How Does HR 3101 Affect Federal Agencies?

Caption Action 2 had been wondering how HR 3101 applies to the Federal government. On YouTube there is a U.S. Government channel: http://www.youtube.com/usgovernment. Many if not most of the videos on that channel are not captioned. There is a button labeled "Accessible Video Library," but the videos in that library are just a fraction of what is available on the U.S. Government YouTube channel.

The main U.S. Government channel has a lengthy list of Federal agencies with video content. Ironically, the U.S. Department of Education does not have captions on its YouTube videos. This is the Department of Education, folks! Of all agencies that should be captioning online, it should be the Department of Education!!

So Caption Action 2 contacted Rosaline Crawford, the Director, Law and Advocacy Center for the National Association of the Deaf. We asked Crawford, "How does HR 3101 apply to the Federal government?" especially with regard to the YouTube U.S. Government Channel. Crawford responded that was a good question to ask.

According to Crawford, when the government has a YouTube channel, it makes them start to look like an entity (similar to ABC, NBC, CNN) that would be covered by the Communications Act. At the same time, Crawford pointed out that HR 3101 is not needed for the Federal government. There is already a law, Section 508, that requires the Federal government to make its electronic and information technology accessible! See http://www.section508.gov for more information. Crawford quoted one thing from Section508.gov: "The law applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology." Another law that applies to the Federal government is Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires effective communication with deaf and hard of hearing people.

"Communicating on the Internet does not excuse federal agencies from those long-standing obligations under Section 504," said Crawford.

Finally, Crawford said that when deaf and hard of hearing people see a Federal video that is not captioned, they should file a complaint under Section 504 and/or Section 508 with the Federal agency's office for civil rights.

What. A. Day. Caption Action 2 on Capitol Hill

Caption Action 2 (Jamie) had quite a day on Capitol Hill!

Learning More About HR 3101

Speakers and panel members educated a large crowd about HR 3101 the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009. There is much more to the bill than just captioning, but Caption Action 2's focus is on the captioning aspect of the bill. However, we will be blogging about the other aspects too, because they are also of major importance to the deaf and hard of hearing, deaf-blind, and blind/visually impaired communities. Although he was tied up with health care legislation, Representative Markey came and received an award (another award went to Senator McCain for his longtime support for disability rights and access).

One speaker was David Bahar, a deaf legislative assistant in Congressman Jay Inslee's office. Unfortunately, Inslee has not yet become a co-sponsor for HR 3101. Bahar said that Inslee's office was still "studying" the bill. Hopefully Inslee will become a co-sponsor, but no guarantee.

Teams Visit Representative Offices

Eight teams then went to visit Representatives' offices. Each team had appointments to visit just three offices, so that was only 24 Representatives. A tiny sliver of all the Representatives on Capitol Hill! There are over 400 Representatives in the House.

Fred Weiner (TDI board member) led the team that Jamie was on. Fred did a good job of presenting about the bill to the staff members that the team met with. Another team member told how his young hearing children like to watch video online but he can not understand the videos. Fred and Jamie talked about their deaf children, and Jamie talked about Caption Action 2. One staff member was especially helpful; he was a subject matter expert on telecommunications, and he warned the team that the wireless industry was not that supportive of the bill (more in another blog post once Jamie clarifies the issues that the wireless industry has with the bill).

When the staff member told the team that the wireless industry wants to be "included" on the discussion, a team member responded by complaining that it goes two ways: if the wireless industry wants to be included, they have to include us in new technology development!! Jamie chimed in, "Bottom line...we are tired of playing catch up!"

Continuing to Lobby

Jamie stayed afterwards to do some more lobbying on her own. She visited at least 90 Representatives' offices before she had to call it quits by 5 p.m. due to aching feet. Jamie developed a new respect for what lobbyists do!

At each Representative's office, Jamie gave an "elevator pitch," a short, three-minute pitch about the bill. Jamie's pitch: Hello, I am here about HR 3101, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009. This bill takes the laws for captioning on television and applies them to the world wide web. On Facebook, I run this group that supports the bill and (Jamie hands over printout of Caption Action 2 on Facebook) that is growing by 1,000 people every three days." Several staff members exclaimed "Wow!" when they heard how quickly the group is growing.

Meeting Representative Conyers

One of the Representatives' offices that Jamie visited was John Conyers, Jr. (MI). A staff member there was very enthusiastic about the bill because a relative is hard of hearing. That staff member actually arranged for Jamie to meet Conyers in person! Conyers even read the bill while Jamie waited. Then a photographer took their picture together. Here's hoping Conyers becomes a co-sponsor of the bill.

Rep. Stark Signs on as Co-Sponsor!

Today Caption Action 2 learned that Representative Fortney Pete Stark (CA) has signed on as the fourth confirmed co-sponsor. Another representative, Edolphus Towns (NY) is reportedly interested, but we received confirmation from Capitol Hill that Towns has not committed yet. If you live in New York's 10th District, send email to Towns urging him to commit as a co-sponsor!

The 10th District covers Brooklyn - Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Heights, Brownsville, Canarsie, East New York and Ocean Hill, and part of Fort Greene and Williamsburg.

