Gov't bill would make Internet more accessible for disabled via real-time texting, closed captioning. This month, as Congress returns from break, health care reform is not the only imperative issue on their plate. A new bill will aim to make content on the Internet more friendly to those with disabilities.
The "21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009" (H.R. 3101) plans to modernize disability standards by making such accessibility features as closed captioning, video description and real-time texting a standard for Internet technologies.
The bill was introduced by Mass. Rep. Ed Markey on June 26, with support from the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT), an alliance whose primary goal is to ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind as technology moves further into the digital age.
“When we first sat down a couple years ago we realized that the communication act that the FCC regulates and administers was not keeping up with all the changes going on in communications, particular with everything starting to move through the internet,” said Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director of Government Affairs at the American Association of People with Disabilities, a founding member of COAT.
Date: September 1st 2009
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http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/09/01/2009-09-01_gov_bill_sends_the_digital_age_to_the_disabled_via_realtime_texting_and_other_in.html#ixzz0Qj5HHrT4
