FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    News Media contact:  
                                     July 26, 1999  Audrey Spivack (202) 418-0500
                                          TTY (202) 418-2555
                                     
  
      AT WHITE HOUSE FORUM CHAIRMAN KENNARD REAFFIRMS
         COMMITMENT TO ADA FOR THE INFORMATION AGE
                              
                              
  Washington, D.C. -- Noting that "every time we make a telecommunications
  service accessible, it's like opening up a door of opportunity   unlocking our
  country's greatest asset-- the potential of our people," William E. Kennard,
  chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reaffirmed the
  FCC's commitment to including people with disabilities in the information
  revolution.  Chairman Kennard spoke today at the White House Forum on
  Disability and Cultural Diversity.
  
       Chairman Kennard pointed out that at its July 14 meeting, the FCC
  adopted rules that will build the first curb cut on the Information Highway,
  ensuring accessiblity for people with disabilities.  There will now be access to
  products, access to information about products, access to the choices that every
  American wants, needs and has a right to use, Chairman Kennard said.
  
       He added that none of this would have been possible without the courage
  and commitment of the thousands of Americans with disabilities around the
  country who told the FCC what they needed.  He cited examples such as the
  California woman who is hard of hearing and found that interactive menus that
  many companies use don't make her life easier, they make it more frustrating; a
  woman from Indiana who has difficulty in finding a cellular phone that can work
  with her hearing aid; and a deaf woman from Texas who can never find the
  Telephone Relay Service (TRS) number when she is travelling on business.
  
       Chairman Kennard's prepared statement is attached.
  
                           -FCC-