This Year's House Committee

Last year, a similar bill had 15 cosponsors. So far this year, we have only 3 cosponsors (Reps. Linda Sanchez, Barbara Lee, and Steve Israel)! Previous cosponsors who are on this year's House Committee on Energy and Commerce (the Committee that is responsible for the fate of HR3101): Rep. Lois Capps, D-CA23. Rep. Janice Schakowsky, D-IL9. So far, neither Capps nor Schakowsky have signed on as cosponsors this year. Keep writing to your Representatives!

Third CoSponsor Signs On!

Caption Action 2 just received a copy of an email sent today to a Caption Action 2 supporter by the supporter's Representative, Steve Israel, 2nd District of New York. The supporter had written to Israel at Caption Action 2's urging. The email says he has signed on as a co-sponsor of HR3101! We've got one of last year's 15 co-sponsors back! It pays to write!! Reprinted in full below ("Caption Action 2 supporter" is substituted for the person's name) is the email:

From: "Representative Steve Israel"
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:43:28 -04
To:
Subject: Message from Congressman Israel

Dear Caption Action 2 Supporter:

Thank you for contacting me in support of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. I appreciate your thoughts on this matter and welcome the opportunity respond.

You may be pleased to know that I am a co-sponsor of H.R. 3101, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009, which was introduced by Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts on June 26, 2009. This legislation would ensure that people with disabilities have access to the newest technologies by modernizing the disability mandates in the Communications Act. H.R. 3101 would also make broadband technologies more accessible by requiring closed captioning and video descriptions on internet videos, and by ensuring that phones are hearing-aid compatible.

This bill is currently awaiting further consideration by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Please be assured I will keep your views in mind as this legislation develops.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to do so again on any matter of concern. You can also visit my website (http://house.gov/israel) to learn more about the issues important to you.

Sincerely,

STEVE ISRAEL
Member of Congress

Hands & Voices Goes to Bat for Captions Online

Hands & Voices, a national organization for parents of deaf and hard of hearing children, has launched its own campaign to get HR 3101 passed. The effort is being led by Brenda Nowicki, a parent who also happens to work at Caption Colorado, a captioning services provider. As part of this effort, Brenda is drafting an article about the bill that will appear in the next issue of the Hands and Voices newsletter, The Hands & Voices Communicator.

HTML 5 Has No Captioning Provisions?

Just the other day, Robert received an email from another blogger who also blogged about the HR3101 bill: The most pressing Accessibility issue in HTML5 today? <video>

Seems the new HTML 5 standard has a new tag called <video>. According to the article, the <video> tag will not have captioning included. The blogger, John, is aware of HR 3101 and is pushing the World Wide Web consortium, which is developing HTML 5, to get the <video> tag to include captioning. Unfortunately, so far, it will not have captioning. (The rest of the blog post is technical.)

For those who want to read more on HTML 5's video specifications;

HTML 5: video
W3C's HTML 5 video specs
HTML 5 on Wikipedia

There are a few more interesting items at the bottom of the blog, under Read More, related to accessibility and captions.

Odds Against HR3101? Tremendous!!!

How great are the odds against our bill, HR3101, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, making it through Congress? As Caption Action 2 discovered to its dismay, tremendous!!! For starters, according to the Govtrack.us Federal Legislation page:

Members of Congress introduce some ten thousand bills and resolutions in each two-year session of Congress, only a small fraction of which are seriously considered and fewer still enacted as law.

Not only that, according to the page on Govtrack.us that explains Committee Assignments:

Most bills begin by being considered by one or several congressional committees which may "report" the bill favorably or unfavorably to the Senate or House as a whole allowing it to receive consideration by the full body and move forward, or may fail to consider a bill at all preventing the bill from moving forward. Most bills never receive any committee consideration and are never reported out. House bills start in House committees and enter Senate committees only after being passed by the House...

But that's not all. Our bill is in the hands of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. How much competition does our bill have so far, given that this two-year session of Congress will likely see more bills introduced? According to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce page on Govtrack.us, around a thousand bills are competing with ours for attention!

This does not mean we can't do it. We can!! It is going to take a huge, collaborative effort in the deaf and hard of hearing community to get the attention of Congress. The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) and its affiliates is working hard to get support. Caption Action 2 is working hard to rally even more troops. We need a huge army of supporters if this bill is going to have a serious chance!

Captioning: One Thing We Can All Agree On

Unfortunately, our deaf and hard of hearing community is quite divided! Captioning is the one thing that can unite us. Whether you use a hearing aid or cochlear implant or not; whether you sign or cue or don't do either doesn't matter. Whether you go to or went to a mainstream program or a school for the deaf does not matter. It does not matter if you are over 80 or under 5. All of us with hearing loss need and benefit from closed captions!

Even if you use a cochlear implant and feel that you do not need captions because your hearing is good enough to understand spoken words online, captions ensure that you do not miss anything. Captions are also a backup in the event that your implant battery dies.

Caption Action 2 needs everyone - from oral only cochlear implant users to culturally deaf signing people. It is going to take a united effort from all of us to get this bill passed!

