August 16, 2010. Washington Post article By Cecilia Kang

On August 12, 2010, Comments were due at the FCC in a rulemaking about cable TV (FCC Dockets 00-67 and 97-80).  COAT advocates Dana Mulvany, Ronald Vickery and Larry Goldberg filed comments focusing on the accessibility issues that the newer disaggregated television devices now raise, such as pass through and display of captioning, and accessibility for people who are blind or with vision loss. It is expected that the FCC will continue to raise these issues in further rulemakings and it is a great opportunity for advocates to make sure the appropriate technical issues are included.

A June 22, 2010 report finds that state public benefits agencies are increasingly relying on their websites as a means of providing information to the public, and as a means of applying for Medicaid, food stamps, and cash assistance. The new report by the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) discusses research findings that agency websites have a host of problems that make them inaccessible to people with disabilities who use assistive technology, and difficult for everyone to navigate.

On August 13, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued its first quarter 2010 Consumer Complaints Report. Among the general complaints, the quarterly report shows some disability-related consumer complaints/inquiries regarding video description, closed captioning, and emergency access to video programming, as follows:

COAT has learned that on July 15, 2010, the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded a $15 million grant to COAT affiliate, Communication Services for the Deaf (CSD).  The funds, an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant ("stimulus money"), are to help bridge the technological divide, boost economic growth, and improve communications for people who are deaf and hard of hearing nationwide.

On August 5, 2010, COAT learned that national affiliate RESNA was awarded the new five-year national technical assistance grant to provide assistance to assistive technology (AT) entities nationwide. The award is from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) at the U.S. Department of Education.

Senate Press Release:

August 6, 2010. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) noted the Senate passage of S. 3304, stating “I am extremely pleased that last night the Senate passed a companion bill to the one I authored in the House to ensure accessibility for Americans with disabilities."