JFActivist

Tools of Technology Leave Blind and Deaf Behind

From The Washington Post (June 19):

Access Denied
The Blind or Deaf Can Feel Left Behind As the Tools of Technology Advance

By Kim Hart
Washington Post Staff Writer

Olivia Norman's fingers fly across her laptop keyboard, dexterously tapping out instant messages to friends and entering Google searches without committing a single typo. A minute later, she's listening intently to the voice cues that help her read e-mail and send text messages on her Motorola Q smartphone.

Norman is blind, so the cues help her navigate the tiny keypad and understand the words on the screen.

She is not able to order an on-demand movie from Comcast because she can't read the on-screen menus. And she had trouble setting up an iTunes account because the speech-synthesizing software she relies on couldn't find the right link on the Web site...

...Read more.

More on DTV Transition: Some Converter Boxes Support Video Description for Vision Disabled Persons

There is some good news from the Media Access Group at WGBH. They advise that they have tested two of the government-certified coupon eligible converter boxes used to translate digital TV signals back to analog. Such converter boxes are necessary for TV viewers who use older "rabbit ears" TVs and who don't want to purchase newer (expensive!) digital TVs or be compelled to sign up for pay TV service (cable and satellite) to receive digital television (DTV).

Media Access Group determined that you can indeed receive and hear video description from a broadcast digital TV signal that includes it on at least two models, Insignia from Best Buy and Digital Stream from Radio Shack. While many of the digital-to-analog converter boxes are known already to pass through closed captioning, it was unclear which converter boxes would allow for accessibility for persons with vision disability who rely on video description. Video description consists of verbal depictions of key visual elements in a video or television program which are inserted into natural pauses in the spoken dialogue and is optionally turned on by viewers.

The testers also state that these two converter boxes have both Closed Captioning and SAP (or audio) buttons on the remote controls that allow you to access the various caption signals and alternate audio channels -- used for video description -- without having to go through the set-up menus. Media Access Group reminds that the broadcaster must be properly tagging and sending the alternate audio in order for the boxes to pick up those signals and present them to the viewer.

This means that viewers with vision and with hearing disabilities should not lose their means of accessibility to television on February 17, 2009, the date when most TV stations will stop broadcasting analog signals. Other converter boxes are being tested and may also pass through this essential accessibility means..

For more information on the nation's transition from analog to digital TV transmission, please visit AAPD's Consumer Alert on the Digital TV Transition

VICTORY! Minnesota Requires Political Ads to be Captioned for This Year's Election

On May 12, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed a captioning bill that will require political candidates registered with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board to caption their ads online, on TV and in posted scripts of their radio ads on their websites. Political parties and “527 organizations” are not included; the measure is effective for this year’s elections.

To implement the new law, the Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans will work with the Secretary of State’s office, the Brennan Center for Justice, their Senate leadership and the Governor's office to ensure Web and captioning vendors receive training and resources for candidates. A copy of the new law is attached.

~Item provided by Mary Hartnett, Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans, Email Mary.Hartnett@state.mn.us

Patient Privacy Coalition Letter to Congress Includes Disability Accessibility Principle

AAPD recently signed on to a letter sent to all Members of Congress by the Patient Privacy Rights Organization that urged privacy provisions in any legislative measures supporting or mandating electronic prescribing ("E-Rx").  The letter asked such privacy measures to include a principle that would ensure prescription technology allows those with disabilities to be able to use e-prescribing tools efficiently and effectively. The American Council of the Blind (ACB) also signed on to the letter as well as numerous other groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Consumer Action, the Liberty Coalition, and others.

Read the letter.

For more information, please contact Jenifer Simpson.

British News Network Meets "All Shows Subtitled" Goal

From the Guardian (UK) (May  7):

BBC hits 'all shows subtitled' target

The BBC has reached the landmark of having all its shows accessible to the hard of hearing via subtitles.

The commitment to broadcast every single programme with subtitles on the main BBC channels - BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4, CBeebies, CBBC and BBC News, formerly BBC News 24 - was made in 1999.

This move required the development of new speech recognition technology, building on the original Ceefax software that formed the basis of the first BBC subtitled programme in 1979 - a documentary about deaf children called Quietly in Switzerland...