Help Spread the Word on Caption Action 2!

You can help spread the word about the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 and Caption Action 2 by downloading a PDF to post at your conference, school for the deaf, parent organization, club, et cetera. We will update this PDF as the numbers grow (in numbers, there is strength).

We can do just so much ourselves. Caption Action 2 needs your help to get the word out. So many people in the deaf and hard of hearing community still do not know about this bill, and we have limited time to get the bill passed! In fact, the countdown counter on this count does not give an accurate picture of how much time we actually have left. When you consider that Congress takes breaks (e.g., Congress is on break the entire month of August), and that people in Congress do not work on weekends and holidays, we actually have MUCH LESS time than is shown in the countdown counter on this page!

Caption Action 2 is going to begin an occasional series of reports about how people are helping Caption Action 2. Over at About.com Deafness, a reader said she would spread the word at her court reporting school. (Court reporters have the skills to become realtime captioners for television.) Hands and Voices, an organization for parents of deaf and hard of hearing children, is launching its own campaign to get the word out among parents of deaf and hard of hearing children.

How have you helped to spread the word on Caption Action 2 and the bill? Send us an email and we will write about it on this blog.

HR3101 Applies to Devices, Too!

This will be the first of about three posts about how HR3101 will apply to devices and define what those devices are. This first post is a one-page summary from COAT that Markey's office gave Caption Action 2.


H.R. 3101: The Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009

On June 26, 2009, Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced “The Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009” (H.R. 3101). If enacted, this comprehensive disabilities communications legislation will amend the nation’s Communications Act to ensure that new Internet-enabled telephone and television products and services are accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. It will also close existing disability gaps in telecommunications law. You can learn more about the bill on the website of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) at http://www.coataccess.org. COAT has over 240 national, state, and community-based organizational affiliates that support the passage of this legislation.

Communications Access

• Requires access to phone-type equipment and services used over the Internet
(Current law: Section 255 requires telecommunications products and services to be accessible but does not extend to the Internet)
• Adds improved accountability and enforcement measures, including a clearinghouse and reporting obligations by providers and manufacturers
• Requires telephone products used with the Internet to be hearing aid compatible (HAC)
(Current law: HAC required on all wireline and many wireless phones)
• Allows use of Lifeline and Link-up universal service funds (USF) for broadband connection and service
(Current law: Discounts only available for products and services on public telephone network)
• Allocates up to $10 million/year for equipment used by people who are deaf-blind
(Current: Inadequate state programs that distribute some free or discounted telephone equipment, but little available for people who are deaf-blind)
• Clarifies the scope of relay services to include calls between and among people with disabilities and requires Internet-based service providers to contribute to the Interstate Relay Fund
• Requires FCC to develop real-time text digital standard to replace TTY communications

Video Programming Access

• Requires caption decoder circuitry or display capability in all video programming devices, including PDAs, computers, iPods, cell phones, DVD players, TiVo devices and battery-operated TVs
(Current law: Caption decoder circuitry only required on TVs with screens at least 13 inches)
• Extends closed captioning obligations to television-type video programming distributed over the Internet: covers web-based video services that offer television programs, movies, web clips, and live video streaming; does not cover user-generated content (e.g., YouTube videos posted by students)
(Current law: Captioning required on most broadcast, cable and satellite TV shows)
• Requires easy access to closed captions via remote control and on-screen menus
• Requires easy access by blind people to television controls and on-screen menus
• Restores video description rules and requires access to televised emergency programming for people who are blind or have low vision

Come to Capitol Hill July 30!

As part of their conference this year, TDI is sponsoring a Legislative event on Capitol Hill on July 30, 2009. This is an important opportunity for supporters of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 to be "heard!" Even if you do not go to the TDI conference, come to Capitol Hill! Reprinted below from the TDI Conference Schedule is the Legislative Day morning events on Capitol Hill:

Special Program at Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill

• 9:00 a.m. Plenary Session
  • Emcee: Fred Weiner
• 9:15 a.m Presentation of two Karen Peltz Strauss Public Policy Awards
• 10:30 a.m.
  
  • "21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009"
  • Consumer Advocates Panel -
    • Moderator: Rosaline Crawford
    • Panelists: John Stanton, Lise Hamlin, Alfred Sonnenstrahl, and Randy Pope
• 11:15 a.m.
  • "21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009"
  • Congressional Staff Panel -
    • Moderator: Karen Peltz Strauss
• 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. - Advocates visit House and Senate offices

HR 3101 In Plain English

Caption Action 2 has had a request to "translate" the language in HR 3101 into plain English. Below is our attempt to translate the language.

The text of H.R. 3101 is on Thomas.gov and a PDF can be downloaded from this blog under the blogroll. The important part is Title II, Section 203. The key language from that is reproduced below, and our plain English translation is in Italics:

(b) Closed Captioning on Video Programming Distributed Over the Internet- Section 713 of such Act is further amended by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:

`(c) Deadlines for Captioning-

`(1) IN GENERAL- The regulations prescribed pursuant to subsection (b) shall include an appropriate schedule of deadlines for the provision of closed captioning of video programming.

