COAT in the News

On August 20, 2010, Eric Bridges of the American Council of the Blind (ACB) was interviewed by Free Press for a podcast entitled "Media Minutes: New Legislation Closes Digital Divide for Blind, Deaf," which is about the "21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act of 2010."  The 5 minute podcast can be heard online. A transcript of the podcast is available attached below in PDF and in Word.

August 16, 2010. Washington Post article By Cecilia Kang

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 March 26, 2010, COAT steering committee members Jenifer Simpson of AAPD and Mark Richert of AFB, attended NIDRR's "Stakeholder Forum on Requirements for Accessible Health Information Technology (HIT) for People with Disabilities."  The forum's intent was to bring together experts to id

COAT leader, Karen Peltz Strauss of the RERC on Telecommunications at Gallaudet, spoke November 3, 2009 on "Relay Services in the Modernized Environment," at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland. The workshop event,"The Impact of of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities ("UNCRPD") on the work of the ITU-T," focused on the various UNCRPD provisions that involve inclusive communications technologies (ICTs).

Representatives from five COAT affiliates dominated the FCC field hearing held at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC on November 6, 2009 and attended by several hundred people. Speaking for NAD, academy award-winning deaf actress Marlee Matlin talked about experiencing discrimination as a deaf person and the need for captioning on the Internet.

Representatives from over a dozen COAT affiliates spoke at the FCC Broadband Workshop held at the FCC in Washington, DC, October 20.