...Read the rest of the article.

 

CONSUMER REMINDER: Digital Television Transition

As you may already know, most TV stations will stop broadcasting in analog, and will switch to digital transmission in 2009. The only viewers who need do nothing are cable and satellite TV subscribers. But viewers watching and hearing TV using “rabbit ears” or another antenna will see and hear nothing but static and snow on February 17, 2009 if they do nothing.

Instead of buying a new digital TV, what you can do is get a digital-to-analog converter to keep using that old analog TV. These converters cost about $50 dollars and make the picture on your old TV look even better than before. To help with the cost, the government will provide you up to two $40 coupons per household for the digital-to-analog converter box.  To get this coupon, sign up at the government website or call them tollfree at 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009) or 1-877-530-2634 (TTY). 

The supply of coupons is limited! As of May 1, 2008, the government has received over 12 million applications, so get your coupon today!  Or tell a friend, especially a person who may not be linked to the Internet or may not receive this type of news. Leave no one behind in the analog dust!

AAPD digital tv transition Consumer Alert and information resources.

Information in Spanish

Email questions about the digital TV transition to Jenifer Simpson at AAPD.

Successful House Hearing on Telephone and Television Accessibility

On May 1, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a lively hearing on “Enhancing Access to Broadband Technology and Services for Persons with Disabilities.”  Consumer witnesses’ statements offered support for the legislative agenda of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT), now numbering nearly 200 national, regional and local members. COAT's witnesses discussed the importance of requiring accessibility of communications that involve the Internet, addressing the need for legislation to ensure no one is left behind in the analog dust as 21st century communications expand digitally.

One witness, Jamaal Anderson -- defensive end and 2007 first round draft pick of the NFL Atlanta Falcons and whose father is a leading deaf educator and former board member of Gallaudet University – testified from the point of view of family members. He emphasized how communicating with a person who is deaf via “real time text phone calls,” previously through TTYs (text telephones), should be a required “voice equivalent” now that so much text moves through the Internet. Mr. Anderson also spoke of the pressing need for Universal Service Funds to be set aside for deaf-blind people to have phone equipment. These specialized Braille phones are a costly barrier to making a phone call for the 70,000 Americans who are deaf-blind. 

Another witness, Russell Harvard, a deaf Hollywood actor who appeared in the double-academy award winning movie “There Will Be Blood”, testified eloquently in sign language to the need for closed captioning when television programs are shown on the Internet. He also asked for televisions smaller than 13 inches to be required to display captioning, now that digital technology allows for readable text. Harvard also asked for simplified access to television controls, so deaf and hard of hearing persons, and other users of captioning, can easily find the captioning option on TV menus.

Sergeant Major Jesse Acosta, whose vision was seriously injured by mortar attack in Iraq, spoke of the pressing need to ensure television is accessible to blind persons. His testimony, on behalf of the American Council of the Blind, asked the committee to reinstate the video description rules so that emergency information and some television programming include this form of accessibility. Video description means the insertion of audio descriptions of a television program's key visual elements during natural pauses in the program's dialogue. Like Russell Harvard, Acosta also asked for simplified access to television controls, so blind and other vision disabled persons can easily select channels and find information on TV menus.

Dane Snowden, representing the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, railed against the legislative proposal for including an “undue burden standard” and “a private right of action.”  He said the legislation “was well intentioned but would lead to potentially inflexible regulations.”  Similar objections were raised by another witness, Ken Nakata, of Disability Initiatives and Government Compliance BayFirst Solutions. Nakata, however, while agreeing on the need for legislation suggested that there should “be procedural safeguards,” but didn’t clarify  these. 

Larry Goldberg, Director of the Media Access project at WGBH-TV public television station in Boston, MA, presented information on technological feasibility. He emphasized the need for a date to be set to ensure that there is industry agreement on common standards for accessibility. Under later grilling by the Committee members, Snowden admitted that “if we have products that are accessible, we sell more products” but he would not agree that deadlines were useful in setting accessibility standards when he was asked by Chairman Markey to “Can you help set a deadline to work out standards?” Markey called industry objections "eerily similar" to opposition he faced when battling to enact the original closed captioning law in 1990.

