-----Original Message-----
From: Marlaina Lieberg [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 11:26 AM
To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject: [leadership] Legislative Action Needed now

I am cross-posting this, and urge you to take action by contacting your 
representatives in Congress to ask them to sign on to H.R.
6320, the " 21st Century Communications and Accessibility Act of 2008" to 
ensure
that individuals with disabilities have access to emerging Internet 
Protocol-based
communication and video programming technologies in the 21st Century.  Below

my post is the post that AFB is sending out and it will give you more 
detailed information on the bill.

Here, in essence, if passed, is what this bill will do for the blind and 
visually impaired community:



1. Up to $10 million per year for specialized equipment for deaf-blind

users.
2. Captioning decoder and description circuitry on all video devices.
3. Video description and emergency warnings.
4. Captioning and description on Internet video.
5. Accessible user interfaces for all video devices.
6. Accessible video programming and navigational guides.


The ACB Information Access Committee, along with Eric Bridges and many state

affiliates have been working to get this bill introduced.  This is the bill 
on which a hearing was held on May 1, at which Sergeant Major Jesse Acosta 
testified.

Please contact your representatives in Congress and ask them to ensure that 
blind folks have access to current and emerging technologies by signing on 
to H.R.
6320, the " 21st Century Communications and Accessibility Act of 2008." 
Feel free to share your own personal story with your rep; remember, her or 
his job depends upon how well pleased constituents feel.  This is an 
important bill, and I hope each one of you reading this will take up the 
call and contact your Congressional representative.  If possible, COAT would

like to track the responses you are receiving.  So, if you could drop me a 
note off list
[log in to unmask]
and let me know how your request was received, I'd appreciate it.  if not, 
it's more important that you contact your rep anyway.  Here is AFB's post. 
Thanks in advance for your work on this important effort.

Marlaina


On June 19, 2008
 Representatives Edward Markey (D-MA-7) and Heather Wilson (R-NM-1) 
introduced H.R.
6320, the " 21st Century Communications and Accessibility Act of 2008" to 
ensure
that individuals with disabilities have access to emerging Internet 
Protocol-based
communication and video programming technologies in the 21st Century. The 
original
cosponsors are Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA-23); Rep Barney Frank (D-MA-4); and 
Rep. Hilda
Solis (D-CA-32).
Contact members of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, 
the full
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and your own Representative to ask them to

become
cosponsors of the legislation.
COAT, the
Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology
, has posted
.         lists of members of the Subcommittee and full Committee both 
including
contact information;
.         a link to Members of the House of Representatives with links to 
their websites
for contact information;
.         a link to Write Your Representative so you can find out who your 
Representative
is--if you don't know who that is;
.         and the Capitol switchboard number.
COAT's press release follows:
LEGISLATION BRINGS HOPE FOR PEOPLE WITH
DISABILITIES LEFT OUT OF NEW COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGIES
COAT Applauds Representatives Markey and Wilson for introducing
"The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2008"
WASHINGTON, DC, June 19, 2008
 - The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) is 
delighted that
Representatives Edward Markey (D-MA) and Heather Wilson (R-NM) have 
introduced "The
21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2008."
The bill would amend the Communications Act to ensure that new 
Internet-enabled telephone
and television services are accessible to and usable by people with 
disabilities
and closes existing gaps in telecommunications laws.
Jenifer Simpson, of the American Association of People with Disabilities 
(AAPD),
said, "Once again, as he did in the 1980s and 1990s, Representative Markey 
is safeguarding
an accessible communications future for people with disabilities.
We are delighted also that Representative Wilson is co-sponsoring a measure 
that
focuses on accessibility in our digital communications world.
We applaud these Congresspersons for their extraordinary leadership and we 
look now
to the Senate to address the issue of accessible communications 
technologies."
Karen Peltz Strauss, of Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD), said, 
"This bill
is a giant step forward toward bringing the Communication Act's requirements

for
accessible telephone and television services into this century.
The various provisions of this legislation - which focus on new and 
innovative ways
to communicate and receive information - build on existing federal policies 
to ensure
that people with disabilities can take full advantage of the Internet 
advancements
enjoyed by everyone else."
Added Rosaline Crawford, of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), 
"Digital
and Internet technologies are very exciting.
They make it possible for TVs and other video devices - of virtually any 
size - to
receive, transmit, and display TV programs and videoclips with captions.
Captions make TV programs and videoclips accessible to people who are deaf 
or hard
of hearing.
As more and more TV programs embrace the Internet, people who are deaf or 
hard of
hearing must not be left behind. Captioning TV programs and videoclips shown

on the
Internet is needed for the same reasons it is needed when shown on TV."
Mark Richert, of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), stated:
"With this measure, people with vision loss will finally have access to 
everything
from text messaging their friends, watching their favorite TV shows, and 
receiving
critical emergency alerts. Video description and accessible user interfaces 
on television
devices are essential in providing information about events on screen for 
people
who are blind or visually impaired."
Video description is verbal depiction of key visual elements inserted into 
natural
pauses in television dialogue and is activated by the viewer.
The bill includes the following specific measures:
Communications Access
.         Requires access to phone-type equipment and services used over the

Internet.
.         Add improved accountability and enforcement measures for 
accessibility,
including a clearinghouse and reporting obligations by providers and 
manufacturers.
.         Requires telephone products used with the Internet to be hearing 
aid compatible.
.         Allows use of Lifeline and Link-up universal service funds (USF) 
for broadband
services.
.         Allocates up to $10 million/year from USF for equipment used by 
people
who are deaf-blind.
.         Clarifies the scope of relay services to include calls between and

among
people with disabilities and require Internet-based service providers to 
contribute
to the Interstate Relay Fund.
Video Programming Access
.         Requires decoder circuitry in all video programming devices.
.         Extends the closed captioning obligations to television-type video

programming
distributed over the Internet: covers programming that would otherwise be 
covered
by the FCC's captioning rules, not user-generated content..
            Requires easy access to closed captions via remote control, 
on-screen
menus.
.         Requires easy access by blind people to television controls and 
program
selection menus.
.         Restores video description rules and requires access to televised 
emergency
programming for people who are blind or have low vision.
The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, or COAT, which was

launched
in March 2007, is a coalition of over 200 national and local organizations 
that advocates
for full access by people with disabilities to evolving high speed 
broadband, wireless
and
  Internet protocol (IP) technologies.
More information is available at the COAT website at
http://www.COATaccess.org
.
=======================================
Barbara Jackson LeMoine
Policy Analyst
American Foundation for the Blind
Public Policy Center
1660 L Street, N.W., Suite 513
Washington, DC 20036
202-822-0831
E-mail:
[log in to unmask]
Web:
http://www.afb.org/gov.asp
Expanding possibilities for people with vision lossTM


Warmly,

Marlaina

Be the change in the world that you want to see happen 


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