Rep. Frank Wolf's Office Responds!

Today Caption Action 2 received a quick response from Rep. Frank Wolf's office. Janet Shaffron wrote:

Thanks for your e-mail about H.R. 3101. We used the Congressional Research Service summary of the bill, which I’ve pasted below, for the short description included in the constituent response letter, and it is helpful to have your insight on the legislation as we continue to review the measure. Thanks again for providing your explanation of the bill.

Below this, Shaffron copied and pasted the content of the CRS summary, with one key sentence bolded. The sentence, which is highlighted in the graphic underneath, is "Requires, unless it would be an undue burden (significant difficulty or expense), that equipment and services for advanced communications be usable by individuals with disabilities."


HOW can that be interpreted to mean that HR 3101 would require the altering of technology as stated in the previous blog post?! Did Wolf's office read that sentence and twist it around to mean that HR 3101 would force technology companies to change their technology??

If this is an example of why we are having difficulty getting Representatives to support HR 3101, no wonder we are having trouble! This is what we need to educate Representatives about. Requiring that technology be accessible does not mean changing the underlying technology! It means adding things on top of the technology, such as video captions or a CC button on a remote control! Indeed, after Caption Action 2 forwarded Shaffron's email to a key HR 3101 advocate, that advocate remarked, "A clear sign of the need for remedial education."

Join Caption Action 2!

Help ensure that the new Facebook Twilight Series has captions, and help get Starz to caption its YouTube channel! Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

Rep. Frank Wolf Ignorant About HR 3101!

A constituent of Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA), shared a very disappointing and extremely ignorant response received from his office in response to a request to co-sponsor HR 3101. Mr. Wolf's office wrote that HR 3101 "would require companies to alter the technology to make those services available to persons with disabilities." Caption Action 2 showed this response to a key HR 3101 advocate, who was appalled by the ignorance shown by Mr. Wolf's office.

Representative Frank Wolf serves Virginia's 10th District, which consists of Loudoun, Clarke, Fauquier, Warren, Frederick, and Prince William counties. At least two of those counties are considered part of Northern Virginia and the metro Washington, DC area.

Tonight, Caption Action 2 emailed Janet Shaffron (janet.shaffron@mail.house.gov) in Wolf's office. The email sent to Shaffron follows, and Rep. Wolf's constituents are encouraged to contact his office (Update: Caption Action 2 received a response from Wolf's office!):

Hello Janet,

One of Mr. Wolf's constituents emailed me about the response received from your office regarding a request for support for HR 3101. According to the response, your office stated that HR 3101 "would require companies to alter the technology to make those services available to persons with disabilities."

I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that misunderstanding. HR 3101 would require that accessibility be taken into consideration in the DESIGN stage of products. In other words, no more leaving deaf and hard of hearing, and blind, people out when new products are introduced.

Furthermore, there would be practically no alteration of technology. Closed captioning is a technology that has existed for years, and is already available on the Internet. Google recently introduced a voice to text recognition technology that generates automatic closed captions for its YouTube website. Some TV broadcasters such as ABC.com closed caption their programming online. Hulu.com reformats closed caption files so that a good bit of their programming has captions. HR 3101 would recognize the fact that television has moved to the Internet, and extend closed captioning requirements from regular television to the Internet. Only regular TV. Video programming produced by ordinary people, such as a YouTube video of Grandma's grandbaby learning to walk, would not have to be captioned.

Televisions with screens 13 inches or larger are already required to have closed caption display capability. In today's world, that legal requirement is already seriously outdated and does not cover modern video programming devices. HR 3101 would update the law so that all video programming devices would have to be capable of showing closed captions.

HR 3101 would also require simplified access to closed captioning on remote controls and on-screen menus, and would also make the same more accessible for blind people. This does not involve altering technology - it is something as simple as adding an easy to find button or menu option.

The requirement for video description for blind people would simply restore limited access to video programming for blind people. This does not involve alteration of technology in any way; it simply involves someone voicing a description that is "broadcast" over an audio channel.

Last but not least, when companies add or include accessibility in their products, they sell more! There are millions of deaf and hard of hearing people in this country who are not able to purchase or enjoy multimedia products due to the lack of captions. That's a lot of pent-up purchasing power. For example, I have never subscribed to Netflix, but they have finally started to closed caption their streaming videos. Now I am considering becoming a Netflix subscriber. I was planning to buy an iPhone, but after learning that the iPhone does not support Flash and therefore captions on YouTube and other sites don't work, I am considering a Google Android phone instead because the Android does support Flash.

