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<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=mrichert@afb.net href="mailto:mrichert@afb.net">AFB DirectConnect</A>
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<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, March 18, 2010 4:13 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> National Broadband Plan Released; AFB Teleseminar,
Resources</DIV></DIV>
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<P>Breathtaking National Broadband Plan’s Release Puts Disability Access Center
Stage<BR><BR>For further information, contact—<BR><BR>Mark Richert<BR>Director,
Public Policy, AFB<BR>(202) 822-0833<BR><A
href="mailto:MRichert@afb.net">MRichert@afb.net</A> <BR><BR>The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) released this week its long-awaited <A
href="http://www.broadband.gov/plan/">National Broadband Plan</A>, a set of
detailed policy recommendations and statement of FCC commitment to specific
actions designed to ensure that every American will have access to, be able to
afford, and fully use the equipment and services that comprise the nation’s
high-speed voice, data and video communications, emergency, and entertainment
infrastructure. The full report can be accessed on line at <A
href="http://www.broadband.gov/plan/">http://www.broadband.gov/plan/</A>.<BR><BR>In
articulating a comprehensive vision for broadband accessibility, the FCC is
endorsing, in some cases verbatim, the policy objectives of H.R. 3101, the
Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, introduced by
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) last Summer. In doing so, the FCC has officially gone on
record calling for the application of existing federal telecommunications
requirements to Internet-based mobile and other technologies, the wider
availability of video description, the necessity for more relevant emergency
information access requirements, and the critical need for video programming
devices and program menus to be usable by people with disabilities, particularly
individuals with vision loss.<BR><BR>In some cases, the FCC has indicated its
sense that it already has congressional authority to issue regulations
accomplishing these objectives. In other instances, the FCC is calling upon
Congress in the Plan to grant the FCC unambiguous jurisdiction and authority to
promulgate necessary rules. And in still other instances, the FCC is calling
upon other federal agencies to undertake rulemaking or advisory committee
proceedings to implement Plan recommendations.<BR><BR>For example, given that a
federal court of appeals has ruled that the FCC lacks authority to require video
description, the FCC is unequivocally urging Congress to give it the necessary
authority through legislation. In addition, the FCC is urging the U.S.
Department of Justice to amend its Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
regulations to clarify the ADA’s applicability to commercial websites. Advocates
will recall that AFB and other organizations in the vision loss community have
been aggressively pushing the Justice Department to issue such clarifying rules
in order to ensure that retailers and other public accommodations that do
business exclusively on line are nevertheless covered by the ADA’s
nondiscrimination protections. The Justice Department is expected to issue its
much-anticipated updated ADA regulations in the coming months.<BR><BR>The
release of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan comes at a critical time in the
progress of technology and disability policy development. For instance, the U.S.
Access Board has just begun the official rulemaking process to update the
requirements of section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the federal provisions
requiring federal government electronic and information technology
accessibility. <BR><BR>To keep advocates current on these and related
information access issues, AFB is offering several opportunities to the vision
loss community and beyond. In addition to its regular reporting on accessible
mainstream and assistive technologies, AFB’s free on line magazine, AccessWorld
<A href="http://www.afb.org/accessworld">http://www.afb.org/accessworld</A>, is
currently providing readers with comprehensive coverage of the technology policy
landscape and how advocates can make a difference.<BR><BR>Additionally, stay
tuned to this newsletter, AFB DirectConnect, for details coming soon about an
exciting teleseminar to be held in April offering attendees an opportunity to
learn about the particulars of the National Broadband Plan and how you can
participate in the effort to make its recommendations a reality.<BR><BR>In the
meantime, advocates are urged to continue calling upon members of the U.S. House
to cosponsor H.R. 3101 and work for its prompt passage. Detailed information
about the legislation, including a tool kit for advocates, can be found on the
Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology website. <A
href="http://www.coataccess.org">http://www.coataccess.org</A><BR><BR></P>
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