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.

Bay Citizen (CA) news story: Smartphones Don't Work Well For People who are Blind

On June 22, 2010, the Bay Citizen, a non-profit news organization located in San Francisco, included a story "Smartphones Flunk for Blind Users: Blind users see digital divide in new generation phones," by Jessica Portner, a free lance writer.

The article, in the Technology section, talks about how, for many in the blind and visually impaired community, lack of built-in accessibility on most smartphones makes use impossible. The article mentions the "21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act," and includes a quote from Jenifer Simpson of AAPD who asks, "Can Grandma give you a phone call on the smartphone you want to buy her for Christmas?"

Read Bay Citizen Article

View YouTube video clip on iPhone 4, unveiled this month that includes the ability to wirelessly connect to a device that displays Braille (as embedded in Bay Citizen article).

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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.

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.

Closed Caption button on remote.

Bay Citizen (CA) news story: Smartphones Don't Work Well For People who are Blind

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21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act

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