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A company can come within the FCC’s accessibility requirements for people with disabilities simply by adding a live chat window to its website. The rules governing advanced communications services reach well beyond traditional carriers, and they apply whether or not the FCC otherwise regulates the business.
This is the second installment in a series introducing the attorneys of the Nelson Mullins Communications Practice Group. The first looked at the FCC’s reach into companies outside the communications sector.
What Counts as an Advanced Communications Service?
A company that provides any of the following must comply with the FCC’s accessibility rules, even if it is not otherwise an FCC-regulated entity:
- Non-interconnected Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services;
- Electronic messaging services; and
- Interoperable video conferencing services.
The Category That Surprises People
Electronic messaging is where most companies are caught off guard. An electronic messaging service provides real-time or near real-time non-voice messages in text form between individuals over communications networks.
It does not include blog posts, online publishing, messages posted on social networking sites, or machine-to-machine communications. It does include text messaging, instant messaging, and email, including customer service messaging or chat between customers and live agents.
The practical consequence is that a company whose core business has nothing to do with communications can fall within the rules through a routine customer service feature.
What Compliance Involves
Beyond the accessibility requirements themselves, covered entities face FCC recordkeeping obligations and an annual certification and registration requirement. Companies that discover they are covered typically need to build these processes rather than adapt existing ones.
