The FCC is being asked to review/improve its community outreach materials to non-English speaking communities about the billions of dollars in broadband subsidies it is handing out in the $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program.
The ACP program provides up to $30 per month toward broadband service (up to $75 for tribal communities) and up to $100 toward a broadband access device, excluding smart phones, with the FCC providing info in various languages, including Spanish and Korean.
In a letter to the FCC, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, MediaJustice, New America’s Open Technology Institute, and Public Knowledge, said the FCC needs to review its materials to make sure that "appropriate languages and translations are used for the intended
audience." They say some of translations "are overly technical and wouldn't be useful to the average reader."
As an example, they point to the Spanish-language materials' use of the term "banda acha" for broadband, which they say is not a commonly used term for internet access. "Technically accurate translations may not be recognizable or accessible to people who speak that language in the United States," they tell the FCC. ■
