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 Leaders Brief Cable & Broadband Attorneys about H.R. 3101

On March 2, 2010, Rosaline Crawford, Director of the Law and Advocacy Center of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), spoke on H.R. 3101 at the "Broadband & Cable Industry Law 2010" forum in San Francisco sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute (PLI). On the panel entitled "Developments in Cable Technology," targeted to attorneys in the cable television industry, Ms. Crawford's segment focused on "how will persons with disabilities access new technologies and services over the Internet, video, and phone? Will new regulation be required?"

Previously, Karen Peltz Strauss, co-chair of COAT, had presented a similar briefing in New York City on January 26, 2010 at PLI's New York city conference center. PLI courses provide continuing education credit for practising attorneys.

The COAT leader presentations were part of an overall forum looking at the state of broadband and cable voice competition, and included topics such as: net neutrality, online video, cable regulation, regulatory and policy issues in voice competition, privacy requirements on broadband and video providers, etc.

The accessibility/usability provisions in H.R. 3101 are clearly part and parcel of the overall current focus on broadband and the issues associated with greater expansion and new technologies. With Internet and Television technologies converging, accessibility and usability must be considered. What is significant is how much COAT has been able to introduce disability accessibility concerns and influence the policy dialogue in various communities looking at broadband topics.

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

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

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COAT Leaders Brief Cable & Broadband Attorneys about H.R. 3101

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