June 29, 2010.  COAT affiliates AAPD, AFB and Burton Blatt Institute attended a White House briefing on June 29, on education and access to books and materials. The meeting, hosted by Kareem Dale, White House Disability Policy Advisor to the President, focused on the new policy guidance letter by the U.S.

June 29, 2010. COAT is pleased to see a markup of H.R. 3101 has been scheduled. The House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet will meet in open markup session on Wednesday, June 30, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. in room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building, to consider H.R. 3101, the “Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009.” TV monitors will display captions. The markup will also be streamed live online with captions.  More info will be posted at http://bit.ly/9E3upA.

On June 20, 2010 the New York Times included a story about lack of captioning online. Entitled, "On Web Video, Captions Are Coming Slowly," by Brian Stelter, the article focuses on how closed-captioning is mandatory on television, but not for TV programs on the Internet.

“We do not want to be left behind as television moves to the Internet,” said Rosaline Crawford, the director of the law and advocacy center for the National Association of the Deaf, a leading COAT affiliate.

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.

On June 21, 2010, COAT and its affiliates sent comments to the U.S. Access Board for the first round in the refresh of the Section 508 & 255 standards. This rulemaking also included an opportunity to comment to the Board on a new ADAAG standard for kiosks.

A Commentary by Robert Kingett, June 16, 2010.

"No Johnny, don't do it!"

June 10, 2010. COAT affiliate Trace R&D Center in Wisconsin has launched a 508-255-Refresh website. This is a new resource to find, review, and discuss the U.S. Access Board's proposed regulations for accessible information and communication technology. Draft 508 and 255 regulations are presented in an easier-to-review format on this website.

On June 10, 2010, at the House Subcommittee hearing on H.R. 3101, partisan differences between Democratic and Republican representatives provided a lively and charged atmosphere for the almost 200 attendees at the hearing. At the root of these tensions was the publishing of an op ed by Gary Shapiro of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) that attempted to slam H.R.