Celebrating Progress and Charting the Path Ahead: The FCC’s Continued Commitment to Accessibility

At the Federal Communications Commission, accessibility is not an afterthought-it is a guiding design principle and a core commitment. Every day, the Commission works to ensure that, as communications technology evolves, it evolves for everyone. That means ensuring that people with disabilities can benefit fully from modern communication tools, services, and devices. It also means shaping a communications landscape where accessibility is built in from the start.

Yet, commitments need to be supported by actions. This month we are acting-marking major milestones and continuing to push accessibility forward.

Honoring 16 Years of the CVAA and the People Moving Accessibility Forward

On October 8, the Commission celebrated the 16th anniversary of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), which ensures that people with disabilities are not left behind as communications move into digital, mobile, and broadband-based environments. The anniversary highlights how far accessibility has come-and how collaboration among government, industry, advocates, and technologists continues to expand what is possible.

The Commission also released its 2026 Biennial Report to Congress, detailing two years of work assessing the accessibility of telecommunications, advanced communications services (ACS), equipment, and mobile phone browsers. The findings tell a story of both meaningful progress and the important work and opportunities that lie ahead.

The celebration also honored four individuals whose contributions are advancing accessible communications in profound ways. Chairman Carr presented the Chairman's Awards for Advancements in Accessibility to Zainab Alkebsi of Deaf Equality, Matthew Kaplowitz of Bridge Multimedia Technologies, Stephen Ewell of the CTA Foundation and Frederick Moltz of Verizon.

The recipients' achievements embody the core message of the day: accessibility thrives when it is embraced early, integrated thoughtfully, and driven by innovation.

A recording of the celebration, including two engaging panel discussions about emerging technologies and the future of accessible design, is available on the October 8 event page.

A Forward-Looking Framework: The Eliminating Accessibility Barriers NPRM

While it is important to celebrate successes, we also need to continue to be responsive to the needs and expectations of the accessibility community. Earlier this month, the FCC announced our next major effort in the accessibility arena: a proposed rulemaking that takes a fresh look at how to modernize the Commission's accessibility rules to better reflect today's communications marketplace and make room for tomorrow's innovations.

The proposed rulemaking, which will be considered at the FCC's October 29 Open Meeting, asks how the Commission can:
• Ensure accessibility rules remain technology-neutral, flexible, and aligned with modern devices and services.
• Encourage accessible design early in product development, ensuring accessibility is built in-not bolted on.
• Identify and remove marketplace barriers that prevent new accessibility solutions from emerging.
• Improve accessibility in areas such as One Device/One Number solutions, multi-factor authentication, and direct video calling for customer service.
• Streamline rules that may be duplicative or outdated to better support efficient compliance and innovation.

This effort reflects the agency's forward-looking approach. Rather than standing still, accessibility policy must continually adapt to support new tools, interfaces, and technologies. Most importantly, our rules need to be responsive to evolving technology while promoting innovation to the benefit of the disability community.

Accessibility as a Design Principle-and the Promise of Innovation

Throughout the CVAA anniversary event, one theme echoed consistently: accessibility is most powerful when it is part of the design from the beginning. More companies are embracing accessible design practices, engaging diverse users early, and building products that work well for a wide range of experiences and abilities. This shift reflects a key evolution: accessibility is no longer seen merely as compliance but as a foundation for better, more inclusive user experiences for all users.

Emerging technologies-from AI-powered captioning to augmented and virtual reality-offer immense opportunity to expand access. Panelists at the October 8 event explored how tools like machine learning, multimodal communication interfaces, wearable technology, and real-time translation can broaden participation and enhance independence.

But the message was equally clear: innovation is not guaranteed to produce accessibility unless the people who rely on these technologies are included in their development. That is why the FCC continues to emphasize collaboration, outreach, and ongoing dialogue with the disability community.

Looking Ahead

As technologies advance, the Commission will continue to work to ensure accessibility keeps pace. We will continue engaging the disability community. We will continue encouraging innovation. And we will continue fostering a communications ecosystem where accessibility is not just possible, but expected.

Central to the Commission's accessibility mission is the work of the FCC's Disability Rights Office, within the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. The DRO leads the agency's day-to-day efforts to ensure that people with disabilities can access and fully use the broad range of modern communications services that support work, education, civic participation, safety, and connection.

We invite you to learn more, watch the event panels, explore the accomplishments of this year's AAA awardees, review our progress over the past two years, and engage with the ongoing proceeding. Together, we are moving accessibility forward.