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 Affiliate ICDRI Calls For Ending E-Book Famine For People with Disabilities

After applying for and receiving accreditation, COAT affiliate ICDRI weighed in with a strong statement at the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) conference on a proposed international treaty about intellectual property limitations and exceptions on December 15, 2009. ICDRI, however, re-framed the treaty as "the sharing of accessible works."

In her speech in Geneva, Switzerland, ICDRI's Cynthia Waddell cited to the Kindle E-book controversy where the text-to-speech (TTS) feature has been turned off. She described this as a growing problem creating "a book famine" for users with disabilities that must be ended now. She asserted that the situation "demonstrates the unwillingness of rightsholders to recognize [disability] human rights."

Read full ICDRI statement in attachment below. See earlier story on other COAT participation at this significant UN World Intellectual Property Organization. For more on the E-book controversy, visit the Reading Rights Coalition (RRC) website. Note: many COAT affiliates are also RRC members.

COAT has long endorsed and supports efforts to ensure text-to-speech (TTS) as an accessibility and usability feature on all types of devices and appliances for people both with and without disabilities.

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ICDRI WIPO Statement in support of the Proposed Treaty.txt	3.13 KB

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i'm glad she said this was

Submitted by Tina Azid (not verified) on Mon, 01/25/2010 - 07:26.

i'm glad she said this was an e-book famine. the way this industry is going they are not thinking of us disability people at all. Why do they think they can ignore us? Are they stupid? At the least why are they not thinking of children who are in spec ed and need all the tools they can get. i'm so sick of how every new thing that comes out has a problem with it.

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.