JFActivist

State Cuts to Home/Community Services and Opportunity to Vote

From Wall Street Journal (5.20.10):

Disabled Face Hard Choices as States Slash Medicaid

By CLARE ANSBERRY

FLORENCE, S.C—Tandem forces of shrinking state budgets and rising health-care costs have collided and struck a small brick ranch house in this rural town, home to Barbara Hickey.

Born with cerebral palsy, Ms. Hickey, now 67 years old, is confined to a motorized wheelchair. She lives alone and relies on certified nurse's assistants to get her in and out of bed, bathed, clothed and fed.

In December, she received a letter from the South Carolina Department of Special Needs and Disabilities, saying her weekly 50 hours of personal-care help was being cut to 28 hours. That meant Ms. Hickey would get help for two hours in the morning and two hours at night. If she needed to use the bathroom in between, she would sit in a soiled diaper.

...Home health care—funded largely by Medicaid—generally costs less money than institutionalizing developmentally disabled people like Ms. Hickey. But the political reality is that it's easier to cut back home services than to close a 24-hour facility, which can leave people with nowhere to go. Thus, some of the biggest cuts around the country are happening in the basic services that help the disabled cope at home.

South Carolina says it has little choice but to cut funding for Medicaid. It faced a $563 million deficit for the current fiscal year, and like other states must have a balanced budget. Medicaid, the joint federal-state health-insurance program for the poor and disabled, already consumes about 20% of its $5 billion budget and is one of its fastest growing costs.

...Across the country, budget-strapped states are focusing on Medicaid. Created in 1965, it is now a $379 billion program, including state and federal funds. State spending grew an average 7.9% in fiscal 2009 as the economic crisis hit and more people signed up for Medicaid.

...But states don't have much flexibility when it comes to what they can and can't cut inside Medicaid. Although it is a state-managed system, the federal government pays a percentage of each state's total costs and makes many of the Medicaid rules. Under federal Medicaid law, states must offer inpatient and outpatient hospital care, X-rays and lab services. They also have to cover nursing-home services and meet certain standards, such as staffing ratios.

...Recent state cuts have targeted developmentally disabled people living at home. In December, families were told that some of their in-home support was being cut by as much as half...

>>>To Read Full Article

What Would You Do? Actors Shout Insults at Clerk with Down Syndrome

From ABC News (5.17.10):

'What Would You Do?': Grocery Clerk With Special Needs

How Will Shoppers React When Customer Tells Clerk With Down Syndrome: 'You're Absolutely Retarded!'

BY ANDREW SULLIVAN

A hard-working supermarket clerk is bagging groceries at the end of the express checkout lane. He's doing a good job, but an impatient customer checks her watch and starts to criticize.

"Hurry up," the customer harps. "I don't have all day."

Rude customers are nothing new, especially in a grocery store located on a busy street in New York. What makes this scenario so objectionable is that the person bagging groceries has Down syndrome, and the customer starts to use indefensible language.

"Can you not understand me?" she yells, "You're absolutely retarded!"

...But will customers take a stand when they see a person with special needs being verbally abused?

To find out we hired Josh Eber, an actor who has Down syndrome. Josh has spent his life acting opposite Muppets on "Sesame Street" and A-list actors in Hollywood movies, but for two days he played the part of a grocery clerk facing profound ignorance supplied by other actors, posing as customers in line.

...But will reactions be different if, instead of an adult, the ignorance comes from a clueless teenager? What if it comes from an intimidating man? And what will happen when the customer witnessing the abuse has a person with Down syndrome in his family?

Watch the full story on a special edition of "What Would You Do?" Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET.

>>>For More Information

Inclusive Hurricane Preparedness

From AAPD (5.19.10):

A Report from the Inclusive Hurricane Preparedness Conference: Issues in Emergency Management Planning Involving our Disability Community

By Jenifer Simpson, AAPD Senior Director of Government Affairs

PHOTO: (Jenifer Simpson, AAPD and Marcie Roth, FEMA at IHPC Conference)

At the recent “Inclusive Hurricane Preparedness Conference (IHPC),” held in Biloxi, MS April 28-29, 2010, emergency managers, public safety officials and disability leaders discussed new ways to prepare communities for disaster readiness, with a focus on inclusion of people with disabilities in planning.  Federal Emergency Management Agency staff spoke at this event, including a keynote speech by Administrator Craig Fugate, and remarks by Marcie Roth, Senior Advisor on Disability Issues at FEMA. AAPD’s Senior Director for Government Affairs, Jenifer Simpson, also spoke on an IHPC panel about using electronic social media to promote emergency readiness.

