Caption Action 2 September Newsletter

Welcome to the September 2009 Caption Action 2 newsletter! Caption Action 2 is the Facebook cause working to help get HR 3101, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009, passed in Congress.

As of the date of this newsletter, we have only six cosponsors of HR 3101, the bill that was introduced by Representative Ed Markey (MA). We need MANY more!!! There are over 400 Representatives in Congress, and to date only six are cosponsors of HR 3101.

Who are these six cosponsors? The six cosponsors of HR 3101 to date are:

Israel, Steve (NY)
Lee, Barbara (CA)
Ryan, Tim (OH)
Sanchez, Linda (CA)
Stark, Fortney Pete (CA)
Van Hollen, Chris (MD)

Why Are Cosponsors So Important?

Cosponsors are important because they are the key to getting a bill to pass. Last year, the previous version of the bill did not have enough cosponsors. It had only fifteen cosponsors. So far our bill has only six cosponsors - we need your help to get more cosponsors!

September is an Important Month

We at Caption Action 2 think September could be a very important month for HR 3101. Why do we think it could be important? We looked at the history of the previous bill. We found that Congressmen and Congresswomen signed on as cosponsors in only three months: June, July, and September. After September there were no more new cosponsors. That bill then died.

How Can You Help Get More Cosponsors?

The best way you can help get more cosponsors for HR 3101 is by picking up the phone and calling your Representative's office. Go to http://www.house.gov and select your representative from the drop-down list at the top of the page. This will take you to your representative's website, where you can find the phone number to call.

The next best way you can help get more cosponsors for HR 3101 is by sending an email to your representative. There are two ways to do this. One way is by going to http://www.house.gov and using "Write your representative" in the upper left corner. Another way is by going directly to https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml.

If you are on Facebook or Twitter, you can also leave a message for your representative on Facebook or tweet your Representative! In August, Caption Action 2 published two useful lists on the Caption Action 2 blog:

Facebook list: Wall Your Representative On Facebook

Twitter list: Tweet Your Representative About HR3101

There are more than a hundred Representatives on Facebook and Twitter. Easy way to let your Representative know you want him or her to support HR 3101!

If you have a blog, write about HR 3101 and Caption Action 2. If you make vlogs, post a vlog (captioned if possible) about HR 3101. The more of us who "talk" online about HR 3101, the more people who will learn about it and become supporters!

Two known vlogs have already been posted:

Seek Geo has a vlog titled We Need Captions Online! (he mentions how there are fewer written articles online and more news videos, without captions)
Joe Rainmound has a vlog titled Internet Captioning and HR 3101 (he discusses Apple's iTunes University and the lack of captions)

Help Us Grow Bigger

As of the date of this newsletter, Caption Action 2 has a little over 9,000 members. We would like to get it to 10,000 by the time Congress is back at work after Labor Day! Why 10,000? That is a number that should make at least some impression on Congress.

You can help us make it to 10,000 by inviting your friends to join the Caption Action 2 cause. Send your friends the Caption Action 2 url: http://www.causes.com/captionaction2 by email. If you use the Facebook cause "invite" feature, invite only a few people at a time because there is a problem with the Facebook cause "invite" feature.

Download and print the regularly updated Caption Action 2 flyer from the Caption Action 2 blog (You can also save it and email it to people as an attachment):

http://www.furnation.com/boogi/captionaction2.jpg (Graphic)
http://www.furnation.com/boogi/captionaction2.pdf (PDF)

Share this flyer anywhere you think people might be interested in supporting HR 3101: interpreting agencies, audiologists' offices, schools and programs for the deaf, et cetera.

Caption Action 2 Blog Roundup

Congress was not in session in August, but Caption Action 2 kept blogging! These were the highlights for August:

• Posted a photograph of Jamie Berke with Representative John Conyers, Jr.
• Posted a letter by Jamie's mother to her own Representative
• Posted the "Dear Colleague" letter that was sent by Representative Ed Markey to his fellow Congressmen and Congresswomen
• Posted information about the other benefits of HR 3101 (there's more to it than just captions on the Internet)
• Posted about the educational benefits of captions

Join Caption Action 2 on Capitol Hill

As we said above, there are over 400 Representatives on Capitol Hill. Caption Action 2 would like to organize a group of people from the Washington, DC metro area to go to Capitol Hill in mid-September and visit Representatives' offices. If you would like to join this group, email Robert Goodwin at rsg0910@yahoo.com or Jamie Berke at deafness.guide@about.com.

