From the FCC. You can watch captioned live video of the hearing here.Two distinguished panels of experts will participate in the Federal Communications
Commission’s Nov. 6 hearing at Gallaudet University on broadband access for people with disabilities.
The two panels will discuss broadband experiences, barriers, opportunities and
solutions for people with disabilities. Commissioner Michael Copps will host the hearing.
Among those on the first panel will be Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin, who is the National Association of the Deaf’s spokesperson for accessible broadband services and Internet media. Matlin won the Academy Award for her role in the movie “Children of a Lesser God,” in which she played a deaf woman working at a school for the deaf and hard of hearing in New England.
The hearing will be at the Kellogg Conference Center on the Gallaudet University campus. The hearing is part of a broader effort to gather information from experts and consumers for the FCC’s development of a National Broadband Plan. The public is encouraged to attend and participate.
AGENDA:
Friday, November 6, 2009
9:00 a.m. –1:00 p.m. EST: Technology Demonstrations
9:30 – 11:00 a.m.
Introduction: Dr. Robert Davila, President, Gallaudet University
Remarks by FCC Commissioners
Panel 1: Experiences, Opportunities and Barriers
Panelists:
· Marlee Matlin, National Association of the Deaf
· Mark Richert, Director of Public Policy, American Foundation for the Blind
· Ari Ne’eman, Founding President, Autistic Self Advocacy Network
· Jay Wyant, President, Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of
Hearing
· Dale Hatfield, Director, Silicon Flatirons
· Elizabeth Spiers, Director, Information Services, American Association of the Deaf-
Blind11:10 a.m.: Panel 2 Solutions and Recommendations
Panelists:
· Patrick Timony, Adaptive Technology Coordinator, DC Public Library
· Patrick Halley, Director, Government Affairs, National Emergency Number Association
· Alan Hubbard, COO, National Telecommuting Institute, Inc.
· Lise Hamlin, Director, Public Policy and State Development, Hearing Loss Association
of America
· Janis Krohe, Ph.D., VP, Employment Services Division, Cerebral Palsy Research
Foundation
· Karen Peltz Strauss, Co-Chair, Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 directed the FCC to submit a National Broadband Plan to Congress by February 17, 2010 that addresses broadband deployment, adoption, affordability, and the use of broadband to advance solutions to various national priorities. For the full list of Commission workshops, please see: http://www.broadband.gov/workshops.html. In addition, join the discussion about broadband access for people with disabilities at the Disabilities Access section of the FCC’s blog at http://blog.broadband.gov/.