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NAD Update
By advocacy | July 6, 2007
The NAD Law and Advocacy Center has been advocating for the rights of deaf and hard of hearing people on Capitol Hill and the Federal Communications Commission. Here is a description of some of our recent advocacy actions:
Congress – The NAD is actively engaged in the new Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (see www.COATaccess.org). NAD representatives Rosaline Crawford and Barbara Raimondo, along with other COAT affiliate representatives, met with congressional staff to outline the need for legislative action to ensure accessible telecommunications and information services. Existing laws need to be updated to ensure that technologies and information services are accessible.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) –
- Closed Captioning – Crawford met with FCC Commissioners and/or their staff to inform them about the actions taken by the NAD and other consumer groups and by hundreds of consumers who filed comments and oppositions to 497 requests for exemption from the requirement to close caption their television programs. The NAD urged the FCC to evaluate each request individually and on the merits of each petition. The NAD, along with other consumer groups, also filed comments and oppositions to 36 new petitions filed recently with the FCC.
- IP Relay Misuse – The NAD participated in the development of FCC outreach and education information for businesses about preventing commercial fraud and scams, along with the importance, benefits, and legal obligations of business to accept calls made through to conduct business by relay. A copy of the Public Notice issued can be seen at FCC Public Notice (PDF). In the Public Notice, the FCC says:
The Commission also reminds merchants who accept telephone orders that they must not “hang up†on calls made through a Relay Service. Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) requires merchants to ensure that people with disabilities have access to their services. Therefore, if a merchant accepts telephone orders from the general public, the merchant cannot refuse to accept calls from people who are deaf or hard of hearing or who have a speech disability who call through a Relay Service. Calls made through a Relay Service can and must be handled in the same way as any telephone call.
- DTV and HDTV Closed Captioning Issues – The NAD has expressed concerns about the transition to digital television (DTV) in February 2009. The NAD wants to ensure that the analog-to-digital converter boxes will pass through and display closed captions. These concerns, along with reports of current problems with DTV and high definition television (HDTV) pass through, reception, and display of closed captions are being raised in meetings with the FCC, the DTV Coalition, and on Capitol Hill. The FCC issued a “Consumer Advisory†about closed captioning for digital television which can be seen at FCC Consumer Advisory (Word doc).
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