Media Coverage of HR 3101

To increase the chances of HR 3101 passing Congress, we need mainstream media coverage! What is mainstream media? It is a regular newspaper like USA Today. Caption Action 2 has been working on contacting newspapers and reporters. So far, none have written about HR 3101, but a couple have expressed interest. Two reporters have interviewed the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) about HR 3101.

You can help by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. An editor that Caption Action 2 talked with told Caption Action 2 that letters to the editor can help. Please let us know if your local newspaper publishes your letter to the editor!

Conclusion

The deaf and hard of hearing community is small. But with our friends, family, and teachers added we become big! In numbers, there is strength! In fact, much of Caption Action 2's growth is coming from people who are not deaf but who care about an accessible future for the deaf and hard of hearing on the Internet. Especially deaf and hard of hearing children.

Caption Action 2 August 2009 Newsletter

It has come to our attention that due to a problem with Facebook Causes email servers, many people did not get the August 2009 Caption Action 2 newsletter. So, we are reprinting it here for the benefit of our Facebook members who did not get it, and also for the benefit of those who are not yet members or not on Facebook:

Caption Action 2 Newsletter: August 2009

Caption Action 2 (http://www.causes.com/captionaction2) is just a little over a month old, and so much has already happened. Where to start?

FAST GROWTH

Let's start with the cause's growth. Caption Action 2 was started at 3:00 am on June 25, originally just to promote captioning on the Internet. Then on June 26, HR 3101, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 was introduced by Representative Ed Markey (MA). Initially, there were only a few members - fewer than 5 people. Today? Thanks to people who want to see the bill pass continuing to spread the word, Caption Action 2 has grown to over 6,500 and is still growing daily! Keep inviting friends to join!

BLOGGING

We have been busy blogging about the bill on our blog, http://captionaction2.blogspot.com. In just one month, we have covered a wide variety of topics related to the bill and internet captioning:

* A cable channel's attitude about captioning online
* Just how much content online is not captioned
* Why a similar version of HR 3101 failed last year
* Cosponsoring - getting enough Cosponsors is KEY to getting this bill passed
* Simple English explanation of the captioning parts of the bill

and so much more!

COUNTING DOWN

On the blog, we have added a countdown counter in the upper right corner to make it very clear that we have limited time to get this bill passed. The countdown number on the blog is not an accurate reflection of how much time we really have, because it does not take into consideration Congressional breaks, weekends, or holidays. So we actually have less time than whatever the current number is!

DAILY UPDATE

On the Facebook cause, we have added a "Daily Update" about the number and also post breaking news (such as when we get a new cosponsor). Breaking news is also reported on the blog.

DOWNLOADABLE FLYERS

From the blog's blogroll, you can also download a PDF or a JPG of the Caption Action 2 page, showing the numbers. This PDF or JPG can be printed and posted anywhere you want to spread the word about HR 3101 and Caption Action 2 - e.g., a school program for the deaf, your audiologist's office, at the interpreting office, and so on. You can also make your own poster by taking a screen shot of the Caption Action 2 page.

RECRUITERS

Many people are helping to recruit members for Caption Action 2! A top 5 list shows that the top person has recruited 50 people. Whenever someone new breaks into the top 5 list, Caption Action 2 sends a thank-you note.

BENEFICIARY NAMED

In late July, we made a nonprofit organization, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the beneficiary for Caption Action 2. HR 3101 is also known as the "COAT bill" because it was spearheaded by the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT, http://www.coataccess.org). However, COAT is not a nonprofit organization, so donations to COAT must go through AAPD, as explained at http://www.coataccess.org/donate_now. When you donate electronically to AAPD through Caption Action 2, AAPD receives a document that shows how much was donated by a particular cause.

