National Association of the Deaf

On March 2, 2010, Rosaline Crawford, director of the NAD Law and Advocacy Center presented information about the “Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009” (H.R. 3101) at the “Broadband and Cable Industry Law 2010” seminar sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute (PLI). PLI courses provide continuing legal education credit for practicing attorneys.  At this seminar, Crawford also represented the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT). The NAD is a founding and steering committee member of COAT.

On the panel entitled “Developments in Cable Technology,” Crawford’s segment focused on “Addressing Disability Discrimination in the Provision of Emerging Broadband and Cable Technologies.” This presentation sought to answer questions such as, “How will people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or blind access new technologies and services over the Internet, video, and phone?” and “Will new regulation be required?” This presentation was part of two-day seminar looking at the state of broadband and cable competition, raising topics such as:

• What will the National Broadband Plan say about net neutrality and other policies?
• Will the advent of online video affect cable regulation?
• What are the current regulatory and policy issues in cable competition?
• Will Congress or federal agencies impose new privacy requirements on broadband and cable providers?

The accessibility/usability provisions in H.R. 3101 are clearly part and parcel of the overall current focus on broadband and cable and the issues associated with greater expansion and new technologies. What is significant is how much H.R. 3101 has been able to introduce accessibility concerns and influence the policy dialogue in various communities looking at broadband and cable industry topics.