[tabi] Mayday!--Stop Tech Lobbyists from Scuttling Accessible TV;We'll Help You Respond!
- From: "Sila Miller" <silam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <fcb-l@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 19:24:07 -0400
AFB DirectConnect Letterhead
Mayday! Mayday!
Tech Industry Lobbyists Threatening Future of Accessible Television!
With One Email, Tell Them and the FCC What You Think!
!!!"This is not a test; this is an actual emergency"!!!
For further information, contact:
Mark Richert, Esq.
Director, Public Policy, AFB
(202) 469-6833
MRichert@xxxxxxx
Dear Advocate:
When we all celebrated the enactment of the historic Twenty-First Century
Communications
and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) almost three years ago, we were promised by
our
bipartisan champions on Capitol Hill, by the U.S. Congress, and the President of
the United States, that one day, things would be significantly different. We
were
promised that the experience of people with vision loss in terms of our/their
independence
and full participation in American life through the full and fair use of today's
most ubiquitous technologies would be forever changed.
We were thrilled to know that there would be much more video description
available
on TV, and indeed today there is. We were gratified to know that the
manufacturers
and service providers of some of the most commonly used communications
technologies,
such as electronic messaging and mobile phone web browsing, would no longer be
able
to ignore the needs of people who are blind or visually impaired. And we were
hopeful
that emergency alerts would finally be meaningful for our community, and it
looks
like they will be.
But we were also promised, and the new law requires, that TVs and TV-like
equipment
would need to be fully accessible to us. Now, in what is essentially the
proverbial
eleventh hour in the series of federal regulatory proceedings implementing the
CVAA,
the seemingly shameless consumer electronics lobby is demanding, with implied
threats
to go to court if they don't get their way, to strip the CVAA of its TV
accessibility
obligations and to violate the vision of a more accessible technology society
that
the CVAA represents.
So what do our tech lobbyist "friends" want?
Well, to answer this question, you need to know just a little bit about how the
CVAA
works. the CVAA says that your cable or satellite provider needs to make the
equipment,
the settop boxes and other such devices they give you to get their programming,
accessible
to you upon your request. While this is a good thing in comparison to how things
have been, it is a compromise, and one that advocates reached with cable and
similar
providers as a condition for their willingness to allow the CVAA to become law.
So,
with regard to cable and satellite providers, they don't necessarily need to
make
all, or even most, of their equipment accessible as a matter of course; they
merely
have to accommodate your request for equipment you can use by providing you with
something, even if it is not state-of-the-art.
In contrast, the CVAA requires that TVs and TV-like equipment, essentially
anything
that receives or plays back video programming of any kind, a ton of very cool
technology
out there, must be accessible by default; TVs and TV-like equipment will only be
allowed to be inaccessible in a given instance if, and only if, fairly strict
legal
exceptions apply. This means that, unlike the cable and satellite sector which
may
regularly traffic in inaccessible equipment so long as they can ultimately give
us
something we can use upon our request, makers of TVs and TV-like equipment are
charged
with the clear responsibility to fundamentally change their behavior in a way
that
would exponentially increase the commercial retail availability of the
accessible
and most popular video-related consumer electronics on the market.
Ok, but what are those lobbyists up to?
With forked-tongued craftiness, the consumer electronics lobby is, even as we
speak,
assuring the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of industry's commitment to
the needs of people with disabilities while, without blushing, propounding some
of
the most contorted legal reasoning that we have seen yet. They are using the
full
weight of their over-indulged influence to pressure the FCC into applying the
inferior,
more limited cable and satellite requirements to TVs and TV-like equipment.
If these "friends" of ours in the tech lobby get their way, rather than being
able
to shop for the digital TV or other video player you want and to have a robust
array
of choices just like everyone else, you will be forced to beg for an accessible
product
directly from the manufacturer. Rather than being able to enjoy the product you
want
to buy, you may even be expected to live with an inferior model, if you can get
an
accessible inferior model at all. Why are the tech lobbyists proposing this
manifestly
unfair arrangement? quite simply, their scheme would let their client companies
off
the hook for doing the right thing but leave consumers with little recourse.
What can you do?
Right now, the FCC is accepting comments from the public about how to implement
the
CVAA's TV and cable and satellite equipment requirements. AFB will help you
voice
your concern if you will take just a moment or two and write your thoughts in an
email to us; AFB will file your comments for you. No, AFB's name will not be on
your
comments; your comments will be your own. We are simply offering to make the
process
as easy for you as possible because this issue is so uniquely critical.
The FCC's electronic comment filing system is not the easiest system to use, and
any comments filed need to include certain technical legal references. Send an
email
to:
TV@xxxxxxx
We will be glad to add the technical pro forma details for you and to submit
your
comments on your behalf for the official record.
So what exactly do you need to do?
All you need to do to help get things back on the right track is the following:
1: Write an email of whatever length you wish stating in polite but pointed
fashion
that begging for an accessible TV or similar equipment directly from a
manufacturer
is categorically unacceptable to you. Tell the FCC that it was the obvious
intention
of Congress, and it is the expectation of people who are blind or visually
impaired
across America, that accessible TVs and TV-like equipment will be readily and
regularly
available at commercial retail stores. Remind the FCC that the so-called "upon
request"
compromise that we reached with the cable and satellite industries neither
involved
the consumer electronics lobby at the time nor applies to their client companies
now. Tell the FCC that people with vision loss will not stand for the consumer
electronics
lobby's proposed gutting of one of the most popular and important parts of the
CVAA.
Tell the FCC your own story of frustrations trying to simply adjust the volume
or
channels on your equipment, to simply play a show or movie, to find and activate
your TV's video description controls, and to otherwise make full use of your TV
or
TV-like equipment.
2: At the conclusion of the text of your email, be absolutely certain to type
your
first and last name, followed by your regular mailing address. When we properly
format
and file your comments, the FCC needs to know that you are a real person, and
your
comments must be accompanied by more than your email address; they must include
a
regular identifying mailing address. It is up to you to decide which of the
addresses
that you might be associated with you want to use, a home, work, or some other
appropriate
address. So long as your email includes both your full name and a real related
address,
your comments will be accepted as part of the official record. Don't worry about
anything else; we will be sure to fill out the rest of the required information,
such as the docket number for this proceeding and similar formalities.
3: Between now and Monday, August 5, send your email to:
TV@xxxxxxx
and simply begin the text of your email with the greeting, "To whom it may
concern."
A simple "Sincerely" or "Respectfully" at the conclusion of your message and
before
your full name and address will be fine.
Once we receive your email, we will properly format it and submit it to the FCC.
The deadline for all comments is Wednesday, August 7. However, given that we
hope
and expect that we will receive a considerable number of comments, please send
us
your email comments no later than Monday, August 5 or as soon as you possibly
can.
Thank you in advance for your advocacy, keep hope alive, and please share this
call
to action widely.
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