"AT&T's U-Verse platform discriminates against persons who are blind or visually impaired," said John Rocco, President of ACT. "We cannot access PEG channels through the Channel 99 on-screen menu."
Mr. Rocco, who himself is visually impaired, manages the Charlotte Mecklenberg Public Access Corporation and Access 21, the Public access channel. "I cannot navigate to my own channel," said Rocco. "This impacts all persons with visual disabilities, particularly the elderly."
"AT&T has gone to great lengths to position itself as a company that cares and responds to persons with disabilities and the elderly by establishing an advisory panel to address issues of access to their telecommunications products," said Rocco. "There is no doubt that when they developed the U-Verse system and the Channel 99 platform for PEG channels, they knew it would not be accessible to persons who were visually impaired."
AT&T puts all PEG channels in a region on Channel 99 and through a series of on-screen menus viewers access the PEG channels. No other cable operator treats PEG channels this way, PEG channels are usually treated the same as the other commercial channels, accessible by selecting the number of the channel through the remote control.
"Did AT&T believe that blind people didn't need to get city or county council meetings or educational programming? The irony here is that PEG channels provide more programs by and about persons with disabilities than any other television medium."
