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COAT advocates for accessibility and usability of technology for people with disabilities. Enacting the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (21st CVAA) was a huge step forward and we are working to implement this new law. COAT’s overall aim is to ensure accessibility, usability, and affordability of all broadband, wireless, and Internet technologies for people with disabilities.

COAT Now on Facebook!

COAT has now added to its social media by creating its own Facebook group site, Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology.  Visit the COAT group to see photos from recent events and join the discussions.

Here are the instructions on how to sign up for the COAT group on Facebook:

Go to www.facebook.com  On the homepage go to the section that says Sign Up, where you can type your name, email and password, etc. When you click Submit, your account will be created. To connect to COAT, in the search bar in the top upper right corner, type Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology.  This should lead you to a search results page where you click on the Coalition group name. On the COAT Facebook page there is a link that says Join Group. Click and join! Once you've joined you can load photos, start and join discussions, post or review links, and post on the Wall. Meet the members who've already joined!

To join the group directly go to COAT Facebook site.

Follow COAT on Twitter

Follow COAT on Facebook

COAT leaders at the FCC

Andrew Phillips, National Association of the Deaf; Eric Bridges, American Council of the Blind; Mark Richert, American Foundation for the Blind; and Jenifer Simpson, American Association of People with Disabilities, outside the FCC building, Washington DC, after meetings on pending rules under 21st CVAA.

Celebration of the bill's final passage

Rep. Ed Markey and Legislative Director Mark Bayer celebrate the bill’s final passage on September 28, 2010, in front of the Helen Keller statue, with the leaders from the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology: Karen Peltz Strauss, formerly with Communication Service for the Deaf; Jenifer Simpson, American Association of People with Disabilities; Rosaline Crawford, National Association of the Deaf. Their hands symbolize clapping in sign language.

21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act

President Obama signs the Accessibility Act

President Obama signed the 21st
Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act
into law on October 8, 2010, with many key advocates and lawmakers in attendance.

Senator Mark Pryor (AR)

Senator Mark Pryor (AR) received AAPD’s Justice For All Award July 26, 2011 for his leadership with Senate passage of the 21st CVAA.

Key FCC Staff working on 21st CVAA

Key FCC staff working on 21st CVAA: Karen Peltz Strauss, Rosaline Crawford, Eliot Greenwald

Sesame Street video with captioning and description. Sesame Street video with captioning and description.

Closed Caption button on remote. Closed Caption button on remote.