Coalition of Organizations for
Accessible Technology Press Release
COAT Press Releases
LEGISLATION BRINGS HOPE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES LEFT OUT OF NEW
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES
COAT Applauds Representatives Markey and Wilson for Introducing"
WASHINGTON, DC, June 19, 2008 - The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible
Technology (COAT) is delighted that Representatives Edward Markey (D-MA) and
Heather Wilson (R-NM) have introduced "The 21st Century Communications and
Video Accessibility Act of 2008." The bill would amend the Communications
Act to ensure that new Internet-enabled telephone and television services are
accessible to and usable by people with disabilities and closes existing gaps
in telecommunications laws.
Jenifer Simpson, of the American Association of
People with Disabilities (AAPD), said, "Once again, as he did in the 1980s
and 1990s, Representative Markey is safeguarding an accessible communications
future for people with disabilities. We are delighted also that Representative
Wilson is co-sponsoring a measure that focuses on accessibility in our digital
communications world. We applaud these Congresspersons for their extraordinary
leadership and we look now to the Senate to address the issue of accessible
communications technologies.
Karen Peltz Strauss, of Communication Service for the
Deaf (CSD), said, "This bill is a giant step forward toward bringing the
Communication Act's requirements for accessible telephone and television
services into this century. The various provisions of this legislation - which
focus on new and innovative ways to communicate and receive information - build
on existing federal policies to ensure that people with disabilities can take full
advantage of the Internet advancements enjoyed by everyone else."
Added Rosaline Crawford, of the National Association of the
Deaf (NAD), "Digital and Internet technologies are very exciting.
They make it possible for TVs and other video devices - of virtually any size -
to receive, transmit, and display TV programs and videoclips
with captions. Captions make TV programs and videoclips
accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. As more and more TV
programs embrace the Internet, people who are deaf or hard of hearing must not
be left behind. Captioning TV programs and videoclips
shown on the Internet is needed for the same reasons
it is needed when shown on TV."
Mark Richert, of the American Foundation for the
Blind (AFB), stated: "With this measure, people with vision loss will
finally have access to everything from text messaging their friends, watching
their favorite TV shows, and receiving critical emergency alerts. Video
description and accessible user interfaces on television devices are essential
in providing information about events on screen for people who are blind or
visually impaired." Video description is verbal depiction of key visual
elements inserted into natural pauses in television dialogue and is activated
by the viewer.
The bill includes the following specific measures:
Communications Access
--Requires access to phone-type equipment and services used over the Internet.
--Add improved accountability and enforcement measures for accessibility,
including a clearinghouse and reporting obligations by providers and
manufacturers.
--Requires telephone products used with the Internet to be hearing aid
compatible.
--Allows use of Lifeline and Link-up universal service funds (USF) for
broadband services.
--Allocates up to $10 million/year from USF for equipment used by people who
are deaf-blind.
--Clarifies the scope of relay services to include calls between and among
people with disabilities and require Internet-based service providers to
contribute to the Interstate Relay Fund.
Video Programming Access
--Requires decoder circuitry in all video programming devices.
--Extends the closed captioning obligations to television-type video
programming distributed over the Internet: covers programming that would
otherwise be covered by the FCC's captioning rules, not user-generated content.
Requires easy access to closed captions via remote control,
on-screen menus.
--Requires easy access by blind people to television controls and program
selection menus.
--Restores video description rules and requires access to televised emergency
programming for people who are blind or have low vision.
The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, or COAT, which was
launched in March 2007, is a coalition of over 200 national and local
organizations that advocates for full access by people with disabilities to
evolving high speed broadband, wireless and Internet protocol (IP)
technologies. More information is available at the COAT website at:
http://www.COATacce