NANCY A. DIETRICH
2621 BROOKFIELD COURT 
COLUMBIA, IL 62236-2620 
June 25,1998 


Office of the Secretary 
Federal Communications Commission 
Washington, DC 20554 

Dear Sir/ Madam: 

Re Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Access Provisions of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 

I have severe hearing loss and wear two hearing aids with telecoil. I would like to
express my concerns regarding your proposed rules. 

#l . I urge you to adopt the Access Board guidelines for both manufacturers and service
providers. They must understand clearly their access responsibilities and obligations in
their design of new equipment. I still  have not found a wireless phone (badly needed)
that is accessible to me. Such phone should be fitted with a telecoil so that I can use it
with my hearing aid on telecoil. 

#2. I urge you to use "readily achievable" standard rather than your proposed "cost
recovery" concept. See paragraph #l regarding wireless phones. I've already had 6
emergencies which required use of a cellular phone but I don't have an accessible cellular
phone. By requiring telecoils on phones, if readily achievable, can enhance the
accessibility of our society. 

#3. I support the proposal not to require filing fees for complaints directed against
manufacturers or service providers as well as fees for formal complaints against common
carriers. 

# 4. I don't understand why your proposed rules do not cover "enhanced services" under
Section 255. These services are vital to the educational and employment opportunities
and full participation in our society. 

For instance, when my employer installed the voice mail and fast moving automated
voice response systems, I could not put my own phone on voice mail because it was
useless trying to make out the messages. I couldn't deal with the automated voice
response systems when I use voice phone because it moved too fast for me to
comprehend the words. 

Even when I use relay service, the relay operator has to call repeatedly in order to
complete my critical calls.

My employer even set up an automated service for employees to deal with the profit
sharing plan. I've been frustrated and afraid to touch a button. For instance, if I want to
change my investments, I might touch a button that could cause a withdrawal rather than
change the investments and I could be inadvertently pena-lized by IRS for the
withdrawal. The company should be required to make this service visually accessible!! 
I resorted to using a form; yet the form created problems for me! ! They'd call me to find
out why I don't use their so-called "enhanced services". They don't think about blind and
deaf people and people with hearing loss. 

Thank you for your time. 

Sincerely yours, 

Nancy Dietrich