Yesterday on Capitol Hill there was a Senate hearing on S 3304 (Equal Access to 21st Century Communications Act) and HR 3101 (21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act). I was there to see speeches by both deaf and blind people discussing what was in the bills, what the bills mean to them, and sharing personal experiences. There was one interesting moment when the captioning on the large screen television stopped, and I had to interrupt the hearing. If you watch the hearing video and see a small hand waving and pointing to the television, that is my hand.
Senator John Kerry did not miss a beat after the captioning incident. He remarked that this was not a planned event, but it was a good example for the mostly hearing audience of what happens when there is no accessibility!
A comprehensive summary is on the COAT website. At least three publications reported on the hearing:
- The Hill, a political site.
- Broadcasting & Cable
- Communications Daily also did a report, published today on page 5 of Communications Daily. Communications Daily is not available online.
Related: Introducing Caption Action 2
Congratulations on witnessing a historic event! I went to the Hill and left a comment on there, hope it gets posted.
Yup, it got posted.