Translation: Even if the bill passes, we will not have 100% closed captioning online right away. A transitional schedule will be developed, most likely by the Federal Communications Commission. It could be as late as 2020 by the time 100% captioning of television on line is required. For comparison purposes, look at the FCC rules that implemented the captioning requirements of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. It was not until January 2006 that television broadcasters had to caption 100% of all their new non-exempt programming.

`(2) DEADLINES FOR INTERNET-DISTRIBUTED PROGRAMMING-

`(A) Within 12 months after the submission of the report to Congress required by section 201(b) of the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009, the Commission shall prescribe regulations that include an appropriate schedule of deadlines for the provision of closed captioning of video programming distributed to the public over the Internet.

Translation: If the bill passes, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has up to 18 months to submit a report ("inquiry") to Congress about internet video software and programming, technical issues, technical standards, etc. THEN the FCC has up to a year to write regulations for captioning on the Internet. So it could be as long as 2.5 years after the bill passes (if the bill passes) before we even have a schedule for mandatory captioning on the Internet.

`(B) Consistent with the regulations promulgated under subsection (b), the regulations prescribed under this paragraph shall ensure the accessibility of video programming, except for consumer generated media, through the provision of captions on--

`(i) preproduced video programming that was previously captioned for television viewing;

Translation: "Preproduced" means recorded programming, not live programming. If it was captioned on television, it must be captioned on the Internet.

`(ii) live video programming;

Translation: This simply means just what it says - live - as in live news. For example, CNN would have to caption their CNN online live programming.

and

`(iii) video programming first published or exhibited after the effective date of such regulations provided by or generally considered to be comparable to programming provided by multichannel programming distributors.'.

Translation: New programming created after the laws took effect would have to be captioned, period.

Captioning Display is Important, Too

Captioning display through visible CC buttons is important. It is important because having a visible CC button helps gain the acceptance of hearing people and makes it easier for deaf people too. Hearing people want to be able to turn off the captions easily. Deaf people need quick and easy access.

Current Broadcasters

How are the few broadcasters that caption online, enabling caption display?

• Hulu - Uses Flash. When the video starts playing the commercials, there is no CC button visible. After the commercial, you can see and click the CC button. Then you have to choose "English" for it to load the subtitles. That's ok, but it is a bit of an annoyance and it does mean that the first few seconds of the actual program will be missed.
• ABC.com - Uses Flash. Has a CC button that is grayed out and turns white after you click it. The settings also let you permanently set it to show captions.
  
• CNET - Uses Flash, Has a CC button that you can click.
  
• Fox TV - Uses Flash. Has a CC button that displays to the left of the player screen.
• NBC TV - Uses Flash. Has a CC button at bottom of screen.
  

Brightcove

One of the most commonly used players is the Brightcove player (a type of Flash player), which does not have a visible CC button although the player IS capable of displaying closed captions, as explained on their support forum. It is important to get Brightcove to add a CC button to their standard player templates, because if you visit the websites of the broadcasters who do not caption, most of them are using Brightcove. As far as we can tell from the images on the Brightcove standard player templates page, the standard player does not come with a CC button. Caption Action 2 has an email in to Brightcove support asking if they will add a CC button to their standard player templates.

Why is it so important to get Brightcove to upgrade the standard player to add a standard CC button? It is important because as stated above, having a standard CC button benefits both deaf and hearing people. Plus, if the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 passes, we do not want the broadcasters to have any excuse to ask for a delay in implementing captioning requirements. Caption Action 2's concern is that broadcasters could use the lack of a CC button on the Brightcove player as an excuse to ask for more time.

A RealPlayer Story

Back in 1998 to 1999, when the Internet was still young, Jamie had a contract job with a very interesting task: evaluating new media technology. One of Jamie's assignments was to evaluate new internet media players. Jamie found that while the latest version of the Windows Media Player did have closed caption display capability, the then-beta version of the RealPlayer did not have the same capability. Knowing that the official version of the RealPlayer would soon be out, Jamie knew she had to take action.

Jamie made several long-distance calls to the headquarters of Real Media. She actually was able to talk to the developer team. When Jamie asked that the final version of the Real Player include captioning display capability, the developers told her that it was too close to the official release date. Jamie doesn't remember clearly anymore what she said in response to that, as it was over 10 years ago, but she thinks she remembers that she continued to press them to have captioning display capability and may have even threatened to spread the word in the deaf and hard of hearing community if the final version came out without closed captioning display.

Jamie won. The final version of the RealPlayer came out with closed captioning display.

(Note: Was this RealPlayer 8 or RealOne v1 or v2?)

Closed captions = Curb Cuts for Hearing

When a hearing person asks you "Why should I support closed captioning online? I'm not deaf!" this is what you can tell them: closed captions online are like curb cuts.

What is the similarity here? Curb cuts are mandated by law to help disabled people. We are all only temporarily abled. You never know when you might need something that was put into place to help.

For example, years ago Robert could walk and even run. Today, he needs a wheelchair or cane part of the time and will never be able to run again. He developed arthritis and entered the world of the severely disabled. On December 2008, he had surgery due to his bad knee condition. He's talked about it on his blog, RSGeo-007.

