Markey introduces bill on telecom disability issues

MARKEY INTRODUCES BILL ON TELECOM DISABILITY ISSUES
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC 12/31/07, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Rep Ed Markey (D-MA) has introduced legislation into the House of Representatives that would dramatically overhaul the nation's telecom disability laws, extending them to new Internet based communications devices. On December 21st, Rep Markey released a draft bill that would require cell phone manufacturers to significantly upgrade their technologies, making them far more accessible to people with hearing, speech, and sight limitations. Markey's "Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act" would: 1) require closed captioning on video programming transmitted by cell phone devices, 2) require the FCC to initiate a proceeding to "identify methods to render on-screen-displayed text in a manner accessible to individuals who are blind or visually-impaired," including text instructions and texting messages , 3) require manufacturers to bolster current phone/video technologies to allow people with hearing/voice disabilities to communicate with each other, not just with people without such disabilities , and 4) clarify the legal relationship between the Communications Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, ensuring that both laws use the same definition of "disability."
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