Last but not least, HR 3101 seeks to put an end to the cycle of new technology being introduced, then companies having to "catch up" and "retrofit" for accessibility. I was on Capitol Hill two weeks ago and stopped in Mr. Wolf's office because I am a Northern Virginian. The reason I was on Capitol Hill is because I accompanied the National Association of the Deaf Board of Directors as they met with various Congressmen's staff. In fact, I would like to close by quoting something the NAD Chief Operating Officer told the staff: "Every day that HR 3101 does not pass, is another day we don't have equal access."

I hope that with this information, you will reconsider your constituent's request for cosponsorship of HR 3101. Mr. Wolf would be joining his fellow Republican colleagues, Parker Griffith and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, in cosponsoring HR 3101.

Join Caption Action 2!

Help ensure that the new Facebook Twilight Series has captions, and help get Starz to caption its YouTube channel! Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2! 

Bipartisan Support at Last!!

Today the advocates for HR 3101 got the news they had been waiting a long time to hear: Not one, but two, Republican representatives signed on to HR 3101, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act! Representatives Parker Griffith (AL) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL).





Even better yet, Parker Griffith is on the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet!



Want to thank Griffith and Ros-Lehtinen? In Griffith's office, email Marcus Huskey, marcus.huskey@mail.house.gov, and in Ros-Lehtinen's office, email Sarah Gamino, sarah.gamino@mail.house.gov!

Wondering about that "1" next to Griffith's name? That is because of this footnote on the subcommittee membership web page: "Mr. Griffith was appointed to the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mr. Greg Walden (R-OR) from the Committee on Energy and Commerce on February 23, 2010. Mr. Walden served on this Subcommittee in the 111th Congress until his resignation." PLUS, there is another footnote for Rep. Robert Latta! His footnote is: "Mr. Latta was appointed on April 15, 2010, to the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) from the House of Representatives on March 21, 2010. Mr. Deal served on this Subcommittee in the 111th Congress until his resignation."

Join Caption Action 2!

Help ensure that the new Facebook Twilight Series has captions, and help get Starz to caption its YouTube channel! Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

Back on Capitol Hill with the NAD!

Today Caption Action 2 was privileged to join the National Association of the Deaf Board of Directors on their visits to Congressional representatives as part of the NAD Virtual Legislative Day in support of HR 3101.

The Team

Shane Feldman, and Sean Gerlis (morning) and Michael Berger (afternoon) and myself met with staff for representatives from the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet.

Rep. John Dingell

The first meeting was with a staff person in representative John Dingell's (Michigan) office. The room we were supposed to use was not available, so we went to the cafeteria to hold our meeting. The staff person had some questions which were expected, and we had answers ready for him. Shane shared a story about how he was not able to help his hearing child with video on the Internet. I told my "And Your Name is Jonah" experience from the early teen years. Sean talked about his family with a strong deaf heritage. We left feeling that the staff person was not that enthusiastic about HR 3101.

Rep. Rick Boucher

Here' s where things began to get interesting. Capitol Hill is a place where you can just walk into any office, so we did just that! As we were walking around talking and tweeting, I looked up and saw we were right in front of Representative Rick Boucher's (VA) office! Boucher is, as you know, the chairperson of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, so we went into the office to talk to the staff. I mentioned to the staff that I had corresponded with someone in the office but could not remember who. The desk person went and got someone from her office - Amy Levine! Amy Levine is the key person in Rick Boucher's office. The three of us talked briefly with Levine, who said something a bit odd: she said something about not wanting to move the bill to the floor because they did not want to move a bill that might be defeated?? Say what?? We left Boucher's office a bit puzzled.

Rep. Kathy Castor

We also met with a staff person in representative Kathy Castor's (FL) office. The person the team had an appointment with was not available, so another staff person met with us. This staff person did not know about HR 3101 so we spent the appointment time educating her about it. It was hard to gauge her level of enthusiasm but she took a lot of notes. When I mentioned Caption Action 2, she wrote down the URL for the Facebook page. She also mentioned that they were pretty focused on jobs at the moment, so I brought up the fact that HR 3101 could create jobs for real-time (live) captioners.