If curb cuts were not in place, he would not be able to get around independently in a wheelchair. Likewise, if a hearing person were to lose hearing either to age, illness, or accident they would be unable to watch television online just when they need to be able to. For example, think of an office with no television but only a computer at a time of hot news on television.

Ask the hearing person, "I know you don't need captions now, but someday you might need them. Wouldn't you want that in place already, ready for you if you needed it?"

Write to your representatives and join Caption Action 2!

What HR3101 Will Not Cover

Some people seem to think that the Act will require everyone to caption on YouTube. Only commercial and government broadcasters will likely be required to do so.

Here's a repost of part of the Introduction to Caption Action 2 post on here;

Read the COAT and National Association of the Deaf press releases about the 21st Century Act, to learn more. For convenience, reprinted below from the NAD press release is the key information about the Act as it pertains to online captioning:

Video Programming Access

• Requires closed captioning display capability in all video programming devices.
• Extends closed captioning obligations to television-type video programming distributed over the Internet (not user-generated content).
• Requires easy access to closed captions via remote control and on-screen menus, and requires easy access by blind people to television controls and program selection menus.
• Restores video description rules and requires access to televised emergency programming for people who are blind or have low vision.
  

The keywords here are "user generated content." This means content created by a single person does not need to have captioning. Content created by businesses, corporations, and government agencies will require captioning.

The Caption Action 2 cause on Facebook has more links and information. You don't need to be a Facebook member to browse the group.

What To Write Your Congressperson

Some of our readers may not know what exactly to say in the letter to their Congresspeople and where to send it. Here's a sample letter as written in the Caption Action 2 cause's discussion board.


"I am deaf and the 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3101) is important to me, because it will enable me to understand the streaming videos if they are captioned. May I ask if you will be willing to cosponsor HR3101 - 21st Century Communications Act bill for the benefit of the deaf and hard of hearing citizens?

Thank you very much."


Browse to http://www.house.gov/ and search for your Representative.

Do not mention Caption Action 2, as it may cause confusion. Caption Action 2 is the name of our grassroots campaign. Our representatives will be more familiar with the 21st Century Act than with Caption Action 2.

No Internet Captions? Education Suffers!

The year was 1977. Jamie's public school middle school class was assigned to watch "Roots" on television. With closed captioning on television still three years away, Jamie was not able to do the homework assignment. She was able to read the book "Roots," but missed out on the classic television miniseries and the classroom discussion. If the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 does not pass, it will be 1977 all over again!

Actually, we may already have returned to the past. When the National Association of the Deaf relaunched their website, it included blogs. One of the blogs drew a comment that gives added fire to the Caption Action 2 grassroots movement. On a blog by Slinkerwink, "What's the Latest with Internet Captioning," commenter Sheena wrote:

I graduated from CSUN last year and ALREADY, professors are giving online video assignments to students. I had several assignments where I was forced to find my hand in the air asking the teacher to give me a different kind due to having no cc/subtiles. That moment struck me as this will be happening more frequent as the world of Internet/online streaming media advances. The students shouldn't have to put up with this.

Also check out the NAD's vlog on the 21st Century Act, "Support the 21st Century Act" (signed, no captions, but there is accompanying text).

Parents of deaf and hard of hearing children need to throw their combined weight behind this bill, because it is their deaf and hard of hearing children's education that is going to be seriously affected if this bill does not become law!!

Why We Only Have til January 2011

The 111th Congress has already been in session since January 3, 2009 and will be in session until January 3, 2011. That means we have until January 3, 2011 to get this bill passed. Plus, other factors limit how much time we have. Why do we say this? Read below to see why!

Dates of Congress

Overview - 111th Congress (2009-2011)

This page gives the exact dates for the current Congress from start to finish.

Still Pending? Too Bad.

What happens to bills when Congress changes?

This page makes it clear that pending bills DO NOT carry over from one Congress to the next. If we do not get this bill through Congress before the end of the Congress, the bill will die.

Congressional Breaks

Not only that, as the Congress schedule and the House Calendar PDF makes clear, Congress is currently in session after the recent holiday break, but starting August 1 until September 7, they return to their home districts, and September 8 the House reconvenes in Washington, DC. This means we effectively lose a month.

This is why we have been saying "This is our second chance. We might not get a third chance!" Keep sending those emails to Congress and join Caption Action 2 on Facebook.

Help Get Last Year's Cosponsors Back!

Last year, the previous version of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 had 15 cosponsors. Now we need to try to get them to cosponsor again! Check below to see if your representative is on the list. If he or she is, write to them and ask them to be cosponsors again! The sooner we can get these Representatives back on board, the sooner we can get additional Representatives to come on board as supporters!

Note: The [xx-##] indicates what state the cosponsor is from and which Congressional district they represent.

Capps, Lois [CA-23]

Capps represents voters in these cities in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties: Avila Beach, Cambria, Carpinteria, Cayucos, Goleta, Grover Beach, Guadalupe, Isla Vista, Los Osos, Morro Bay, Oceano, Oxnard, Pismo Beach, Port Hueneme, San Luis Obispo, San Simeon, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Shell Beach, and Ventura.

