Coalition Fights for Accessible Technology
Laws intended to make technology more accessible to individuals with disabilities like cerebral palsy, hearing problems and paralysis, for example, are rapidly being outdated because of the rate at which technological advances are made. To make sure legislative and regulatory safeguards keep pace, a coalition of more than 230 organizations was founded.
COAT is the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology and it has two primary areas of advocacy – communication and video programming access. Specific issues the group is concerned with include:
- Ensuring 911 calls can be made with Internet and video communications
- Extending telephone relay service (TRS) obligations to Internet-based providers
- Making sure Internet-based communications products and services are accessible
- Extending closed-captioning regulations to Internet-based video programming
- Requiring accessibility features on video programming devices
Accessible technology is important in our increasingly Internet-driven and technological world. If you would like to learn more about current laws on accessible technology and what’s being done to change these, visit the COAT website.
