Access Denied

In many ways, Web technologies and mobile devices have created new ways for blind and deaf consumers to find information and connect with friends. But as entertainment and communications tools increasingly take digital form, some people with disabilities feel left behind. Online videos are not required to have captions for those who can't hear, for example, and ticker-style emergency messages are not narrated for those who can't see. A number of efforts by various groups have tried to address some of these hurdles over the past few years. Today, Rep Ed Markey (D-MA), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, plans to introduce legislation that would restore those requirements, as well as bring other big changes to the way Internet phone and video are designed. The bill, also sponsored by Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.), calls for new rules for devices that display video programming. Federal law requires all TV sets with screens larger than 13 inches to display closed captions. Under the new legislation, all gadgets from MP3 music players to cellphones would be required to show captions. Devices would also be obligated to provide video description services and read aloud emergency messages that scroll across the bottom of the screen. And they would have to be designed so that on-screen menus are usable by people with disabilities. In addition, Markey's bill would extend existing Internet phone service requirements to Skype and similar services that let users exchange voice, text or video communications over the Internet.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/18/AR200806...
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