MAR 30 1992

The Honorable Larry Combest

U.S. House of Representatives
1527 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Combest:

I am writing in response to your recent inquiry concerning

the Department of Justice's regulations implementing the
Americans with Disabilities Act provisions regarding 911
emergency services.

We are aware of the concern expressed by you and the

National Emergency Number Association about the provision in our
regulation implementing title II of the Americans with
Disabilities Act that states "telephone emergency services,
including 911 services, shall provide direct access to
individuals who use TDD's and computer modems."

The apparent concern is that by mandating access to persons

using computer modems, the regulation may require that there be
access by every format that could be used by a modem, including
those that are not compatible with equipment presently used by
emergency service systems. That is not the case. The regulation
does not require telephone emergency systems to do anything that
is technologically infeasible; accordingly, we are interpreting
the requirement for access by computer modems to mean only when
the modem is using the Baudot format. Until it can be
technically proven that communications in another format can
operate in a reliable and compatible manner in a given telephone
emergency, the public service answering point is not required to
provide direct access to computer modems using other formats.

This interpretive guidance has been issued by the Department

of Justice in its recently published Technical Assistance Manual,
which is available from the Office on the Americans with
Disabilities Act, Post Office Box 66738, Washington D.C. 20035-
9998, telephone: (202) 514-0301.

Sincerely,
 John R. Dunne
Assistant Attorney General
Civil Rights Division

01-00523

January 31, 1992

Mr. Robert Mather

U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
P.O. Box 66118
Washington, D.C. 20035-6118

Dear Mr. Mather:

It has been brought to my attention that there is a flaw in the

implementation rules for Title II Section 35 of the Americans
With Disabilities Act. I voted for the Americans With
Disabilities Act when it was considered by Congress, however, the
Department of Justice (DOJ) in providing these rules may have
created a situation that could prove devastating to hearing and
speech impaired persons.

As you may know, the hearing and speech impaired community must
communicate by using a device similar to a typewriter (called a
TDD). They also communicate using a personal computer (PC). The
Department of Justice specifies that all emergency services shall
provide direct access to individuals who use TDD's and computer
modems.

Currently, the hearing impaired have communicated using the

baudot modem which is compatible with emergency centers.
However, with the advent of the PC, a new modem with a language
called ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
appeared. Now that ASCII is being placed into TDD's, it presents
a problem. It is not compatible with the emergency centers'
equipment. At this time, no technology exists that will connect
an incoming ASCII call to an ASCII modem in the emergency
centers.

Therefore, if a hearing impaired person places an emergency call

using the ASCII mode, chances are likely that the call will not
be handled properly. It could disconnect, receive garbled data
or fail to make a connection. The result could prove devastating
for the hearing and speech impaired person. Emergency centers
could be held liable for conditions over which they have no
control. The hearing and speech impaired will not be served with
the same quality assurance that others have come to expect of
their emergency centers and the advent of 911 systems.

01-00524

Mr. Robert Mather

January 31, 1992
Page 2

The reference to "computer modem" should be removed from the

implementation rules until technology can assure that every TDD
call will be answered with the same quality as a voice placed
call. I would greatly appreciate your consideration and comments
regarding this matter.
 Sincerely,

Larry Combest

LC/bb

01-00525