Celebrity and Hero Witnesses Support Equal Access to Communications and Video Technologies

Celebrity and Hero Witnesses Support Equal Access to Communications and Video Technologies

Witnesses To Provide Critical Capitol Hill Testimony Today

WASHINGTON, May 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) is pleased to announce that celebrity and hero witnesses will testify today at a House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet hearing on the proposed draft of "Enhancing Access to Broadband Technology and Services for Persons with Disabilities."

These witnesses 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 "There Will Be Blood;" and Sergeant Major Jesse Acosta, a distinguished army veteran whose vision was seriously injured in Iraq.

The three witnesses will testify to the need for passage of legislation 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 will benefit like everyone else. In addition to generally requiring access to Internet-based communications services, legislative action is needed to achieve the following:

   --  Extend the closed captioning mandates to certain Internet-based video       programming;   --  Require video devices with screens smaller than 13-inches to display       captioning;   --  Mandate video description on television so people who are blind can       have access to program content and visual emergency information;   --  Require accessible user interfaces/menus on video programming devices       such as TVs, VCRs, and DVR players;   --  Mandate hearing aid compatibility on "Smart" or Internet-enabled       phones;   --  Allow eligible consumers with disabilities who must use broadband for       phone calls to apply their Universal Service Fund (USF) discounts to       high speed Internet service; and   --  Allocate USF funds for the distribution of specialized equipment       needed to provide telecommunications access for individuals who are       deaf-blind.   

The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, or COAT, is a coalition of nearly 200 national, regional, state, and community-based affiliates that have come together to ensure that communications technology in the 21st century is accessible to all. More information is available at http://www.coataccess.org/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology

CONTACT: Rosaline Crawford of NAD, +1-301-587-7730; Karen Peltz Strauss
of CSD, +1-202-363-1263; Jenifer Simpson of AAPD, +1-202-457-0046; Eric
Bridges of ACB, +1-202-467-5081; or Adrianna Montague-Gray of AFB,
+1-212-502-7675

Web Site: http://www.coataccess.org/

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Profile: International Entertainment