[Ohio-talk] fyi

[Dr. Smith]

Interesting.

jw

Dr. J. Webster Smith
President National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
P.O.BOX 458 Athens, Ohio, 45701-0458
Phone Number - 740-592-6326
"Changing What it Means to be Blind"
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard" <rchpay7 at sbcglobal.net>
To: "'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'" <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 10, 2010 12:11 PM
Subject: [Ohio-talk] fyi


>
> I just got this in a email what do you think?
>
>
> House Accessibility Bill Heads to Full Panel
>
>
> Would Require Communications Devices, Webcasts Be Accessible to Disabled
>
>
> By John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 6/30/2010 4:53:03 PM
>
>
> Washington -- The House Communications Subcommittee Wednesday approved a
> bill that would put additional disability access requirements on
> broadcasters, cable operators, Web-video outlets and consumer-electronics
> companies.
>
> But that approval came in part because both Republicans and Democrats were
> assured more changes would be made to the measure.
>
> The legislation is a work in progress, said subcommittee Chairman Rick
> Boucher (D-Va.), who added that more changes will be reflected when the 
> bill
> is brought up in full committee in two weeks. Energy & Commerce Committee
> chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) wants the House to approve the bill by 
> July
> 26, the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
>
> The 21st
> <http://www.multichannel.com/common/jumplink.php?target=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov
> track.us%2Fcongress%2Fbilltext.xpd%3Fbill%3Dh111-3101>  Century
> Communications and Video Accessibility Act (HR 3101)  would update
> communications accessibility provisions in the 1996 Communications Act as
> well as apply them to access to broadband.
>
> During the Wednesday markup at which the bill was favorably referred to 
> the
> full committee on a voice vote, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers
> made note of the issues they still had with the legislation, which was
> itself a new draft of the bill, reflecting changes from a version 
> considered
> earlier this month in a hearing at which some sparks flew.
>
> Among the bill's key points are: 1) requiring equipment for small-screen
> video devices to convey closed captioning and emergency information; 2)
> requiring user interfaces for viewing video on such devices be accessible,
> including an accessibility button on remote controls; 3) reinstating FCC
> video description requirements for TV programming (they were vacated by a
> federal court in 2002); applying closed captioning requirements to the
> Internet; and requiring that video programming convey emergency 
> information
> to the visually impaired.
>
> Among the changes to the bill since it was first introduced is one that
> would give the FCC more flexibility and power to determine how broadcast 
> and
> cable operators would meet a new congressional mandate that disability
> access to telecommunications requirements be updated to reflect the rise 
> of
> broadband and other technologies.
>
> In the previous version of the bill, the FCC would have to require
> accessibility unless it would result in an undue burden on equipment
> manufactures. That standard has been changed to "unless it is not
> achievable," with achievable defined as "with reasonable effort or 
> expense."
>
> The FCC would have the job of determining whether that standard had been
> met, based on the nature and cost, the impact on the manufacturer and
> distributor and the deployment of new technologies, the manufacturers
> financial resources, and "the type of operations of the manufacturer or
> provider."
>
> Among the changes to the bill that concerned some Republicans was a
> provision allowing the FCC to expand the video-description requirement
> beyond the 50 hours per quarter the FCC had required before those rules 
> were
> struck down. Some Democrats, on the other hand, thought the two years the
> FCC was given to implement new video description requirements was too 
> long.
>
> Some Republicans argued against giving the FCC what they viewed as
> open-ended authority over the accessibility updates. Rep John Shimkus
> (R-Ill.) said the FCC needed more direction than broad guidelines, and 
> Rep.
> Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) alluded to the issue of broadband authority --
> which centers on which powers Congress did or did not give the FCC. She 
> said
> that any authority should be explicit, with plenty of congressional
> oversight, adding that Congress should not just delegate items to the
> rulemaking process."
>
> Ranking member Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) said he was concerned that the
> bill not stifle innovative technologies like Apple's iPhone. The Consumer
> Electronics Association, which has major issues with the bill, has argued
> that under such access provisions like mandatory buttons, the buttonless
> iPhone might never have made it to market.
>
> He is also concerned that the mandates apply to every feature of every
> device, rather than, say, making all those features available on only some
> of a product line.
>
> Other issues with the bill include whether the "operator financial
> resources" test for achievability is based on total resources, or just 
> those
> applied to the device or service, and whether the FCC should have to 
> report
> to Congress before deciding how many hours of video-described programming
> broadcast and cable outlets have to provide.
>
> An issue that concerned several Democrats, including Waxman and the bill's
> chief sponsor, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), was a change to the bill that
> applied video-description mandates in only the top 25 markets.
>
> Markey, who thought the two-year phase-in was unnecessarily lengthy, said 
> it
> did not make sense that the mandates would exclude millions of the blind
> because they lived in New Orleans rather than Orlando or Nashville rather
> than New York.
>
> Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) pointed to another issue with the top 25 markets
> cut-off. Doyle, who represents No. 23 market Pittsburgh, noted that DMA 
> has
> only 40,000 more people than the No. 26 market. Should Nielsen shift a
> county on next year's map -- or were there population growth elsewhere
> combined with decline in Pittsburgh -- Doyle's constituents might lose the
> guarantee of video description. He said he was sure broadcasters would
> continue to deliver the descriptions if that happened, but the FCC would 
> not
> have the power to enforce that.
>
> Doyle also said he was concerned that if the accessibility standard was 
> only
> designed for digital delivery, some small cable operators would be forced 
> to
> upgrade.
>
> Boucher said he would be happy to resolve Doyle's issues and those of 
> other
> affected parties by markup in the full committee.
>
> The National Cable & Telecommunications Association agrees with Boucher 
> that
> the bill is, and should be, a work in progress. It still has some issues
> with the legislation.
>
> "We appreciate the changes that have been made to the bill and look 
> forward
> to working with all members of the committee as this legislation continues
> to move," said NCTA spokesman Brian Dietz. "We believe that further
> improvements are needed if we are to be successful in developing targeted
> legislation that focuses on reasonable, attainable goals in improving the
> accessibility of communications services and equipment for persons with
> disabilities."
>
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