You may wonder why any fundraising is necessary at all. It is necessary because getting this bill passed will require the help of lobbyists and there will be other associated costs. For example, suppose Jenifer Simpson, the primary COAT lobbyist, needs to fly from Washington, DC to Los Angeles, California to meet with a key media organization? Your donations can help cover those costs. If we run into serious opposition to the bill, funds may be needed to fight opposition.

It is easy to donate online via Caption Action 2. Just select "Donate" in the link list below the CC picture. Then follow the simple instructions. The minimum is only $10 so even people with limited funds can help.

GETTING MORE COSPONSORS

When we started, the bill had no cosponsors. Then the bill got two cosponsors early in July (Representatives Linda Sanchez (CA) and Barbara Lee (CA)). More recently, the number of cosponsors increased to four when Representatives Steve Israel (NY) and Fortney Pete Stark (CA) both signed on. Unfortunately, that is still far from enough! One reason a similar bill died last year was not enough cosponsors. Out of over 400 Representatives in Congress, the previous version of the bill had only 15 cosponsors. It is critical to keep writing your Representatives to request that they cosponsor the bill, and to your Senators, to request introduction of a similar bill in the Senate. To make it easy for everyone to write, the Caption Action 2 blog's blogroll has "Write your Representative" and "Write your Senator" links.

Congress is not in session for the month of August and does not return until after September 7. Representatives will be back in their home states, where they have offices. This may give you a chance to lobby your own Representative in person. If you do not know where your Representative's office is, check your Representative's website which will be lastname.house.gov. For example, on Representative Markey's website, markey.house.gov, the address for his office in Massachusetts is 5 High Street, Suite 101, Medford, MA.

REACHING OUT BEYOND DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING

While word is spreading more within the deaf and hard of hearing community (which includes interpreters, teachers of the deaf, audiologists and speech language pathologists, etc.) it has yet to spread much beyond the deaf and hard of hearing community. There has been no mention yet of HR 3101 in any of the mainstream media such as The Washington Post.

We must get the support of people beyond the deaf and hard of hearing community if this bill is going to have a real chance. For instance, we need the support of people such as school teachers of hearing children because children learning to read benefit from captions. Likewise, we need the support of the English as a Second Language community because captions help people learning English as a second language.

IT IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY

If you joined this group, it means you really want this bill to pass. So do we! It is not going to be easy though. It is hard work getting Representatives to cosponsor the bill. There also may be opposition to the bill from certain industries.

Getting this bill passed is essential to putting an end to the never-ending cycle of having to play catch-up and Congress having to legislate access. When not enough people bought television decoders and not enough broadcasters were captioning, Congress stepped in with the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990. That was the bill that required caption decoding circuitry in all televisions with screens 13 inches or larger. It was supposed to generate a big increase in captioning on television.

When that did not happen, Congress had to step in AGAIN, with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. That bill made captioning on television mandatory, with a schedule of increases that broadcasters had to follow. But the Telecommunications Act of 1996 did not anticipate the growth of the Internet, and so that law did not apply to the Internet.

So once again, we are behind as television moves to the web, and having to turn to Congress for help AGAIN to make sure we are not left behind in this fast-changing world. If we don't get this bill passed, the deaf and hard of hearing, and blind children growing up today will not have equal access to the Internet, which is going to play a huge role in their lives.

LOBBYING ON CAPITOL HILL

Lobbying in person on Capitol Hill can be effective. Usually you just meet the staff workers, but you can also get lucky and meet a Representative in person. There are four House buildings on Capitol Hill and as we said, over 400 Representatives. If you live in the Metro Washington, DC area, Caption Action 2 would like to organize a group to go to Capitol Hill in September. The group would visit Representatives' offices and ask for support for HR 3101. If you would like to join this group, email either Jamie Berke or Robert Goodwin on Facebook. The more people we can get, the more Representatives we can lobby!

Think positive...we CAN get this bill passed! We do need everyone's help.