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.

Celebrity & Hero Witnesses Support Equal Access To Communications and Video Technologies

Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology ________________________________________

Contacts:

Rosaline Crawford (NAD) 301-587-7730

Karen Peltz Strauss (CSD) 202-363-1263

Jenifer Simpson (AAPD) (202) 457-0046

Eric Bridges (ACB) (202)-467-5081

Adrianna Montague-Gray (AFB) (212) 502-7675

Celebrity & Hero Witnesses Support Equal Access To Communications and Video TechnologiesTo Provide Critical Testimony Today

Washington, D.C., May 1, 2008 - The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) is pleased to announce that celebrity and hero witnesses will testify at a House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet hearing on draft legislation, "Enhancing Access to Broadband Technology and Services for Persons with Disabilities, on May 1, 2008.

These witnesses include: Jamaal Anderson, defensive end and 2007 first round draft pick of the NFL Atlanta Falcons whose father is a leading deaf educator and former board member of Gallaudet University; Russell Harvard, a deaf Hollywood actor appearing in the double-academy award winning "There Will Be Blood"; and Sergeant Major Jesse Acosta, a distinguished army veteran whose vision was seriously injured in Iraq.

The three witnesses will testify to the need for passage of legislation to ensure that, as our nation migrates from legacy telephone and television products to more versatile and innovative digital and Internet-based communications and video programming, people with disabilities must benefit like everyone else. In addition to generally requiring access to Internet-based communications services, legislative action is needed to achieve the following:

Extend the closed captioning mandates to certain Internet-based video programming;
Require video devices with screens smaller than 13-inches to display captioning;

Mandate video description on television so people who are blind can have access to program content and visual emergency information;
Require accessible user interfaces/menus on video programming devices such as TVs, VCRs, and DVR players;
Mandate hearing aid compatibility on "Smart" or Internet-enabled phones;

Allow eligible consumers with disabilities who must use broadband for phone calls to apply their Universal Service Fund (USF) discounts to high speed Internet service; and
Allocate USF funds for the distribution of specialized equipment needed to provide telecommunications access for individuals who are deaf-blind.

The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, or COAT, has nearly 200 national, regional, state, and community-based affiliates. More information at http://www.coataccess.org.

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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.

Congressman Ed Markey in photo of Congressional hearing room dais. Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA), center, introduced the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3101) on June 26, 2009.

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President Obama signs the Accessibility Act

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