NEWS
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D. C.  20554
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.
See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                             NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
October 28, 2011 Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0511
E-mail: rosemary.kimball@fcc.gov
FCC CHAIRMAN JULIUS GENACHOWSKI JOINS COMMISSIONER MICHAEL COPPS 
TO HONOR INNOVATORS IN ACCESSIBILITY COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES 
Accessibility Clearinghouse Launched; Demonstrations of Technologies to Be Displayed 
Through November 30 in the Commission Technology Experience Center (TEC)
Washington, D.C. – Today FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Commissioner Michael 
Copps presented the Chairman’s Awards for Advancement in Accessibility (AAA) to several 
organizations that have made significant technological innovations to help consumers with 
disabilities benefit from the country’s communications technologies.  The Chairman also 
honored the winners of an FCC Challenge: Lifted by the Cloud: Visions of Cloud Enhanced 
Accessibility (Cloud Challenge) and presented a special award to Apple, Inc., for its visionary 
leadership in, and contributions to, accessibility.
The Chairman’s AAA are intended to encourage technological innovation in communication-
related areas and to recognize engineers, researchers and other technologists whose energies and 
perseverance have been successful in crafting innovative ways for consumers with disabilities to 
benefit from our nation’s communications technologies.  The work of these honorees has 
improved the ability of people with disabilities to obtain and succeed at jobs and participate more 
actively in the community.
Today’s awards ceremony was held in conjunction with National Disability Employment 
Awareness month and the one year anniversary of the 21st Century Communications and Video 
Programming Accessibility Act (CVAA).
Awards were being presented for the development of mainstream or assistive technologies, the 
development of standards, and the implementation of best practices that foster accessibility.  The 
awards are a project of the FCC’s Accessibility and Innovation Initiative (A&I Initiative), as 
recommended in the National Broadband Plan.  The A&I Initiative seeks to facilitate dialogue 
among industry, assistive technology companies, app developers, government representatives 
and consumers to allow these stakeholders to share best practices and solutions for accessible 
communications technologies.  
The Chairman’s 2011 AAA Winners are:
· Accesswireless.org (CTIA: The Wireless Association)
· LookTel Money Reader
· Microsoft Accessibility Tools and Training Resources
· Non-Visual Desktop Access
· Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Coach
· Universal Subtitles
· iPhone 4 (Apple)
The Chairman’s 2011 AAA Honorable Mentions are:
· Apps4Android
· AT&T Speech Mashups for Accessibility
· The Farfalla Project
· Interpretype
· Phlixie
· Verizon Center for Customers with Disabilities
Winners of the Cloud Challenge are:
· AT&T Speech Mashups for Accessibility
· The Farfalla Project
Today, the Commission also launched the Accessibility Clearinghouse, which was required by the 
CVAA. 
To further recognize innovation in accessible communications, the FCC’s Technology 
Experience Center will display the technologies of each of the winners and honorable mentions, 
as well as other cutting edge technologies that provide access to persons with disabilities through 
November 30, 2011.  The Technology Experience Center is open to the public and offers the 
opportunity for visitors to experiment with these technologies.
Technologies Exhibited at the Technology Experience Center:
· Accesswireless.org (CTIA: The Wireless Association)
· American Foundation for the Blind’s Access World app
· Apps4Android
· AT&T Speech Mashups for Accessibility
· CapTel’s 800i
· CBS
· CISCO video phones
· Computer Prompting & Captioning (CPC)
· The Farfalla Project
· Great Call—Jitterbug
· HTC
· Humanware
· Interpretype
· iPhone 4
· LookTel Money Reader
· Microsoft Accessibility Tools and Training Resources
· National Public Radio Labs
· Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA)
· Phlixie
· Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Coach
· Samsung
· Stanford School of Engineering
· Universal Subtitles
· Verizon Center for Customers with Disabilities
· WGBH—National Center for Accessible Media