COAT Affiliates Confer with AT&T on Accessibility & Aging Marketing Topics

On February 4, 2010, representatives from several COAT affiliates – AAPD, AFB, Alliance for Technology Access, Inclusive Technologies, NCIL, TDI and WGBH Media Access Center – met in Atlanta, GA as members of AT&T’s Advisory Panel on Access & Aging (APAA). This first of four quarterly meetings in 2010 focused on how AT&T approaches "national marketing to the Disability and Mature segments." Also discussed was the development of applications that can further support these communities.

Over the past four years that the panel has met, AT&T has implemented a number of recommendations, such as establishing dedicated disability customer service centers, providing closed captioning and transcript services for non-live or taped video or webcasts, and providing creative input to "customer sales channels."

Charlene Lake, chief sustainability officer and senior vice president of Public Affairs, AT&T said: "As we embark on the 20th anniversary celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we hope that our customers know that providing a valuable customer experience is a big part of who we are and what we continue to do as a communications provider."

For more information, including other groups who are on the panel and other topics addressed, please read AT&T Notice .

Note that other COAT affiliate representatives also participate in AT&T's Consumer Advisory Panel and on a similar group hosted by Verizon.

Advocates believe that working directly with industry is one way to advance the COAT agenda, alongside legislative, regulatory and judicial system approaches.