[Ohio-talk] Report of FCC letters

[Deborah Kendrick]

Barbara, 
This makes me so happy!  In addition to sweating over my own letter, I
supplied all of the information and a nudge to participate to a friend in
Mississippi who is losing vision.  He wrote a fabulous letter and sent it
off an hour before deadline!  
SO I feel like I get two points out of the 125, and I feel like there is no
thrill so powerful as when we, in the Federation, all pull together to make
something happen!  
Thank you for nudging us all!  

Deborah

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Barbara
Pierce
Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 1:18 PM
To: 'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
Subject: [Ohio-talk] Report of FCC letters

Just before Labor Day I passed along a plea for letters to the FCC about
e-readers. We had some difficulty getting the attachments to open, but a
couple of you stick with it and got your letters out. I believe that four or
five Ohioans got letters in in time. Here is the report on how we did.
Remember this the next time I ask for letters. 
 
Hello Federationists,
 
I wanted to follow-up with everybody about our efforts to urge the FCC to
make e-readers accessible under the Twenty-First Century Communications and
Video Accessibility Act by rejecting the Coalition of E-Reader
Manufacturer's Petition for Waiver.  I know many of you had problems opening
the attachments that I sent in my original email, which included our
official comments and a skeleton letter.  When we got word of these
glitches, Valerie Yingling and our Access Technology Team acted fast to
re-circulate the message.  I know the second method of transmission was
still slightly problematic, but we were pressed for time and hopeful it
would be enough for our members.  Sure enough - it was!  We got a whopping
125 letters by the deadline, and we submitted each and every one to the FCC.
This is a very strong number, and I am continually impressed by the strength
of our grassroots movement.  We also got 22 additional organizations of and
for people with print disabilities to sign on to the official NFB comments.

 
Our advocacy has paid off.  Within 24 hours of submitting our comments and
your letters, the FCC called Dr. Maurer requesting an in-person follow up
meeting!  We are coordinating with representatives of the other groups and
hope to have a meeting in two weeks.  If the FCC does reject the petition,
it will be a direct result of your letters and our collective action.
Please stay tuned to find out if the FCC makes the right decision.  
 
Lauren
 

I really appreciate the effort that several of  you made.
 
Barbara
 

Barbara Pierce

President Emerita

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

 

 
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