[Electronics-talk] descriptive TV

Wed Dec 12 19:44:20 UTC 2012

I don't think this is true. Apple now has accessible products due in
part to federal legislation that kept government agencies from
purchasing inaccessible products. AOL, Google, Amazon and so on have all
bowed to pressure, legal and otherwise, to address accessibility issues.
No one has gone to jail or been prosecuted criminally in any of these
cases, and yet, changes were made and accessibility was improved. I
firmly believe that if we keep working hard at this, we will see
improvement.

So are you suggesting that we should be changing laws and making these
criminal offences and bringing criminal charges against CEO's of
companies who violate these laws? I'm not sure that's even possible in
our corporate laws. Have you worked with anyone to see if this is
possible or what could be done to get more teeth put into these laws?

On 12/12/12 10:55, Gerald Levy wrote:
> 
> But that's my point.  These laws are essentially unenforceable.  So
> while it's nice to claim a "victory" in the accessibility wars,alas, I'm
> afraid it is only a paper victory.  Only when failing to make products
> universally accessible is treated as a criminal offense will anything
> change.
> 
> Gerald
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Barbour" <jbar at barcore.com>
> To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances"
> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances"
> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 11:05 AM
> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] descriptive TV
> 
> 
>> My aren't we bitter and angry this morning. The only way we can make
>> these changes is by passing loss, and then demanding  that they  be
>> enforced.
>>
>> You can sit and wine
>> About how laws don't work if you want to, but frankly they're  about
>> the only thing that ever has.
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Dec 12, 2012, at 7:51 AM, "Gerald Levy" <bwaylimited at verizon.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> If this is true, then why does Time Warner, my cable provider, claim
>>> that it knows nothing about any legal requirement to offer accessible
>>> cable boxes? To be perfectly blunt, I think this law is a big waste
>>> of time, and absolutely nothing will come of it.  So what if the
>>> cable providers refuse to comply?  Are their executives going to be
>>> arrested and prosecuted for violating the civil rights of their
>>> disabled customers? Of course not. Will the companies be fined? 
>>> Maybe.  And if they're fined, they'll simply pass the cost along to
>>> their customers in the form of higher monthly cable bills. And we
>>> blind customers will still be unable to access described programming.
>>> So file all the complaints you want with the FCC if it makes you feel
>>> better, but you can be sure that the fat-ass bureaucrats there will
>>> simply shrug them off.
>>>
>>> Gerald
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry Wayland"
>>> <larry.wayland at arkansas.gov>
>>> To: "'Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances'"
>>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 9:50 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] descriptive TV
>>>
>>>
>>>> I believe it is the Twenty first century communications and video 
>>>> act of 2010 that says formal complaints can be filed after October
>>>> of 2013. The law was signed by the president in August of 2010 and
>>>> companies have two years from that time to get their  equipment in
>>>> compliance.  My understanding the law includes all communications
>>>> equipment. It doesn't mean all models a company produces has to be
>>>> accessible, but they have to offer models that are.
>>>> Larry
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Electronics-talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>>> On Behalf Of Gerald Levy
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 6:12 AM
>>>> To: Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances
>>>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] descriptive TV
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> So waht?  We still can't access this described programming because
>>>> there is no way to navigate the onscreen menus of most cable boxes
>>>> and digital TV's without sighted help to turn on the SAP channel
>>>> that carries the descriptive audio. And most remote controls no
>>>> longer have a dedicated SAP button, either.
>>>>
>>>> Gerald
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "A. Chew" <a1chew at hotmail.com>
>>>> To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances"
>>>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 9:58 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] descriptive TV
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On August 25, 2011, the FCC was finally able to vote (unanimously) to
>>>>> reinstate video description, effective July 1, 2012.  ABC, CBS,
>>>>> Fox, NBC,
>>>>> USA, the Disney Channel, TNT, Nickelodeon, and TBS are each
>>>>> required to
>>>>> provide 50 hours of video-described prime time or children's
>>>>> programming
>>>>> per calendar quarter.
>>>>>
>>>>> full text may be found at below link
>>>>> http://www.acb.org/adp/tv.html
>>>>>
>>>>> at the bottom of the linked page will be links to file a complaint
>>>>> with
>>>>> the FCC.
>>>>>
>>>>> I was surprised to received a call from Comcast a few weeks after
>>>>> filing a
>>>>> complain.
>>>>> issue is still open... (not resolved)  but Comcast claims they are
>>>>> working
>>>>> on it....
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> A. Chew
>>>>>
>>>>> .
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ashley Bramlett"
>>>>> <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
>>>>> To: "Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances"
>>>>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 6:05 PM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] descriptive TV
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>> this is bad news. You're saying that time warner and
>>>>>> Comcast are not providing descriptive audio when its now the law.
>>>>>> I cannot speak for cox cable as I have not asked. But I suspect
>>>>>> when I
>>>>>> do, they will have no clue.
>>>>>> what it is either.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My parents can read the options on the screen and we never see
>>>>>> descriptive audio. So like
>>>>>> Mariea said, I suspect that descriptive tv doesn't exist either
>>>>>> for me.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If I cannot get it, is there a way to file a complaint with the
>>>>>> FCC and
>>>>>> how?
>>>>>> Is there a way to download descriptive tv shows from online? even
>>>>>> if its
>>>>>> paid, I'd like to have old shows.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ashley
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----Original Message----- From: Mariea Harris
>>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 7:04 PM
>>>>>> To: Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] descriptive TV
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Time Warner Cable doesn't support audio description either. When I
>>>>>> read
>>>>>> up
>>>>>> on audio description, it said that cable companies use analog and
>>>>>> that
>>>>>> satellite uses something else, but I forget what. It seems that
>>>>>> the only
>>>>>> way
>>>>>> you can get audio description here in the states is via satellite
>>>>>> TV. We
>>>>>> turned on SAP on our TV and nothing happens. I doubt Time Warner
>>>>>> has any
>>>>>> clue what audio description is either, so I've not bothered asking.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Mariea and Valiant
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
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-- 
Christopher (CJ)
chaltain at Gmail