AAPD lobbies for Communications and Video Accessibility Act

From an AAPD news release:

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the country’s largest cross-disability membership organization, commends Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) for introducing “The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009” (H.R. 3101).

The bill would modernize the Communications Act by ensuring that new Internet-enabled telephone and television services are accessible to people with disabilities and closes existing gaps in federal laws governing telecommunications access.

“All the new technologies are very exciting but they must be usable by all of us, especially as we age and our vision, hearing, and motor skills become diminished. AAPD urges the U.S. Senate to consider similar legislation so we aren’t left behind in the marketplace,” said Ralph Boyd, AAPD Vice-Chair Elect and former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under President George W. Bush.

“Representative Ed Markey is the strongest leader working to create an accessible future for people with disabilities,” said Andrew Imparato, President and CEO of AAPD. “We are hopeful that H.R. 3101 is the foundation for a bipartisan, bicameral strategy that will produce important legislation in the coming months.”

The legislation stems from extensive discussions held by disability leaders from the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) and with representatives from industries including telecommunications, information technology and consumer electronics. AAPD is a founding and steering committee member of this advocacy coalition.

For more information on AAPD or the legislation, contact Jenifer Simpson at 202-457-0046, or visit AAPD’s Web site: http://www.aapd.com. For more information about COAT, visit the website: http://www.coataccess.org.