Rep. Markey Introduces 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act of 2009

Thanks for the great Article. I actually did a search for internet providers by zip code and found cable, broadband and satellite internet packages to choose from. It seems there are many more internet provider options available. "The time is now to safeguard an accessible communications future," said Jenifer Simpson - I agree with Jenifer but see it has been time for the past few years. The "21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009" (H.R. 3101) should have been introduced back in 2006 and for us to be more prepared for the future of internet and technology.

Broadband has changed the way of working over internet. The integration of Telephone and Television media over internet is a great achievement and I am happy to find that Plan of action of 2009 includes ways to make internet more accessible by the people and create safety for it. Thanks for sharing.

New cc'd video blog or VLOG by Kelby Brick on H.R.3101.

I just love your dog barking (not cc'd!) in background, Kelby.

CSD issues Press Release supporting HR 3101.

Houston Deaf Network blogger Bradley Porche writes "The Case for HR 3101" where he looks to a future without accessibility.

After reading the bill, I wonder about the following issues:

- There is an increasing number of videos and podcasts on websites that have no captions and transcripts. However, I don't see any specifications about this in the bill. For example, there are guidelines that videos are to have both built-in captions and transcripts - that way users can choose if they want to skim transcripts or spend the whole hour following a captioned video. Unless transcripts can be automatically displayed both as built-in captions and page contents. Can this be added?

- There may be some different kind or type of communication used in a few years. For example, holography. Technology evolves at such a fast speed that some of the contents of this bill could be obsolete in a few years. Is it possible to add specifications in the bill that would be "forward-compatible"?

Thanks.

AT&T supports HR 3101. See AT&T Press Release.

VERIZON supports HR 3101. See Verizon press release.

HR3101 is an excellent start, but may I ask that we consider captioning for broadcast radio as well? National Public Radio Labs has demonstrated this by broadcasting real-time captioning of NPR's Election Night broadcast, November 4, 2008, which sent captioning to five NPR stations around the country.

The hearing-impaired guests at NPR and at the stations had a chance to see Radio Captioning, first hand. NPRLabs is now working to bring Radio Captioning to the mainstream.

Is it possible to post a template letter for representatives and senators to cut and paste? It will make it much easier for us to reach our local representatives and save us time to figure out what to write and more people would be willing to contact. Thanks.

As far as I know nowadays a lot of companies try to realize the idea of making the Internet more availabe for people with disabilities. Unfortunately, the society has not mentioned any sagnificant solutions yet.

Sally

this sounds like a very good law that will actually help people. So, why haven't they passed it already? are they too busy trying to tax us some more instead? Vote 'em all out!

Three cheers for Rep. Markey! I do wish that an amendment to this bill or a new bill altogether would address the lack of availability of captioned/descriptive materials in education. There should be a federal law that all educational video be open captioned (so teachers CAN'T leave it off) and also available in descriptive video format. Poor readers, English Language Learners, the kid in the back who can't hear over distance and noise, any kid when a new word is used and it also appears in print - as well as deaf and hard of hearing students - would benefit from captions. Lack of captions is an unfair barrier for D/HH students in regular education classrooms, and D/HH schools and programs have difficulty finding captioned video materials aligned with state curriculum guidelines, standards and benchmarks. If producers of these materials are required to build in open captions and know these from the outset, the interference of the caption with the visual material would also be reduced.

In addition to the Caption Action 2 blog that Jenifer mentioned further below, we also have a Facebook cause, Caption Action 2, at http://www.causes.com/captionaction2. Support COAT, AND join Caption Action 2 on Facebook. COAT and its member organizations are the professional face of this battle to get this bill through Congress; Caption Action 2 is the grassroots effort to get this bill through Congress.

I signed the petition and forwarded it to several people. This is a very important issue. One hurdle here is that one of the "consumer advocacy" organizations for the blind here in the USA has for many years opposed video description. Shocking as this is, it's true. This organization clearly does not speak for all of us as they claim to do. I urge anyone and everyone who opposes audio/video description to get real and take a long, hard look at reality. The truth of the matter is that this service is needed by those of us who cannot see the screen. If people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing have closed captioning, there's absolutely no reason why audio and video description should be unavailable.

Status, sponsors and bill text are shown on Thomas.gov

A new action blog  has been started by Jamie Berke called Caption Action2 that focuses on the 21st Century bill. Visit it today and see what others are saying and doing! Jamie's website includes a widget with a countdown clock by which we surely must get this legislation passed!

With all this talk about broadband, take the speed test to see how fast your Internet connection is at the Speed Matters website  sponsored by the Communication Workers of America (CWA). COAT affiliate AAPD has partnered with CWA to work on more affordable broadband. As you know,  broadband, unlike dial-up Internet, allows for many more applications that can be made more accessible. See AAPD one pager on this!

Press releases on H.R. 3101 are online as follows:   AAPD,  ACB,  CableTMC Net,  DC Examiner,   Earthtimes,  ExpertClick,   Fox Business, Media dis and dat blog,   NAD, PRNewswire.   YahooNews

Peter Davidson, Verizon Sr VP of Govt Relations said: "..We applaud Chairman Markey for recognizing the essential role communications technology plays in the lives of those with disabilities. In the months leading up to the introduction of the bill, Chairman Markey brought diverse groups to the table and kept the focus on ensuring that those with disabilities have access to emerging communications technology.Verizon has long used its technology to improve the quality of life forthose with disabilities, and we will continue to support Chairman Markey's efforts to pass meaningful legislation to further that same goal."

SOURCE Verizon http://www.verizon.com

Walter B. McCormick, Jr., USTelecom President & CEO,made the following statement on 6/26 about H.R. 3101:

"Representative Markey is a recognized leader in Congress in ensuring those in the disabled community have access to communications technologies. Since 2008, Rep. Markey has worked with a diverse group of stakeholders, including USTelecom, its member companies and the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) in an effort to update the nation's laws to reflect the shift in communications to IP-based technologies. The result of those efforts is the bill introduced today. We look forward to working with Rep. Markey and COAT towards its enactment."