Next steps for COAT include asking the U.S. Senate for a similar hearing and further meetings with interested industry stakeholders. Advocates wanting to take action should contact Jenifer Simpson at Email aapdjenifer@aol.com

Watch the webcast of the hearing:
The archived video of the hearing, including the witnesses’ statements, are now available for watching or downloading at the Subcommittee's website

Text of the Legislation:
Read a new staff draft of the legislation

More information on the AAPD website http://www.aapd.com/News/telecomm/080501aapd.htm

and the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology website  (http://www.coataccess.org). AAPD is a founding and steering committee member of COAT

Rite Aid Drugstores To Make Web Site and Point of Sale Equipment Accessible

On May 1, Rite Aid announced a nationwide accessibility initiative for Rite Aid customers with visual impairments and other disabilities. Rite Aid will ensure its Web site meets guidelines issued by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (w3c).

Rite Aid has also begun installing new point of sale equipment with tactile keypads to protect the privacy and security of all shoppers who have difficulty entering numbers on a flat screen. The initiative is the result of collaboration between Rite Aid and major organizations including the American Foundation for the Blind, American Council of the Blind and California Council of the Blind.  The drugstore chain has more than 5,000 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia and 2008 annual revenues of more than $24 billion.


**Read the press release and settlement agreement.

**Email your questions or comments about the Rite Aid initiative to Rite Aid.

House Hearing Looks at Telephone & Television Accessibility

Leave No One Behind in the Analog Dust!

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is delighted that celebrity and hero witnesses are testifying at a House Hearing held by the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet on draft legislation, “Enhancing Access to Broadband Technology and Services for Persons with Disabilities” on May 1, 2008.

“There is a pressing need to address consumer concerns to ensure that as our nation migrates from legacy telephone and television products to more versatile and innovative digital and Internet-based communications and video programming, people with disabilities must benefit like everyone else,” said Jenifer Simpson, Senior Director for Telecommunications and Technology Policy at AAPD. She adds: “None of us should be left behind in the analog dust.”

Witnesses at the hearing include:  Jamaal Anderson, defensive end and 2007 first round draft pick of the NFL Atlanta Falcons whose father is a leading deaf educator and former board member of Gallaudet University; Russell Harvard, a deaf Hollywood actor appearing in the double-academy award winning movie “There Will Be Blood”; and Sergeant Major Jesse Acosta, a distinguished army veteran whose vision was seriously injured in Iraq. These witnesses’ statements offer support for the legislative and regulatory agenda of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT), numbering nearly 200 national, regional and local affiliate members, a coalition advocating for new technologies to be made accessible to people with disabilities.

For more information contact Jenifer Simpson at aapdjenifer@aol.com

...Read the full press release.

What About that Microsoft, Yahoo and Google thing? Do We Care?

Staff Column

The TechnoBeat

by Jenifer Simpson (pictured left)

A recent editorial from the Mercury News caught my eye about the Microsoft Yahoo merger thing. The writer points out that the combined company – dare I say  “Ms. Yahoo”? -- would be a big competitor to Google, a favorite search engine, and the truth be told, something I use at least once a day!

The editorial talks about whether there would be more competition and then argues for close scrutiny by the Department of Justice (DOJ). This is to see if Ms. Yahoo would use her new market leverage to create barriers of the sort that got Microsoft in trouble with U.S. and European regulators in past years. Or if there are concerns about how much E-mail might be controlled by the combined company, and about consumer privacy being upheld. I’m sure all of these are good and interesting topics and I certainly want DOJ to do its job, but what I end up wondering is about the accessibility issues for people with disabilities.

Will Ms. Yahoo keep some of the commitments already made to ensure accessibility?  Will the Yahoo and Microsoft staff who work on disability accessibility keep their jobs? Do we need to be worried about any disability losses here as a result of any merger? And should we take a look at what Google does for disability accessibility? Can we make a comparison about the combined new company against Google?  Could we end up with more accessibility one way or the other?  If you have some thoughts on these, please email me at AAPDJenifer@aol.com.