On Thursday June 22nd, we obtained a huge victory in the Senate! At the markup of S2686, all our requested disability amendments were accepted and added to the bill. S2686 is being enacted to amend the Communications Act of 1934. Provisions of interest to the blind include the following.
1. CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) was specifically added to the accessibility mandates. This is significant because people with disabilities will now have stronger grounds upon which to argue that cable broadband services must be accessible. Given the shift from analog to digital communications technology, this is a victory that could have positive, far-reaching effects on the ability of blind people to compete in an economy that is increasingly information-based.
2. The FCC has to submit a report to Congress every 2 years on the status of accessible equipment and services, although this provision might apply to only VoIP (voice over internet protocol) systems and services. VoIP allows you to make telephone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line.
3. An umbrella disability rights organization will be represented on DTV (digital television) working groups.
4. Materials produced by the DTV working groups must be in accessible formats, and must be available on accessible websites. This would be the first time that Federal legislation required accessible websites. This is a big deal, as many private websites are still virtually unusable to people using screen-reading technologies.
Unfortunately, this version contains the words "repeal" in the section on Video Description as in "the FCC has the right to repeal, modify or expand video description requirements." We are currently exploring fixes to this problem via FCC regulations as well as through legislative action.
The bill's next step is to go to conference. We want the legislation in as strong a position as possible as conference committee is where lobbyists and organizations have the least influence. In addition, the House version does not have strong disability or access provisions. To assist in our efforts, last Wednesday, ACB met with a number of telecom corporate representatives to discuss their support of the disability provisions.
ACB would like to extend special thanks to Karen Peltz Strauss and Jenifer Simpson, who both worked very hard to help cement this crucial victory.
Also, a very special thanks to Senator John McCain (R Arizona) and Senator Bill Nelson (D Florida) for introducing the amendments and of course to Senator Ted Stevens (R Alaska) and Senator Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) for sponsoring the bill. Please get in touch with these Senators and let them know how much we appreciate their support. Their contact information is available below:
Sen. Bill Nelson:
Tel: 202-224-5274 or Fax 202-228-2183
Tallahassee office - Tel 850-942-8415
Sen. John McCain:
Tel 202-224-2235 or Fax 202-228-2862
Phoenix office - Tel 609-952-2410
Sen. Ted Stevens:
Tel 202-224-3004 or Fax 202-224-2354
Juneau office - Tel 907-586-7400
Sen. Daniel Inouye:
Tel 202-224-3934 or Fax 202-224-6747
Honolulu office - Tel 808-541-2542
Day Al-Mohamed
Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs
American Council of the Blind
1155 15th St. NW
Washington DC 20005
Tel. 202-467-5081
dalmohamed@acb.org