Administrator Fugate noted that the starting point for better involving people with disabilities were the attempts to follow the ADA after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. He said that conventional wisdom had been that ADA did not apply to emergency issues and that emergency managers, like others, “have a tendency to plan for what’s easy to do” and “lacked understanding about dealing with people with disabilities in planning and responding during emergencies.” He cited the sorry history of how “special needs populations” were “often just dumped in shelters” without their necessary assistive technology before ADA enactment. He said that the ADA compelled state & local governments to start looking at "medically dependent people” and people with disabilities in new ways. He affirmed to participants that “ADA is the law” when it comes to emergency planning and response and that “inclusiveness has to occur at the front end.”  He also warned that the “US Department of Justice was paying attention to this issue.”

Fugate emphasized the message of inclusion to the over 75 IHIPC attendees. He said, “We shouldn't segregate populations that are easy and those that are hard when dealing with emergencies.”  He added that “We need to plan for what’s real -- disability, kids, poverty, elderly etc.” He said that local teams responding to emergencies are more powerful when they have been built in the planning stages to include people with disabilities. He also talked about how disability inclusion will lead to different solutions. He used the example of supplying Meals-Ready to Eat (MREs), cots for shelters and reliance on text as examples of how we need to look beyond what is easy to supply and should be broader in approach. That is, MRE food may not be usable for some people, cots need to be universally designed for users with physical disabilities, and that FEMA needs to recognize that providing everything in text assumes English literacy but for many, he said “Sign Language is their first language, so interpreters are needed, as well as other language translators.”

In response to a pointed a question from a state Independent Living Center director, Fugate stated that he gives this same message of inclusion of people with disabilities at every Emergency Management conference he goes to, that is, not just those events where people with disabilities are present. He admitted that FEMA is working on disability etiquette issues involving emergency personnel. He said they want to stop using the term "victims" and replace it with "survivors" as “Changes in our vocabulary will help inclusion,” he said.” He added that one way to further disability inclusion is that FEMA will be looking at FEMA funds grant applicants to see in what ways they are already including people with disabilities in their planning.  There was applause when he said that “FEMA wants to empower the teams locally and then get out of the way, not get in way of governors and other local officials.”  Other topics he raised included making sure that families first have a disaster plan as “they should not assume government can do it all”. He said that FEMA, and emergency managers, “must stop seeing the public as a problem” since it is local people and neighbors who are often the ones who deal with immediate rescue issues.

FEMA's Senior Advisor on Disability Issues, Marcie Roth, reiterated that the agency is “moving from ‘special populations’ to "access & functional" as a way to address disability community concerns in regard to the language issues, a subject of great concern in our community. As one way to also expand FEMA’s reach, she said that “FEMA has also been involving the state technology act programs in building local emergency management teams.” Like Fugate, Roth emphasized that “People with disabilities must be at the table in planning for emergency response” and that this included table top exercises, drills, and local level resource development.  She said that the agency will have Guidance coming out soon in regard to universal & inclusive planned shelters and this may be available at the National Council on Disabilities’ 20th Anniversary of ADA summit, which will also include emergency issues as a topic.

Echoing Administrator Fugate’s concerns about shelter cots, Roth noted how universally designed cots for shelters is part of inclusion, is more efficient for everyone and that the agency was actively seeking suppliers of these. She noted also that “By involving people with disabilities in disaster recovery, we free up acute care and other health care workers.”  Another topic needing more exploration, said Roth, is “Our need to do more thinking about kids with disabilities in emergency planning.” In summary, FEMA disability advisor Marcie Roth said she wants “to bake in disability inclusion, not layer it in at FEMA"

