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.

House Subcommittee Marks Up H.R. 3101, Passed Unanimously on Voice Vote

On June 30, 2010, almost one hundred people attended the long-awaited markup of H.R. 3101,“The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009,” including representatives from COAT affiliates AAPD, ACB, AFB, and NAD and individuals from other disability groups, trade associations and companies. At the markup, Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology & the Internet, offered an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute, “The 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act of 2010," which essentially replaces the text found in the bill to date. The substitute, adopted by voice vote of the members present, passed unanimously by the Representatives in session.

The seventeen Members of Congress attending the markup and voting 'Aye' by voice vote were:

Democrats: Rick Boucher (VA), Edward J. Markey (MA), Bart Gordon (TN), Anna G. Eshoo (CA), Bart Stupak (MI), Mike Doyle (PA), Jay Inslee (WA), Charlie Melancon (LA), Donna M. Christensen (VI), Zachary T. Space (OH).

Republicans: Cliff Stearns (FL, Ranking Member), John Shimkus (IL), Steve Buyer (IN), Lee Terry (NE), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Parker Griffith (AL), Robert E. Latta (OH).

As a result of the markup, H.R. 3101, the “Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010”, was forwarded favorably to the full Energy & Commerce Committee, amended.

Prior to the vote a number of statements by the subcommittee representatives were made, including by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), the originator of the bill, by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the chairman of the full Committee on Energy and Commerce, and by the subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA). Waxman and Boucher's statements summarize why the subcommittee voted for a substitute bill and what are the remaining concerns that the full committee will address.

Read Subcommittee markup background document.

Advocates expect the full committee to address some of the remaining concerns raised by some subcommittee members, e.g., scope of bill, FCC authority, limited expansion of video description, in addition to the "lost" provisions for people who are deaf-blind and some inconsistencies in language.

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