Seth Gerlis from iDeafNews joined us in Castor's office, and did some videoing of us. Don't know when the iDeafNews report on the NAD Board visit to Capitol Hill will air on YouTube.

Rep. Gerry Connolly

We had some extra time, so before heading to lunch we stopped in our own representative's office - Gerry Connolly (VA). I asked for Dominic, but he was out, so we met on the spot with Matthew. Matthew listened to us with an open mind, and it was very helpful for me to have the NAD there with me this time!

After a much-needed lunch (walking around Capitol Hill makes a person hungry!) we met up with two more staff officers. The first one was in representative Mike Rogers (MI) office and the second in representative Marsha Blackburn (TN) office.

Rep. Mike Rogers

We didn't have to convince the staff person in Mike Rogers' office of the importance of HR 3101. Instead, HE was the one talking about how important it was! HE was the one talking about how sometimes government intervention is necessary because in this case, "the marketplace has failed." Shane declared that his words were "music to his eyes." (Mine too!) And this is from a Republican representative's office!

We discussed the history behind HR 3101 - why we got the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 for captioning chips, and why we got the Telecommunications Act of 1996 for captioning on TV. However, now that TV has moved to the Internet, we are behind again! As I declared, "history is repeating itself." Will Rogers sign on to HR 3101? All we can do is wait and see! It was such a positive meeting that at the end I exclaimed "I wish we could clone you!"

Rep. Marsha Blackburn

Our team's final meeting was in rep Marsha Blackburn's (TN) office. The staff person there seemed concerned about potential cost, so we explained how the cost was minimal - just the reformatting of captions from regular TV, for the Internet. I brought up the example of PBS, which Caption Action 2 blogged about not long ago. We also discussed Hulu's voluntary but unfortunately limited, captioning. (Limited because Hulu can not always get the captions from the broadcasters.) As we were leaving, the staff person was saying he would review HR 3101. I told him that compared to the 1200+ page health care bill, HR 3101 was only 44 pages. He looked pretty glad to hear that!

Rep. Fred Upton

As the meeting with Blackburn's office started and ended early, I suggested a last stop at rep. Fred Upton's (MI) office. Upton had earlier given some indications of possibly being supportive. A staff person there was willing to talk with us for a bit. Shane did most if not all the talking.

Other Team Visits

The other NAD Board member teams visited rep. Joe Barton's (TX) office, rep Anna Eshoo, rep Christopher Murphy (CT) , rep John Shadegg (AZ), rep GK Butterfield (NC), rep Lee Terry (NE), rep John Shimkus (IL), rep Steve Buyer (IN), Peter Welch (VT), and of course rep Rick Boucher (VA). Plus there was another meeting with office of rep Jay Inslee (WA), who is supportive of deaf and hard of hearing people.

At all the meetings, I mentioned Caption Action 2 as an example of how many people want to see this bill pass. The staff seemed impressed when I told them how many members we have now (over 13,500) and how it is growing now by an average of one new member an hour! I think I saw a few eyes widen. They were clearly beginning to see just how important HR 3101 is to the deaf and hard of hearing community. (At each meeting, we also brought up how others also benefit - blind people, autistic people, people learning English as a second language, and children learning to read).

Last Visits

After the NAD Board headed out for a board meeting, I stayed on Capitol Hill for a little while longer. A nice staff person printed out the House Energy and Commerce membership list for me, and I used a wall directory to quickly locate additional members in the Cannon house building. Then I visited those members' offices to drop off postcards about HR 3101.

Most offices were just hello and drop off info, but in the office of rep. Zack Space I met the staff person who had corresponded with her earlier. She mentioned the FCC National Broadband Plan, implying HR 3101 might not be needed. I reminded her that although Chapter 9 of the Broadband Plan is largely based on HR 3101, the FCC does not have any real authority over the Internet! That is why we need HR 3101. Plus, she remembered the earlier Caption Action 2 blog post about Space from December 2009! She told me that after that blog post had appeared, her office had gotten several emails! Caption Action 2 readers ARE having an impact. And, she told me that she uses Google to find blogs that post about her boss. If she is doing that, that means other Hill offices are probably doing the same thing! So if you blog about HR 3101, be sure to mention your own representative's name - it will get noticed by his or her office thanks to Google!

Join Caption Action 2!