AAPD’s Jenifer Simpson discussed how social networking can be an effective tool in disseminating information before, during and after emergencies. She talked about the successful use of social media like Twitter.com, Facebook and blog sites as a means for information dissemination and public interaction and suggested that emergency managers and planners could avail themselves of these free easily used, widely available tools. She provided an example of a situation where a failed web-based online broadcast with streaming captioning was supplemented by live tweeting which allowed deaf followers to get the essential messages of the online broadcast, securing some of the same information that others received, even when the captioning stream broke down. Jenifer’s co-panelists were Tina Robinette, Deputy State Fire Marshal, State of South Carolina and Carol Dunn, Disaster Education Specialist, Bellevue, WA Fire Department. Both these Emergency managers are active users of twitter.com and other social media and provided examples of how they used these tools for consumer education and awareness activities in regard to fire safety and emergency readiness.  For instance, Tina included a photo of an electric plug point without its cover as an example of a potential fire hazard, when she disseminated information via Twitter recently. She said she got back a response from a college student who said they had an electric plug point like that and had no idea it was a fire hazard (and then fixed it).   Neil McDevitt, the Community Emergency Preparedness information Network (CEPIN) manager, an organizer of the event,  noted, for instance,  that about 5,000 people currently are reached through CEPIN and its friends’ tweets, and this is just after a few months of using the tool. He believes also there is much potential for greater awareness and inclusion through these means. The consensus of the social media panelists was that these tools are supplementary ways to reach the general public, including people with disabilities, about the critical issues in emergency management. McDevitt said he “Hopes that the IHPC will become an annual event” so everyone could continue to grow and learn from each other.

Some recommendations overheard at the conference:
“Make sure people are not all evacuated at the same time, to avoid bottlenecks.”
“Help neighbors know neighbors as an effective way for spreading emergency info.”
“Schools with non-accessible bathrooms should be removed from sheltering lists!”
“Use Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) services if interpreters not available.
 
SOME EMERGENCY PLANNING RESOURCES

FEMA: Emergency Preparedness checklists, at http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/emergency_planning.shtm
FEMA: Planning Ahead, at http://www.fema.gov/plan/index.shtm
How to Talk to Your Employees about Emergency Preparedness at http://bit.ly/cUQ499

More on CEPIN at http://www.cepintdi.org/
More on AAPD at http://www.aapd.com
END
  

Self Advocacy History Added to Berkeley Library

From The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley.

Oral Histories of Self Advocates with Developmental Disabilities Added to UC Berkeley Library

BERKELEY, CA (May 20, 2010) – The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley is pleased to announce the addition of a new collection of oral histories of leaders in the self-advocacy movement. 

The self-advocacy movement is a civil and human rights movement led by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Despite its widespread existence nationally and internationally, few works have explored the rich history, culture, and significance of the movement. The new collection helps fill this void through documenting the life stories of thirteen leaders from across the country, many of whom founded the movement at local, state, and national levels.

“As a whole, the collection is perhaps the most in-depth exploration of the transformative impact and cultural meaning of the self-advocacy movement,” stated Tamar Heller, President of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. “Spanning over six decades, the life stories of self advocates document how far we have come as a society while reminding us how much further we still must go.”  

The project was led by Joe Caldwell, Adjunct Professor within the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was made possible with support from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, US Department of Education. Project participants and Caldwell donated the material for inclusion in the Bancroft Library’s larger collection on the history of the disability rights and independent living movement which contains over a hundred oral histories of artists, activists, and scholars.

The entire self-advocacy collection is available online. In addition to interview transcripts, the collection contains captioned video-taped excerpts which make it more accessible to a broader audience, including individuals who may have difficulty reading.
 
“While drafting Equality of Opportunity, the Making of the Americans of Disabilities Act, I was struck by how future generations would look back on the passage of the ADA as a watershed moment in public policy. This collection of oral histories continues the legacy of Justin Dart in capturing the individual stories of people with disabilities in this country,” stated Jonathan Young, Chairman of the National Council on Disability.  “It is critical for youth with disabilities to have a strong sense of history, identity, and disability pride. The use of technology and social media to share these stories of self advocates will have powerful impacts on our community and the next generation of leaders, just as the ADA did for this generation.”

To access the collection of leaders in the self-advocacy movement: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/subjectarea/ics_movements/self_advocacy.html

To access the broader disability rights and independent living movement collection: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/drilm/index.html

Ask the Government How The Affordable Care Act Will Benefit People With Disabilities

From the White House (5.18.10):

Do you have a disability or have someone close to you who does? Do you wonder if and how the Affordable Care Act can really help you?

We’ll be taking your questions about how the Affordable Care Act will benefit people with disabilities, or those with loved ones affected by a disability.

Join our WebChat this upcoming Thursday, May 20, at 1:00 P.M EDT at www.hhs.gov/live.

Henry Claypool, the Director of the Office of Disability at HHS, Jeffrey Crowley, Senior Advisor on Disability Policy at the White House and Meena Seshamani, Deputy Director in the Office of Health Reform at HHS will discuss and answer YOUR questions about how the Affordable Care Act will help those who have a disability.

Send your questions to healthreform@hhs.gov and we’ll answer as many as possible during Chat. We will also take questions live from twitter using our handle @HHSGOV.