Frank, Barney [MA-4]

Frank represents voters in these cities in Bristol County, Middlesex County, Norfolk County, and Plymouth County: Acushnet, Berkley, Brookline, Dartmouth, Dighton, Dover, Fairhaven,Fall River, Foxborough, Freetown, Halifax, Lakeville, Mansfield, Marion, Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Millis, New Bedford, Newton, Norfolk, Norton, Raynham, Rochester,Sharon, Sherborn, Taunton, Wareham, Wellesley, and Westport.

Giffords, Gabrielle [AZ-8]

Giffords represents voters in all of Cochise County and parts of Pima, Pinal, and Santa Cruz counties.

McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4]

McCarthy represents these communities in west-central Nassau County: Baldwin, Carle Place, East Meadow, East Rockaway, Elmont, the Five Towns, Lynbrook, Floral Park, Franklin Square, Garden City, Hempstead, Mineola, New Hyde Park, Oceanside, Rockville Centre, Roosevelt, Uniondale, Valley Stream and Westbury.

Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [NJ-8]

Pascrell represents voters in Eastampton Township, Evesham Township, Hainesport Township, Lumberton Township, Mansfield Township, Medford Lakes Borough, Medford Township, Moorestown Township, Mount Laurel Township, Pemberton Borough, Pemberton Township, Shamong Township, Southampton Township, Springfield Township, Tabernacle Township, Woodland Township, and Wrightstown Borough.

Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9]

Schakowsky represents voters in Evanston, Skokie, Niles, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Park Ridge and Norridge. It is also made up of parts of Wilmette, Northfield, Glenview, Golf, Rosemont and Des Plaines, and part of the North Side of City of Chicago.

Solis, Hilda L. [CA-32]

Solis was replaced by Judy Chu, but she had represented these places: part of Los Angeles County, East Los Angeles, El Monte, Monterey Park and West Covina.

Tierney, John F. [MA-6]

Tierney represents voters in Essex and Middlesex counties:

Amesbury, Bedford, Beverly, Boxford, Burlington, Danvers, Essex, Georgetown, Gloucester, Groveland, Hamilton, Ipswich, Lynn, Lynnfield, Manchester, Marblehead, Merrimac, Middleton, Nahant, Newbury, Newburyport, North Andover, North Reading, Reading, Rockport, Rowley, Salem, Salisbury, Saugus, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wakefield, Wenham, West Newbury, and Wilmington.

Wilson, Heather [NM-1] - replaced by Martin Heinrich. Represents these cities: Albuquerque, Bernalillo, North Valley, and South Valley.

Will Rep. Dingell Cosponsor 21st Century Act?

Here is a letter that a Caption Action 2 supporter wrote to her representative (Rep. John Dingell, Michigan), and the representative's response. His response is supportive yet does not make a commitment to coming on board as a cosponsor of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009.

From Caption Action 2 supporter to Dingell:

I am deaf and the 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act of 2009 is important to me, because it will enable me to understand the streaming videos if they are captioned. May I ask if you will be willing to cosponsor the 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act of 2009 for the benefit of the deaf and hard of hearing citizens?

From Dingell to Caption Action 2 supporter (with bold lettering added by Caption Action 2):

Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 3101, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, H.R. 3101 was introduced by Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) on June 26, 2009. This legislation contains numerous provisions designed to ensure that the disabled have equal access to telecommunications devices. Among other measures, the bill requires hearing aid compatibility with IP-enabled communications devices, strengthens closed captioning and video description requirements for digital television and mandates real time text support to ensure that the disabled have access to text messaging during emergencies.

I am a longtime supporter of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as well as a cosponsor of the ADA Restoration Act, which I helped to pass in the House by a vote of 402-17 on June 25, 2008. All Americans should have an equal opportunity to succeed regardless of physical disability. H.R. 3101 has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. As Chairman Emeritus of the Committee, I will take your comments into consideration as my colleagues and I continue to shape the panel's telecommunications agenda.

Again, thank you for being in touch. For news on current federal legislative issues, please visit my website at www.house.gov/dingell; you can also sign up there to receive my e-newsletter. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me again if I may be of assistance with this or any other matter of concern.

With every good wish,

Sincerely yours,

John D. Dingell

Member of Congress

We Got TWO Cosponsors to HR3101!

Just found out today from a contact in Rep. Markey's office that we now have two cosponsors to the 21st Century Act! Here's the email we got;

Thanks very much for contacting me about H.R. 3101, which Rep. Markey just reintroduced. I've also attached it. Reps. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) have agreed to co-sponsor so far - any efforts you and your coalition can make to increase the number of co-sponsors would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to contact me.

Also today, Hana blogged about the bill.

Media Coverage Begins

Today not one, but two, About.com guides blogged about the bill and Caption Action 2. The Kids' Movies and TV guide blogged: Closed Caption Online, and the Special Needs Children guide blogged: Site of the Day: Caption Action 2.

And as an added bonus, we discovered that Tyler's mother had blogged about the bill today as well!

