COAT legislation petition now signed in 44 states!
We would like to encourage each of you to support some very important
legislation that will make a tremendous difference in the lives of
deaf and hard of hearing citizens. The 21st Century Communications &
Video Accessibility Act is going to be re-introduced and we would like
Congress to know that the needs of deaf and hard of hearing Americans
should not be overlooked.
As you may know, CSD was one of the founding members of the Coalition
of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) and we have joined
them in efforts to ensure that the federal laws that we have worked so
hard to enact over the past 20 years keep in pace with new
technologies. For instance, television shows that are re-shown over
the Internet are under no requirement to be captioned – even if they
had captions when they were shown on TV! Also, small TVs, cell phones,
PDAs, and other mobile devices are not required to display captions,
even though they are now capable of showing TV shows. Also, for now,
9-1-1 emergency call centers cannot accept calls from people who need
to communicate in video or via pagers.
There is still much work to be done and we need to show our support
by signing petitions on the COAT website. Overall, the goal is to have
5,000 signatures before the 21stCentury Communications & Video
Accessibility Act is re-introduced! Please show your support now by
logging onto their website at
http://www.coataccess.org/node/add/petition to electronically sign
their COAT petition.
Ideally, the petitions should be representative of consumers from all
50 states. But at this time, there are few or no petition signers from
the following states: Iowa, North Dakota, Nevada, Nebraska, Oklahoma
and West Virginia. Regardless of what state you are from, please go to
the COAT website and learn more about their efforts and support their
cause by signing the petition — they still need more petitioners from
ALL 50 states.
Below is a copy of the petition itself. If you agree with it, again
please go to their site and SIGN THEIR PETITION! It takes only a few
moments and will do a great deal in showing members of Congress how
much we all care about access in the 21st century.
We, the undersigned, support the legislative and regulatory proposals
of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) to
ensure full access by people with disabilities to evolving high speed
broadband, wireless, and Internet communication and electronic
technologies.
Over the last 20 years, various federal laws to ensure access to
telephone and television technologies have been enacted. However,
these federal laws have not kept pace with new technologies. For
example, television programs distributed over the Internet are not
required to have closed captions or video description – even if they
had captions and description when they were shown on television. Also,
although televisions with screens larger than 13 inches must display
closed captions, small televisions, cell phones, PDAs, and other
mobile devices do not have this same requirement; nor are they
required to pass through video description. In addition, although
federal law requires phones over the regular public telephone network
to be hearing aid compatible, it is not clear whether this obligation
carries over to smart phones used for communication over the Internet.
Nor are there any affordable phone devices that work for people who
are deaf-blind. The list goes on and on – nearly every time new
technology is introduced in the marketplace, people with disabilities
get left behind! We say enough is enough!
We want access. We need change. We support COAT’s efforts to enact
the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act
and other laws and policies that will ensure equal access to
telecommunications, the Internet, and television programming!
If you would like to forward this email request and petition to your
friends and family members, please do so. Don’t hesitate to forward
the petition to anyone who might be willing to send their signature!
You can use the automatic petition forwarder at the following:
http://www.coataccess.org/node/88
Thank you in advance for your support and for helping to make a
difference!