This week’s show is the eighth in the Affordable Care Act WebChat series. Tune in each week as we continue to talk about different aspects of the new health reform bill so that you, your family and friends can stay informed.

You can find previous WebChats on www.healthreform.gov and browse the site to find all the latest information available from HHS on the new law.
Thanks for participating, and stay tuned to get your questions answered.

Action Alert - Help Avert Drastic Medicaid Cuts

From the Arc (5.17.10):

Help Avert Drastic Medicaid Cuts Take Action!

Ask Your Representative to Vote for HR 4213 

Background
 The clock is ticking on state budgets.  Nearly all states are finalizing their 2011 budgets that begin on July 1.  And many have already factored in an increase in the federal governments share of Medicaid (known as the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP)).  At least 25 states including Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington are already relying on this increased funding in their FY11 state budgets.
 
Without swift enactment of a six-month FMAP extension, states will be forced to make very deep cuts in programs, including home and community based services, supported employment, dental care and even basic health care.
 
Congress must pass the FMAP extension NOW.
 
The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (H.R. 4213) contains a 6-month FMAP extension.  This bill will be voted on as soon as this week by the House of Representatives.
 
Take Action
 
Please call your representative's office THIS WEEK.  Call TOLL FREE - 1-877-442-6801.  Sample talking points are provided when you click on the "Take Action" link.
 
What to say:
• May I please speak to the staff person who covers health?
• I am calling to urge Representative _________________to vote for HR 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act.
• People with disabilities depend on Medicaid for their very survival. Without an extension of the Medicaid FMAP increase contained in the bill, we will lose vital services.
 
Please call; do not email.  The reality is that staff on Capitol Hill rarely read constituent email anymore.  There is just too much of it to keep track of.  The best measures they have about what constituents need are telephone calls or personal visits.
 
Thank you in advance for your advocacy.

>>>For More Information

Reminder: Join Us at AAPD's Policy Forum: New Directions for Federal Employment

From Cornell University (5.17.10):

 
SAVE THE DATE

Policy Forum: New Directions for Federal Contractors and Disability Affirmative Action

Register Now:  http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/register/policyforum.cfm

Date:  Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Time: 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Location: Cornell University Government Affairs Office
Hall of States, Room 333
444 North Capitol Street, Northwest
Washington, DC 20001

Facilitator:  Susanne Bruyère, Cornell University, Employment and Disability Institute

Speakers: Patricia Shiu, Director, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
  Kathy Martinez, Assistant Secretary, Office of Disability Employment Policy
  Bobby Silverstein, Principal, Powers, Pyles, Sutter & Verville, PC
  Larry Lorber, a management lawyer and former head of OFCCP

Contact: Lori Biechele, Cornell University ILR School 
email: lb274@cornell.edu

telephone: (607) 254-8941

We request that you register online to ensure adequate seating, security clearance and request any necessary accommodations.

You can register at: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/register/policyforum.cfm. You can attend the Policy Forum in person or via webinar. If you are attending via webinar please indicate so in the comments field of the online registration form.

Disability Community Seeks Hearing on Technology Access

From AAPD (5.12.10): 

Accessible Telecom Legislation Moving: COAT Coalition Thanks Senate for S. 3304, Asks for Hearing

May 12, 2010
 
Senator John F. Kerry, Chairman  
Senate Subcommittee on Communications,
218 Russell Senate Office Building   
Technology and the Internet  
Washington, DC  20510   
Via Fax 202-224-8525  
 
Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Member   
Senate Subcommittee on Communications,
322 Hart Senate Office Building  
Technology and the Internet  
Washington DC  20510    
Via Fax 202-224-1193

Senator Mark L. Pryor, Member
Senate Subcommittee on Communications,
Technology and the Internet
255 Dirksen Senate Office Building
 Washington, DC  20510   
 Via Fax 202-228-0908
  
Senator Kent Conrad
530 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510
Via Fax 202-224-7776

Re:  “Equal Access to 21st Century Communications Act of 2010” (S. 3304)

Dear Chairman and Senators:

The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) takes this opportunity to express our deep and profound thanks for the momentous and significant introduction of the “Equal Access to 21st Century Communications Act of 2010” (S. 3304).  S. 3304 will advance modernization of the current disability accessibility mandates in the Communications Act for communication and video programming products and services.  This bill, helping to ensure accessible telecommunications technologies, is a major step forward for people with disabilities.  
COAT is very much encouraged by the introduction of S. 3304.  In this year of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), passage of S. 3304 will affirm the principles of equal access, equal opportunity, and equal participation for people with disabilities to communications, technology, and the Internet.  Communications technologies are essential components of daily life; inextricably woven into the fabric of modern life.  Such technologies –- when designed and developed to be accessible – enable new levels of independence and civic engagement for all Americans.