Why The 21st Century Act Died Last Year

Last year, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act died in committee on Capitol Hill. Now we have a second chance - and must not blow it!

According to one of the COAT organizations, AAPD, it is common for a bill to be introduced in a Congress and then not get enacted because of many reasons:

a. insufficient time for members to look at it and support it (e.g., due to other bigger comprehensive bills moving)
b. distracted by other activities (e.g., their own re-election)
c. a national election year where no one knows what the outcome will be will cause legislation to get "paused" due to the political uncertainties
d. there was a need to continue discussions with industry
e. insufficient letters [emails] in the records of members showing support from the affected groups
f. the overwhelming power of industry representatives to "slow" and "kill" legislation which further regulates them
g. the measure just wasn't seen as important enough
[we must compete for attention with many other bills!]
According to AAPD, "It's a big step forward to have the bill introduced again. What we need is to have the same thing introduced by the Senate, with possibly a hearing on the Senate side.

The COAT steering committee has spent the past year in intensive meetings with industry parties 'educating' them about the bill. So this year's bill has a few changes to reflect that process. We have also in the past year gained the almost unanimous support of the telecom industry (although not all the wireless guys).... and made a few inroads into the IT and TV industry."

Note from Caption Action 2: Someone posted on the Facebook cause Caption Action 2 that another possible reason the bill did not succeed last year is because it did not have enough cosponsors on Capitol Hill. Research showed that last year's bill had only 15 cosponsors. This is why we need to have many thousands of people join Caption Action 2. In numbers, there is strength!

The same thing could happen again - the bill could die - for the reasons cited above, UNLESS we make a huge push to keep the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 alive. If Caption Action 2 could grow to a very large size, and just a small percentage take action such as writing via email or Internet form to their Congressperson, it could make all the difference.

How Much Are We Missing? Too Much!

Just how much online programming (full episodes, clips, webisodes) are deaf and hard of hearing people missing out on? Much more than even we thought! So, in this blog post, which will be revised continually, we will maintain a running list of which broadcasters and retransmitters are captioning full episodes, clips, and webisodes online, and which are not not captioning online. This will hopefully enable Caption Action 2 to demonstrate the full scope of the problem..

Note: Research is done, for now. Just about EVERY cable channel is offering online viewing of full episodes, clips, or webisodes (webisodes are original programming created just for the web).


Who Doesn't Caption Online

A&E
ABC Family (owned by ABC)
AMC (Rainbow Media)
Animal Planet (Discovery networks)
BBC America
BET
Biography (A&E)
Blinkx (retransmitter)
Boomerang (Turner)
Bravo
Cartoon Network (Turner)
CBS
Cinemax (HBO)
CMT (MTV)
Comedy Central (MTV)
CNBC (NBC)
CNN (Turner)
CNN en Espanol (Turner)
CNN International (Turner)
Discovery (Discovery networks)
Discovery Health (Discovery networks)
Discovery Kids (Discovery networks)
Disney (ABC)
DIY
E!
ESPN
Fancast
FitTV (Discovery networks)
Food Network
Fox Movie Channel
Fox News Channel
FX
GSN
Hallmark
HBO
HD Theater (Discovery networks)
HGTV
History Channel (A&E)
HLN (Turner)
IFC (Rainbow Media)
IMDB.com (retransmitter)
Investigation Discovery (Discovery networks)
Joost (retransmitter)
Lifetime
Military Channel (Discovery networks)
MSNBC
MTV (also CMT)
National Geographic Channel
Nickelodeon
Online TV (retransmitter)
Oxygen
QVC
Science Channel (Discovery networks)
Sci Fi
Showtime
Speed
Spike
Starz
Style
Sundance (Rainbow Media)
TBS (Turner)
TCM (Turner)
The Weather Channel
Tidal TV (retransmitter)
TLC (Discovery networks)
TNT (Turner)
Travel Channel
TruTV (Turner)
Truveo
TV.com (retransmitter, owned by CBS.com)
TVLand
USA
Veoh (retransmitter)
VH1 (MTV)
Voom (Rainbow Media)
We (Rainbow Media)


Who Captions Online

ABC
CNET
Fox
Hulu (retransmitter)
NBC
PBS (some programming)

Cable Channel's Attitude on Internet Captioning

A member of the Facebook cause Caption Action 2 contacted a Popular Cable Channel that we can not name publicly. That member was told that Popular Cable Channel is aware of the "demand" for captioning online but that they haven't heard much at all from deaf and hard of hearing people. Popular Cable Channel makes its decisions based upon "mass" appeal and "maximized" profits. However, now that the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 has been introduced in Congress, Popular Cable Channel is now reportedly giving "serious" consideration to captioning online.

This is the same attitude that Paramount Home Video had over 20 years ago with regard to the deaf and hard of hearing community's desire for captions on the original Star Trek videos. At that time, Paramount told the first Caption Action that they wanted to hear from deaf and hard of hearing people before they would even consider having captions on the re-release of the original Star Trek videos.

Thus, this is one of the reasons that makes Caption Action 2 all the more important today. Some companies won't do the right thing unless they hear from us in large numbers.

