[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 102 (Thursday, June 19, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1277-E1278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY COMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO ACCESSIBILITY ACT OF 
                                  2008

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HEATHER WILSON

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 19, 2008

  Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico. Madam Speaker, the advancement of 
technology over the last 20 years has revolutionized daily life for 
Americans. Most of us use some form of technology every day. Cell 
phones, computers, iPods, webcasts, and televisions are everywhere.
   User-friendly technology is also important for people with 
disabilities. Televisions, computers, and cellular devices are 
available to the public at-large, but, unlike the ``plain old 
telephone'' there are no requirements to ensure that every American is 
able to use them. Technology can enable the disabled with things like 
specialized hardware that simulates the human voice reading the 
computer screen. Assistive or adaptive technology has taken down many 
barriers to education and employment for disabled Americans. The 
technology is there, and now we need to encourage its national 
availability.
   Alice Marshall is a mother of two from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She 
works for the Bureau of Land Management and when she was watching the 
news a few weeks ago, northern areas of New Mexico were receiving 
warnings of possible tornados in the area. She was not aware of this 
news because it was scrolling across the emergency ticker at the bottom 
of the screen and Alice is blind. The only audio descriptor technology 
available to her has to be ordered by mail and costs about $100.
   Another constituent, Priscilla Stansbury, a grandmother caring for 
her 3 grandchildren, is not able to get information easily about snow 
days and school cancellation. She is blind and tells me that school 
cancellation and amber alert information generally runs along the 
bottom of her TV screen with no audio that she can hear.
   The Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act 
of 2008 would require that IP-enabled communication equipment 
manufactured in the United States have a built-in speaker and a closed 
captioning decoder. The speaker and decoder would allow Americans with 
visual and hearing impairments to access the Internet, computers, and 
cellular devices. Furthermore, it would ensure that IP enabled 
equipment is manufactured to be accessible to and usable by individuals 
with disabilities.
   Most Americans get emergency information over the radio, the 
television or the Internet. Warnings about tornados, such as the one we 
received on Capitol Hill the other week, should be accessible to all 
Americans. This bill would require audio and visual accessibility for 
those who are deaf and blind.

[[Page E1278]]

   According to the Foundation for the Blind there are approximately 10 
million blind people in the United States. The National Association of 
the Deaf report an estimated 22 million Americans who are deaf or hard 
of hearing, and there are a variety of other disabilities that affect 
the accessibility to audio-visual devices.
   Today I joined Congressman Ed Markey in introducing this legislation 
to ensure that American citizens with disabilities have full access to 
the information that the rest of us take for granted.

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