On February 8, 1996, Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act was signed into law. This law requires that “providers of telecommunications services” and “manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment” make their services and products accessible to and usable by people with disabilities when it is “readily achievable” to do so. If it isn’t readily achievable to make telecommunications products and services accessible, then the companies are required to make those products and services compatible with “existing peripheral devices and specialized customer premises equipment, if readily achievable.”

Provision 255(e) of the Act requires the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) to develop guidelines for accessibility of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment in conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  The Access Board is also charged with reviewing and updating the guidelines periodically.

To assist the Access Board in fulfilling its mandate to develop and update guidelines for Section 255, the Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee (TAAC) was convened in June 1996. The TAAC was composed of representatives of manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment, telecommunications service providers and carriers, manufacturers of specialized customer premises equipment and peripheral devices, manufacturers of software, organizations representing the interests of people with disabilities, and other persons affected by the guidelines. The TAAC issued its final report in January 1997.

The genesis of the “Market Monitoring Report” (MMR) came as a recommendation from the Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee. The Committee in its final report recommended that the Access Board produce a Market Monitoring Report that would “survey the marketplace annually to assess the state of the telecommunications market relative to product accessibility and to suggest means to improve telecommunications access for people with disabilities.”

In April 1997, the Access Board, in its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking committed to compiling a Market Monitoring Report and providing this Report to the public on a regular basis. The Access Board’s Final Rule, published in February 1998, confirmed the Board’s intention to produce a Market Monitoring Report periodically for the public. The primary focus of such a report would be to “address the state of the art of customer premises equipment and telecommunications equipment and the progress of making this equipment accessible and identify successful access solutions.”