Help ensure that the new Facebook Twilight Series has captions, and help get Starz to caption its YouTube channel! Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

Caption Action 2: April 2010 Newsletter

This is the Caption Action 2 newsletter for April 2010 - and this is perhaps the most important newsletter we will ever send out. Why is it so important? It is important because we are fast approaching our make or break time for the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009. We must get this bill passed within the NEXT FEW MONTHS, or we will have to wait until the next Congress in 2011. This is an election year for Congress, and after the summer the Representatives will be very focused on keeping their jobs and it will be very very difficult to get their attention about a bill like ours.

NEWEST COSPONSORS

March was a rather productive month for getting cosponsors - we now have 44!

California
Representative Schiff, Adam

Florida:
Representative Hastings, Alcee

Illinois
Representative Schakowsky, Janice (Schakowsky's return as a cosponsor is very important, because she is on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the parent committee for the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet which has our bill)

New York
Representative Engel, Eliot (see a captioned vlog by Sean Gerlis about how he got Engel to sign on! http://tinyurl.com/ya4dlxm)
Representative Maffei, Daniel

Ohio
Representative Kilroy, Mary Jo

The current score is 44 Democrats, and ZERO Republicans. If your Representative is a Republican, you must do all you can to get him or her to sign on to HR 3101! Without any Republican support, our bill has little chance to pass!

HR 3101 VIRTUAL LEGISLATIVE DAY!

Put April 15 on your calendar, be it an old-fashioned paper calendar or an Outlook calendar! On that day, deaf and hard of hearing people nationwide will be calling and emailing their Representatives to ask for support for HR 3101. The National Association of the Deaf, the organizer of HR 3101 Virtual Legislative Day, has a captioned and signed video blog about this, featuring Leah Katz-Hernandez, who has also testified at Federal Communications Commission hearings on broadband access for people with disabilities. Watch Leah at http://bit.ly/dwAdb4!

Plus, on Facebook, sign up to join the April 15 Legislative Day at http://bit.ly/cEywVO! Our Representatives need to hear from A LOT of us AT ONCE in order to get the message that this is truly a very important bill - we need it to guarantee ourselves and our deaf, hard of hearing, and blind children an accessible future on the Internet! Tell your friends, and family about April 15! Spread the word to the blind and visually impaired community, too!

A NAD membership is not required to take part in the Virtual Legislative Day. All that's needed is to know your representative's name and phone number. Then call, email, or fax them.

Kids can call their Representatives, too! Especially teenagers - the future voters.

You can help spread the word on Facebook by posting something like this in your status:

Join HR 3101 Legislative Day on April 15! See blog at http://bit.ly/dwAdb4 and sign up at http://bit.ly/cEywVO!

What else can you do on April 15? You can contact your local newspaper to tell them about HR 3101! Media coverage is the only way to get the word out to deaf and hard of hearing, and blind, people who are not aware of HR 3101.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION SUPPORT FOR HR 3101!

One of the most exciting things that happened for the deaf and hard of hearing and blind community in March was that the FCC released the National Broadband Plan! Chapter 9 of the Plan addresses access for people with disabilities, and it is largely based on HR 3101. You can download the Chapter at http://tinyurl.com/yh86hn3 in Adobe PDF. Page four is very important because it states: "Congress, the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) should consider modernizing accessibility laws, rules and related subsidy programs."

Also important is page 5, which states: "Internet-based video programming does not have captions or video descriptions offering an account of what is on the screen."

But that is not all! Both the FCC Chairman and Commissioner have openly stated support for HR 3101 in public statements. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski mentioned HR 3101 in his statement at a March 10 National Broadband Plan and Accessibility for People with Disabilities event. You can read Genachowski's statement at http://tinyurl.com/yfy6ep9, and here is a direct quote:

"Third, the plan will recommend that the FCC, Congress, and the Justice Department update our accessibility laws and policies - and ensure that they are enforced. I believe that legislation introduced by Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) - the "21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act" (H.R. 3101) - should be a starting point for legislative discussions to achieve many of these updates."

Next, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps mentioned HR 3101 at a March 9 America's Digital Inclusion Summit. You can read that statement at http://tinyurl.com/yb2p6vr, and here is a direct quote from his introduction of Representative Edward Markey,the sponsor of our bill:

"In the current Congress, he has introduced the "Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act" (HR 3101) to help ensure that as technology changes, our nation's commitment to ensuring access for all keeps pace."