Tweeps Posting on the Act

The following people on Twitter (tweeps) have tweeted about the need to support the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 and if they wrote to their Congressional representatives/senators:

1. AccessInclusion AccessInclusion
2. bgramer bgramer
3. Bravebellows Bravebellows
4. Captionfish Captionfish
5. catroy catroy
6. damontimm damontimm
7. DeafCode DeafCode
8. deafmom deafmom
9. DPHHSeattle DPHHSeattle
10. foundinblank foundinblank wrote!
11. FriarTech FriarTech
12. grwebguy grwebguy wrote!
13. jaredev jaredev wrote!
14. johnfoliot johnfoliot
15. kkinnee kkinee
16. konacrouch konacrouch
17. lobara lobara
18. majornista majornista
19. msdrpepper msdrpepper
20. NADTweets NADTweets
21. nikeairj nikeairj
22. njbnad njbnad
23. Ray6955 Ray6955
24. snsandberg snsandberg
25. TJDavidson7 TJDavidson7
26. xoxoStephxoxo xoxoStephxoxo
27. ZenMonkey ZenMonkey

If you tweet about the Act, be sure to put #captions in your tweet so Caption Action 2 can find it and add you to this list. Keep tweeting about the Act, and join Caption Action 2.

What we will blog (Intro final part)

What We Will Be Blogging

Here on this blog, we will report what is happening on Capitol Hill with the Act (e.g., is it coming up for a hearing? are there any new co-sponsors?), and what is happening on Facebook where we have two groups, an Internet Captioning Group and a Cause, Caption Action 2. The reason for having two groups is that the Cause will allow us to do fundraising eventually to support the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT)'s efforts to get the Act passed. COAT is not a nonprofit organization, so we are working with the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), a COAT organization, about setting up fundraising via the Caption Action 2 Cause.

This blog will also allow us to do things that are difficult to do on Facebook. For example, we will be tracking who posts about the 21st Century Act on Twitter, via a regularly updated post. We will also use this blog to report on efforts to target broadcasters that do not caption online, such as Disney Online. Plus, through the blog we hope to increase awareness of broadcasters that DO caption online.

Actual Language (Intro part 2)

Actual Language from the Act

The text of H.R. 3101 is on Thomas.gov. The important part is Title II, Section 203. The key language from that is reproduced below:

(b) Closed Captioning on Video Programming Distributed Over the Internet- Section 713 of such Act is further amended by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:

`(c) Deadlines for Captioning-

`(1) IN GENERAL- The regulations prescribed pursuant to subsection (b) shall include an appropriate schedule of deadlines for the provision of closed captioning of video programming.

`(2) DEADLINES FOR INTERNET-DISTRIBUTED PROGRAMMING-

`(A) Within 12 months after the submission of the report to Congress required by section 201(b) of the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009, the Commission shall prescribe regulations that include an appropriate schedule of deadlines for the provision of closed captioning of video programming distributed to the public over the Internet.

`(B) Consistent with the regulations promulgated under subsection (b), the regulations prescribed under this paragraph shall ensure the accessibility of video programming, except for consumer generated media, through the provision of captions on--

`(i) preproduced video programming that was previously captioned for television viewing;

`(ii) live video programming; and

`(iii) video programming first published or exhibited after the effective date of such regulations provided by or generally considered to be comparable to programming provided by multichannel programming distributors.'.

If this language seems familiar, that is because this Act is meant to update the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Help us get the new 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 passed, by joining Caption Action 2!

Introduction to Caption Action 2

Welcome to the Caption Action 2 blog. Caption Action 2 is the name of the grassroots Internet-based movement to get Congress to pass the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 (hereafter referred to as the 21st Century Act, or H.R. 3101) introduced on June 26, 2009 that will make captioning on the Internet mandatory for certain types of broadcasters, and to increase captioning on the Internet.

Why Have a Caption Action 2?

We are making a big push to get the 21st Century Act passed, because a similar Act was introduced last year but never made it out of committee. It didn't even get to the point of having a hearing. Representative Ed Markey re-introduced the bill in June 2009, giving us a second chance. For all we know, we might not get a third chance! So it is absolutely critical that the deaf and hard of hearing community and its hearing friends unite to get this bill passed.

What Can YOU Do?

It is imperative that people write to their Congressional Representatives (to ask Representatives to cosponsor the bill) and write to Senators (to ask Senators to sponsor a similar bill) via the Internet. One thing that helps get a bill to move through Congress, is that Representatives and Senators cosponsor a bill. Last year, the previous version of the Act had only 15 cosponsors.

Read the COAT and National Association of the Deaf press releases about the 21st Century Act, to learn more. For convenience, reprinted below from the NAD press release is the key information about the Act as it pertains to online captioning:

Video Programming Access

• Requires closed captioning display capability in all video programming devices.
• Extends closed captioning obligations to television-type video programming distributed over the Internet (not user-generated content).
• Requires easy access to closed captions via remote control and on-screen menus, and requires easy access by blind people to television controls and program selection menus.
• Restores video description rules and requires access to televised emergency programming for people who are blind or have low vision.