Ten years ago, a television was a simple device that a user 
could purchase, take home, plug in, turn on, and use right
away. Now, a television must be programmed to find the
channels it can receive. This task, along with other features
that must be selected and programmed before the appliance
will work correctly, can only be accomplished through 
on-screen menus. There is no way for a visually impaired
person to perform this task without sighted help. 

Video cassette recorders have the same kinds of access
problems. In 1995, Panasonic proudly announced that
remote controls for their VCR'S would be equipped with a
tactile mark on the SAP (second audio program) button. I
purchased one of the Panasonic VCR'S with the remote
described, only to discover that access to the SAP channel is
possible only after setup using inaccessible on-screen menus.
After a month of trying to learn to use this VCR, I returned
it to the store for a refund. I wrote to Panasonic suggesting
ways to make their products more useable by people 
with disabilities, but no more accessible products have
appeared. Although Zenith has recently introduced a
"talking" VCR, only some of its features are accessible
through spoken menus. If the user makes an incorrect 
choice, a question mark appears on the screen, but there is
no audible cue to alert a blind user to the mistake. Default
items such as the current date are not spoken at all. 

The telephone I use at work has a "queue depth" light to
indicate how many calls are waiting to be answered. Another
light indicates whether the user has dialed into the queue to
accept incoming calls. A blind employee can use a light
sensor to determine the state of these lights, but this 
equipment must be purchased from third parties, and it is
both expensive and difficult to find. Cellular phones and
services also have significant access barriers. Cellular phones
lack speech access to on-screen menus, caller ID, paging, 
and text messaging. 

If market forces were sufficient to ensure adequate access for
people with disabilities, there would be no need for me to
send you these comments. Individuals who are blind and
organizations that serve us have communicated our needs to
manufacturers of consumer electronics, but our efforts have
met mostly with disinterest. Please adopt the Access Boards 
accessibility guidelines and require that telecommunications
companies make affirmative efforts to make their products,
services, and documentation accessible to people with
disabilities.