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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.

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Significant Technology Gap for People with Disabilities Says COAT Affiliate NOD in Harris Poll

On July 22, 2010, COAT affiliate NOD held an event to release findings from a new survey, The 2010 Kessler/NOD Survey of Americans with Disabilities. One finding is that, among thirteen key indicators ranging from employment and income to social engagement and life satisfaction, there is a significant technology gap. The report states (page 19):

"The second largest gap between people with and without disabilities is regarding using technology to access the Internet. People with disabilities are much less likely to use the Internet and this gap exists across all age groups.

  • 85% of adults without disabilities claim to use a computer or other electronic device to access the Internet from home, work or another location, whereas only 54% of adults with disabilities report the same – a gap of 31 percentage points.
  • The gap is smallest among the youngest cohort but a difference still exists (10 percentage points). The gap increases threefold among those 65 or older to 33 percentage points."

The largest gap is in employment with only 21% of working-age people with disabilities reporting full or part-time employment, compared to 59% of people without disabilities -- a gap of 38 percentage points. NOD asserts that while this gap has decreased since first examined in 1998, it remains large and decline is slow. The survey discusses other gaps as well.

The event was well-attended by representatives from federal agencies such as FEMA, DOT, SSA and the State Department, companies such as AT&T and WalMart, and COAT affiliate AAPD.

Read Press Release summarizing all findings.  View Powerpoint from Release event (colorful graphs, depressing numbers).  Read Survey Report.

 

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COAT leaders at the FCC

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.

21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act

President Obama signs the Accessibility Act

President Obama signed the 21st
Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act into law on October 8, 2010, with many key advocates and lawmakers in attendance.

Senator Mark Pryor (AR)

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. Sesame Street video with captioning and description.

Closed Caption button on remote. Closed Caption button on remote.