BLOG HIGHLIGHTS

Before Janice Schakowsky signed back on to HR 3101, Caption Action 2 had blogged about both her and Lois Capps, who still has not returned as a cosponsor. In the blog post Capps and Schakowsky, Come Back Already!! CA 2 shared a telephone relay conversation with Capps' office: http://tinyurl.com/yatx4wh.

Unfortunately, during March, we learned reasons why two representatives would not sign on: Zach Wamp (http://tinyurl.com/yzu7r9n) and Howard Coble (http://tinyurl.com/ycsdxmf).

As the month drew to a close, we learned that some representatives were raising objections about the potential cost of captioning on the Internet. So we turned to a very reliable source for answers: http://tinyurl.com/y9nq5ep.

We also made improvements to the usability of one of our most important spreadsheets - the Us Too excel spreadsheet! This spreadsheet shows which of three bills related to deafness and hearing loss Congress representatives are supporting. We added colors: Red for HR 1646, Blue for HR 3024, and Green for HR 3101. Now it is easier to see at a glance if your reprsentative already supports other bills but does not support HR 3101. A phone number column has also been added to further improve usability. Download this crucial tool at http://tinyurl.com/yktpvbk

MEDIA COVERAGE

Just before the April newsletter "went to press," the Yuma Sun published an article about HR 3101: http://tinyurl.com/yzwaxgq This article mentions both Caption Action 2, and Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA is a COAT affiliate).

COAT UPDATE

This newsletter would not be complete without the usual COAT update! COAT now has around 300 affiliates (see http://www.coataccess.org/node/2), including a growing number of captioning service providers! The only states that do not have COAT affiliates yet are Idaho and Wyoming!

In March, the National Organization on Disability stated its support for COAT and HR 3101 in a statement, which you can read at http://www.coataccess.org/node/6722.

Caption Action 2 noticed that the National Federation of the Blind was not a COAT member, and contacted NFB. NFB informed Caption Action 2 that while NFB does not wish to become a COAT member at this time, the NFB does endorse HR 3101.

COMPLETE COSPONSOR LIST

Arizona:
Representative Grijalva, Raul

California:
Representative Berman, Howard
Representative Filner, Bob
Representative Lee, Barbara
Representative Napolitano, Grace
Representative Sanchez, Linda
Representative Schiff, Adam
Representative Stark, Fortney Pete

District of Columbia:
Representative Norton, Eleanor Holmes

Florida:
Representative Hastings, Alcee

Georgia:
Representative Lewis, John

Guam:
Representative Bordallo, Madeline

Illinois:
Representative Schakowsky, Janice

Indiana:
Representative Carson, Andre

Kansas:
Representative Moore, Dennis

Kentucky:
Representative Chandler, Ben

Maine:
Reprsentatative Pingree, Chellie

Maryland:
Representative Van Hollen, Chris

Massachusetts:
Representative Capuano, Michael
Representative McGovern, Jim
Representative Neal, Richard
Representative Olver, John
Representative Tierney, John

Minnesota:
Representative McCollum, Betty
Representative Peterson, Collin

Missouri:
Representative Cleaver, Emmanuel

New Jersey
Representative Payne, Donald
Representative Rothman, Stephen

New York:
Representative Engel, Eliot
Representative Hinchey, Maurice
Representative Israel, Steve
Representative Maffei, Daniel
Representative Maloney, Carolyn
Representative Slaughter, Louise
Representative Towns, Edolphus

Ohio:
Representative Kilroy, Mary Jo
Representative Ryan, Tim

Oregon:
Representative Blumenauer, Earl

Pennsylvania:
Representative Kanjorski, Paul

Tennessee:
Representative Davis, Lincoln

Texas:
Representative Doggett, Lloyd

Virginia:
Representative Moran, Jim

Join Caption Action 2!

Help ensure that the new Facebook Twilight Series has captions, and help get Starz to caption its YouTube channel! Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

Not Receiving CA2 Bulletins On Facebook? Here's a Fix

Have you received the April bulletin in the Caption Action 2 Facebook Cause group? If not, follow these instructions. If so, pass it on to someone who has not but is on the group.

Facebook's Causes Support has said that members need to make their emails available to them.

