47 U.S.C. § 255
Section 255 · Access by persons with disabilities
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case 8 F. Supp. 2d 582 - At & T Communications of the Southwest, Inc. v. City of Dallas (1998)
Most recently applied in G v. Fay Sch., Inc. (September 2017)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
As used in this section—
(1) Disability
The term “disability” has the meaning given to it by section 12102(2)(A) of title 42.
(2) Readily achievable
The term “readily achievable” has the meaning given to it by section 12181(9) of title 42.
A manufacturer of telecommunications equipment or customer premises equipment shall ensure that the equipment is designed, developed, and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable.
A provider of telecommunications service shall ensure that the service is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable.
Whenever the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of this section are not readily achievable, such a manufacturer or provider shall ensure that the equipment or service is compatible with existing peripheral devices or specialized customer premises equipment commonly used by individuals with disabilities to achieve access, if readily achievable.
Within 18 months after February 8, 1996, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board shall develop guidelines for accessibility of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment in conjunction with the Commission. The Board shall review and update the guidelines periodically.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any private right of action to enforce any requirement of this section or any regulation thereunder. The Commission shall have exclusive jurisdiction with respect to any complaint under this section.