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 Affiliates to Influence Medicare/Medicaid Spending on Rehabilitation Technologies

Other Access Issues

July 14, 2010. COAT affiliates AAPD, AFB and HLAA are members of another coalition, the Independence Through Enhancement of Medicare & Medicaid (ITEM) coalition and met with fellow members today for an annual planning meeting. A coalition of over 100 organizations, ITEM's mission is to preserve and enhance assistive technology of any kind for all people with disabilities of any age. Other COAT affiliates who are members of ITEM include the AG Bell Association, American Academy of Audiology, ASHA, ATIA, ATAP, Easter Seals, HKNC, NISH, and RESNA.

Policy activities focus on making sure federal policies do not create barriers or limit access for people with disabilities. Typically, the coalition focuses on technologies such as wheelchairs, seating systems, orthotics and prosthetics, and newer medical service technologies within the context of federal medical assistance programs and which are customized for individual users.

With health care reform legislation now being implemented the coalition will influence,among other topics, how durable medical equipment and prosthetics are defined, ensure newer complex rehabilitation equipment is a separate Medicare benefit, support parity within the states for orthotic and prosthetic coverage, and monitor medical device tax reform and Medicaid reimbursement programs to ensure people with disabilities are covered. Where such technologies are Internet-enabled or connected, COAT members will be sure to insist on accessible user interfaces and more usable controls and navigation tools.

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Hoping this coalition will

Submitted by CCACaptioning (not verified) on Thu, 07/15/2010 - 07:54.

Hoping this coalition will consider and include requests for quality captioning and CART in all medical evaluations and treatments. This is our "ramp" for full communication access as you all know. While mobility access is equally important, too often communication access is ignored. Thanks.

www.ccacaptioning.org

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.