Here are two ways to check - first click on Account in the blue Facebook bar on the right.

Under Account settings;
- under the Settings tab, in Email, do you have a valid email address listed?
- under the Notifications tab, in Other Applications, is Causes checked?

Back to Account in the blue bar, then Application Settings;
- In Causes, click on Edit Permissions. On the Additional Permissions tab, is "Send Me Emails" checked?

Update: Jamie Berke found another way...
- Uncheck "Send Me emails,"
- Then click OK. Reopen Edit Settings. "Send Me Emails" has disappeared.
- Close the Edit Settings box
- Go into Causes. There will be a blue box saying "Give your email address to Causes?"
- Click "Yes, share my email." The blue box will disappear.
- Go back to Account in the blue Facebook bar on the upper right corner of the screen, then Application Settings.
- Click on Edit Settings next to Causes.

In the Additional Permissions tab, "Send Me Emails" has now become "Access My email address."

Do NOT uncheck it. The blue "Give your email address to Causes?" box will return.

Pass this on to everyone who has not received their Cause bulletins. This will make sure that they will be received.

Join Caption Action 2!

Help ensure that the new Facebook Twilight Series has captions, and help get Starz to caption its YouTube channel! Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

HR 3101 - No Protection From YouTube Gap

Caption Action 2 is posting this blog to correct a mistake. We thought that HR 3101 would have protected the deaf and hard of hearing community from situations like what is happening now with the iPad and YouTube. Sadly, the answer is, NO, HR 3101 would not have protected us!

Jamie contacted Rosaline Crawford, the director of the National Association of the Deaf's law and advocacy center to get clarification on how HR 3101 would have applied in this situation. Rosaline's response was that "H.R. 3101 was not intended to fill the gap that has appeared between YouTube videos and the iPad." However, there is the hope that if HR 3101 passes, the fact captions would be required for TV on the Internet would "encourage" the availability of captions on other video formats and platforms.

So, we were wrong. HR 3101 would not have guaranteed that we would not be left out from the start when products like the iPad were launched. For that kind of protection we would need ANOTHER law.

It is known that HTML 5 is still being worked on by the W3C as seen by a comment in the previous post. It is not known when it will be finalized.

Accessibility/HTML5 captions v2

Fortunately, HTML 5 uses easily-found and used subtitling utilities like Subtitle Workshop, SubStation Alpha, and Aegisub.

Join Caption Action 2!

Help ensure that the new Facebook Twilight Series has captions, and help get Starz to caption its YouTube channel! Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2! 

iPad Fail? Say It Ain't So!

Yes, you heard right... Something's missing on Apple's iPad. Amy Cohen Efron put out a vlog, iPad #fail!, demoing this problem.



What's the problem?

It doesn't show YouTube/Google captions/subtitles.

Is it a software glitch or an incompatibility?

Update: As it turns out, the iPad uses HTML 5 and not Flash, which is why closed captions don't show up. Previously, Caption Action 2 blogged about the lack of captioning support in HTML 5, HTML 5 Has No Captioning Provisions?. In addition, these articles further verifies that the iPad uses HTML 5.

Brightcove readies its video platform for the iPad, announces HTML5 support

IPad Can’t Play Flash Video, but It May Not Matter

The First Apple iPad-ready Websites Makes HTML5 Look Boring

You Too Can Experience HTML5 on YouTube

Join Caption Action 2!

Help ensure that the new Facebook Twilight Series has captions, and help get Starz to caption its YouTube channel! Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!

Cartoon - Rick Boucher, Move HR 3101 Already!

Tamara Davidson has done another cartoon for Caption Action 2. This time the cartoon is about Rick Boucher, the chair of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, which has HR 3101! Davidson has put on Boucher's desk three documents representing the three bills that benefit deaf and hard of hearing (HR 1646, HR 3024, and HR 3101) - with HR 3101 set aside. This represents the fact Boucher supports HR 1646 and HR 3024, but not HR 3101!

This is the second cartoon by Davidson for Caption Action 2. (Her first one.) She is also the creator of the Boucher and Kerry buttons that had to be temporarily removed to make room for the April 15 Virtual Legislative Day.

Join Caption Action 2!

Help ensure that the new Facebook Twilight Series has captions, and help get Starz to caption its YouTube channel! Join Caption Action 2 on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/groups/captionaction2!