COAT is particularly pleased to see that S. 3304 contains the following key provisions:

Increasing Communications Access
• Requires access to phone-type equipment and services used for advanced communications
• Adds improved accountability and enforcement measures, including a clearinghouse and reporting obligations by providers and manufacturers
• Requires telephone products used for advanced communications to be hearing aid compatible;
• Allows use of Lifeline and Link-up universal service funds (USF) for broadband
• Allocates up to $10 million/year 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 requires interconnected VoIP service providers to contribute to the Relay Service Fund
• Requires FCC to develop real-time text digital standard

Video Programming Access
• Requires caption decoder circuitry or display capability in all video programming devices
• Extends closed captioning obligations to video programming distributed over the Internet
• Requires easy access to closed captions via remote control and on-screen menus
• Requires easy access to television controls and on-screen menus by people who are blind
• Restores video description rules and requires access to televised emergency programming for people who are blind or have low vision

COAT is committed to continuing to work with you and others to ensure that S. 3304 achieves the greatest possible increase in communications access.  We advocate for defining covered advanced communications to include non-interconnected as well as interconnected VoIP, video conferencing, and electronic messaging (to ensure access to SMS text messaging, electronic mail, and instant messaging); adoption of the well-established and appropriate undue burden compliance standard for prospective obligations; extending relay service obligations to non-interconnected VoIP providers; and timely action by the delegated authority.

    We look to your leadership to establish significant new achievements in communications technology accessibility for people with disabilities.  We believe a Senate Hearing would be another significant step forward in conquering the barriers to accessibility and usability that our members and constituents encounter daily at home, in the workplace, in the classroom, and in their community, in this fast-paced, technology-driven modern world.

COAT and its diverse affiliates nationwide are committed to working with you and the whole Committee to ensure strong legislation that will take all of us – aging America, wounded veterans, and people who are deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, deaf-blind, blind, and low vision – into a new world of 21st Century communications that work for everyone.

Sincerely,
On behalf of the Coalition:
Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director, Government Affairs
Head, Technology Policy Initiatives
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
Washington, DC
Tel 202-521-4310

Eric Bridges, Director of Advocacy & Government Affairs
American Council of the Blind (ACB)
Arlington, VA
Tel 202-467-5081

Mark Richert, Esq., Director of Public Policy
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
Washington, DC
Tel 202-469-6833

Rosaline Crawford, Esq., Director, Law and Advocacy Center
National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
Silver Spring, MD
301-587-7730 (Voice and TTY)
  

COAT, a coalition of disability-related organizations, was established in March 2007 in response to a rapidly changing communications environment. We advocate for legislative and regulatory safeguards that will ensure full access by people with disabilities to evolving high speed broadband, wireless, Internet protocol (IP), and other technologies. COAT consists of over 300 national, state, and community-based affiliates dedicated to making sure that, as the nation migrates to more versatile and innovative digital, IP-based and other communication technologies, people with disabilities will benefit like everyone else.  More information about COAT is available at

www.coataccess.org.

New Online Tool Promotes Equality and Full Access for People with Disabilities

From the Department of Labor (5.4.10):

US Labor Department helps employers understand responsibilities under disability nondiscrimination laws

New online tool helps further equality and full access for people with disabilities

The U.S. Department of Labor today unveiled a new tool to help America's employers ensure their employment policies and practices do not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities.

"Today, we made it easier for employers of all sizes to access the talents of the 36 million Americans with disabilities," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy Kathleen Martinez. "By providing this interactive and easy-to-use online tool, both workers and employers can readily access and understand their rights and responsibilities under our federal disability nondiscrimination laws."

The online Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor, available at http://www.dol.gov/elaws/odep.htm, helps employers quickly and simply determine which federal disability nondiscrimination laws apply to their business or organization and their responsibilities under them. It asks users to answer a few relevant questions in order to take into account relevant variables, such as nature of organization, size of staff and whether the business or organization receives federal financial assistance. Based on the responses provided, the advisor then generates a customized list of federal disability nondiscrimination laws that likely apply, along with easy-to-understand information about employers' responsibilities under them.

