Introducing Caption Action 2

Early in the morning of June 25, frustrated by the lack of captions on the Internet, I started the Facebook grassroots cause Caption Action 2. Coincidentally, the next day, on June 26, Representative Ed Markey re-introduced the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 (HR 3101) on Capitol Hill.

We only have until January 2011 to get this important Act to pass Congress. (To see how much time we have left, check the companion blog for Caption Action 2, which has a countdown counter.) After that, the bill will disappear. If you are a parent of a deaf or hard of hearing child, this bill will have a major impact on your child's future!

It may sound like we have plenty of time but we actually don't have plenty of time. Congress has been in session six months already, so we have already lost six months because the bill was not introduced until late June. A bill needs many cosponsors to be successful, and at this time the bill has only two cosponsors (Reps. Linda Sanchez (CA) and Barbara Lee (CA)). Not only that, we have to get someone in the Senate to introduce a similar bill. Write to your Congressional Representatives and Senators. If you do write to your Congresspersons, could you let me know? Caption Action 2 is trying to compile statistics on how many actually write to Congress.

I had blogged here at About.com last June 2008 about the first bill, but nothing came of it. That first bill died in the House committee and had few cosponsors (just 15), never even reaching the point of getting a hearing. As far as I know, a companion bill was never introduced in the Senate. Now we have a second chance, and we might not get a third chance. I am determined to see this bill pass, so in addition to being a guide for About.com, I have taken on the role of a leader of Caption Action 2.

Long ago, I was one of the leaders of the first Caption Action, a grassroots movement to get captions on home video (In the 1980s, very little home video was captioned). When the lack of captions on the Internet became a fast-growing problem, it made sense to call this new grassroots movement Caption Action 2. Plus, calling it Caption Action 2 reminds people that there was once a successful first Caption Action, the key word being success.

Caption Action 2 is a grassroots movement supporting the efforts of the professional organizations the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT), the National Association of the Deaf, and TDI. If you are not a member of either NAD or TDI, now is the time to join as they will be needing a lot of support in order to get this bill through Congress. COAT will also need a lot of support.

Last but not least, knowing the importance of publicity to getting the word out (and influencing Congressional representatives), I approached my fellow guides at About.com. Two About.com guides responded by blogging about the bill and Caption Action 2:

• About.com Guide to Kids' Movies and TV: Closed Caption Online
• About.com Guide to Special Needs Children: Site of the Day: Caption Action 2
• About.com Guide to Animated TV: Get Closed Captions Required Online

It is a start, but we need more publicity for the bill. If you are an appropriate reporter (e.g. someone who writes about the Internet, Internet Technology, or Television) or know an appropriate reporter, please contact me at deafness.guide@about.com. You can also help by spreading the word about the bill, and about Caption Action 2. With your help, we CAN get this bill through Congress!