public telephones" as including courtesy phones but has included a specific reference to them in 217.1 so that their coverage is clear. Such phones are subject to requirements for wheelchair access and volume controls, but they are not covered by TTY requirements, which apply only to public pay telephones.

Comment. Some commenters seemed unclear on whether requirements for wheelchair access applied to exterior installations.

Response. Scoping for wheelchair access in 217.2 was intended to cover interior and exterior public telephones. As proposed, this provision required access to at least one telephone on a floor or level and, where multiple banks are provided, each bank. In the final rule, the Board has added clarification that the requirements for wheelchair accessible phones apply to exterior sites, in addition to floors and levels.

Comment. Comments to the draft of the final guidelines noted that some public telephones are intended for use only from vehicles and recommended that they be exempt from the requirements for wheelchair access.

Response. An exception has been added in the final rule that exempts drive-up-only public telephones from the requirements for wheelchair access (217.2, Exception).

Comment. Comments from persons who are hard of hearing sought an increase in the number of phones required to have volume control. The proposed rule specified a minimum of 25%, but many urged that all public phones should have volume control.

Response. In the final rule, all public telephones are required to be equipped with volume control instead of 25%, as was proposed. This is consistent with other Board guidelines and standards covering access to telecommunications products and electronic and information technology. Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996,¹⁶ a comprehensive law overhauling regulation of the telecommunications industry, requires telecommunications products and services to be accessible. The Board was assigned responsibility to issue guidelines pursuant to section 255, which are known as the Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines.¹⁷ These guidelines require all public telephones to be equipped with volume controls. A similar requirement is contained in standards ¹⁸ the Board issued under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended,¹⁹ which requires access to electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by Federal agencies. Since all new phones are to be equipped with volume controls, the requirement for identifying signage (a specified pictogram featuring a handset with radiating sound waves) has been removed.

General scoping for TTYs in 217.4 includes provisions specific to floors, buildings, and exterior sites and distinguishes between private and public facilities. In private buildings (i.e., places of public accommodation and commercial facilities) where four or more pay phones are provided at a bank, within a floor, building, or on an exterior site, a TTY is required at each such location. A lower threshold is provided for public buildings (i.e., State and local government facilities) where one pay telephone on a floor or within a public use area of a building triggers the requirement for a TTY. In the final rule, the Board has clarified references to "site" as being specific to "exterior sites" to avoid confusion that may arise since the term "site," by itself, can be read to include the buildings on a site. This change helps clarify that TTY scoping requirements for exterior installations is to be satisfied independently from those applicable to interior locations.