The laws addressed by the Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor include:

• Titles I and II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (as it pertains to federal financial assistance)
• Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended
• The Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended

The advisor also can help employees, job applicants and people applying for or participating in federally funded programs learn more about their rights under these laws. In addition, it includes a Guide on Employing People with Disabilities that outlines resources available to help employers comply with disability nondiscrimination laws.

The Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor is one of a series of Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses, or "elaws," Advisors developed by the Labor Department's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, working with other department agencies, to help employers and employees understand federal employment laws. To access this set of advisors, visit the elaws website at http://www.dol.gov/elaws/. To learn more about the Labor Department's efforts to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities, visit http://www.dol.gov/odep.

Senate version of COAT bill introduced

From AAPD (5.9.10):

U.S. Senate Introduces S. 3304, the Equal Access to 21st Century Communications Act
By Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director of Government Affairs at AAPD

Senators Mark Pryor (AR) and John Kerry (MA) introduced the “Equal Access to 21st Century Communications Act” (S. 3304) on May 4, 2010, both delighting advocates but causing some mixed feelings.  The measure is a major step forward for people with disabilities in ensuring accessible communications technology. Similar to the “Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act” (H.R. 3101) introduced in the U.S. House in June 2009 by Representative Ed Markey (MA),  S. 3304 would modernize disability accessibility mandates in the Communications Act, bringing existing requirements up-to-date as television and phone services connect via the Internet and use new digital and broadband technologies. S. 3304 is also co-sponsored by Senators Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad, both from North Dakota

When introducing the bill, Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the  Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology & the Internet, affirmed the principle of inclusion of people with disabilities in activities on the Internet. In referring to his introduction of S. 3304, he stated: “Technology and the Internet have broken down barriers across our society, and we must ensure that no one is excluded from this vital part of everyday modern life in America.”  He added: “Our bill will make sure that millions of Americans with disabilities—including our returning service members—will benefit from the economic, social, and political opportunities that modern communications and the Internet make possible. It’s been twenty years since the Americans with Disabilities Act knocked down barriers to employment and government services—and now it’s time to do the same thing online.”

When introducing the "Equal Access to 21st Century Communications Act," Senator Mark Pryor affirmed that accessibility is a part of equal opportunity for people with disabilities. He said:  “The Internet is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity to learn, interact and conduct business ... That’s why our bill helps ensure every individual can have access to today’s innovative technologies. In the land of opportunity, everyone should be able to fully participate and compete in the 21st Century marketplace.”

At the bill’s unveiling in Little Rock, Arkansas, Senator Pryor provided an example of what the bill would do. He said: "We’re seeing more and more [TV] programming go to the Internet, and it would seem to me it’s very sensible that that closed captioning should follow the programming onto the Internet.”

The Hill newspaper, widely read on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, in its column, Hillicon Valley Tech Blog, said S.3304 is "Pryor's attempt to address accessibility problems that have long made it difficult for disabled persons to use new media and technology tools."  Television coverage by KTHV Channel 11, Little Rock Arkansas, reported that the bill "will improve overall access to audio and visual materials on the Internet for the deaf and blind."

Senators Pryor, Dorgan and Conrad are members of the Senate Commerce Science & Transportation Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, where the bill is now under review.

Eric Bridges, Director of Advocacy & Government Affairs at the American Council of the Blind (ACB), said, “Much of S. 3304 would lead to greater accessibility for people with disabilities, such as more accessible video programming, including captioning and video description, regardless of distribution mode; and video programming equipment, such as televisions and other display devices, would also be accessible.”

Mark Richert, Director of Public Policy at the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) said “The measure does not go as far as H.R. 3101 in reaching all the new technologies,” an observation echoed by Rosaline Crawford, Director of the Law and Advocacy Center at the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). She stated: “The scope of accessible ‘advanced communications’ is not as broad nor as well defined as it is in H.R. 3101 Also, S. 3304 establishes a new ‘reasonable effort and expense’ standard for compliance.  In contrast, in H.R. 3101, companies would comply with accessibility requirements unless doing so results in an ‘undue burden,’ a well established legal standard in disability law.”

Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director of Government Affairs at the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) stated that “We are confident that these issues – scope of accessible communications and the standard for compliance -- will be resolved.” The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT), steered by AAPD, ACB, AFB and NAD, has over 300 affiliate organizational members, and will continue its work to ensure strong legislation in the rapidly changing communications environment.

More information about COAT is available at http://www.coataccess.org.  Follow COAT coalition activities through the Facebook group or via @coataccess on twitter.com.

AAPD is a founding and steering committee member of COAT. For further information, please contact JSimpson@aapd.com