I recently attended a field hearing held by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the topic of “Broadband Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities” on Friday November 6, 2009, held at Gallaudet University in Washington DC. This field hearing was part of the FCC’s effort to gather information from subject matter experts and consumers as they develop a National Broadband Plan to be sent to the US Congress by February 17, 2010. It was initiated by FCC Commissioner Copps who has always been a staunch supporter of disability issues. (View Copps photo from event here)

I was delighted to hear Commissioner Copps, who spearheaded this field hearing on disability, state "Access denied is opportunity denied..."  Similar stirring statements were made by FCC Commissioners Clyburn and McDowell.

My understanding is that this National Broadband Plan will include many elements of broadband connectivity and will likely address availability in regard to geographic, age, gender, socio-economic, racial, and age issues.  For  me, of course, it’s important that people with disabilities are included.

I firmly believe this national plan must also include a principle of inclusion that would speak directly to the accessibility and usability of broadband for people with disabilities. The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) has sent this concept over to the FCC into the docket where we discuss what we mean by such a non-discrimination principle.

At the November 6 hearing, I was delighted to see so many representatives from the Coalition of Organizations for Accessibility Technology (COAT), speaking on the two FCC panels. I co-founded COAT in 2007 and I co-chair this group, which has grown exponentially since founding; from five groups to now well over 260 in November. In fact, disability and related groups contact us all the time to join!  And it’s because our broadband agenda is critical!

Speaking for leading COAT affiliate National Association of the Deaf (NAD) was academy award-winning deaf actress Marlee Matlin. She talked about experiencing discrimination as a deaf person and emphasized the need for captioning on the Internet. She rocked the crowd when she said: "Although I may be deaf, silence is the last thing the world will ever hear from me!"  

Another COAT leader, Mark Richert of American Foundation of the Blind emphasized the importance of accessibility of applications on the internet and how assistive technology often leaves behind the person with a disability and shifts the cost burden to individuals who often can ill-afford expensive adaptive technologies. Jay Wyant, President of Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (photo from event of Jay Wyant here)  and Elizabeth Spiers of the American Association of Deaf-Blind – both of which are very active COAT affiliates -- spoke on the pressing need to make sure communication technologies are accessible, usable and affordable or people with disabilities so we don’t get left behind. Likewise, Karen Peltz Strauss of Communication Services for the Deaf spoke on how the national broadband plan must address these needs (photo from event of Strauss here)

Other speakers included Dale Hatfield, former Head of FCC's Office of Engineering & Technology who is an expert on technology accessibility for people with disabilities and Ari Ne'eman of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) who spoke on the importance of affordability for people with disabilities and their families. ASAN became the latest disability group to join COAT just this week!

Like my colleagues who spoke at the hearing, I would like to point out the glass is half full! People with disabilities do already benefit from broadband internet applications in a number of ways, such as:

·      Software that allows a blind person to “hear” what’s written in text on a computer monitor;

·      Video relay services that allow a deaf or hard of hearing person to use sign language to converse with a person who does not use sign language;

·      Speedy access to broadband Internet where there can be telework options for people with mobility or health issues.

In addition, websites with video streaming can include closed captioning for those with hearing and other disabilities. Or those of us who sneak view videos while at work in our cubicles!  Conversely, a child who needs reading support might use a software program that reads text aloud and describes other visual contents of a computer screen aloud in a synthetic voice output.  Added to that, a standard keyboard can be replaced with an input device which contains Braille-enabled keys to search the internet for a newspaper article from which audible output is produced. These, and other accessibility solutions, including the need for great technical and customer services supports, are crucial if only to close the gap between broadband adoption by people with disabilities and those who do not have disabilities.

AAPD found surveys of people with disabilities in the U.S. that say we

 “have only half the rate of internet access of people without a disability, and, despite regular increases over time, people with disabilities have not caught up, and still face a significant digital divide simply in terms of having the tools to make use of the incredible resources of the Internet.”

A basic determinant in adoption of broadband is, not surprisingly, the speed of access to websites making the types of applications described above possible.   The “always-on” aspect of broadband makes the issue of connecting to the internet much less challenging for many people with disabilities.

AAPD has promoted some threshold policy suggestions which we hope the FCC will consider in the development of a National Broadband Policy.  These include:

• Initiatives for business incentives to expand high speed Internet that should include provisions to ensure not only affordability, but also accessibility and usability as a principle, for people with disabilities.
• Measures undertaken to increase employment through deploying more high speed Internet availability should include programming that addresses the specific employment needs of people with disabilities.
• Research on high speed Internet access should look at the economic benefits of assimilating marginalized segments of society, such as people with disabilities, as a means of integration.

The American Association of People with Disabilities is a member of Broadband for America because we believe in its overall goal of making broadband available to every person in every home and every business in America.  I feel sure many people with disabilities and their families will benefit as America broadbands up!

Jenifer Simpson is the Senior Director, Telecommunications and Technology Policy, for the American Association of People With Disabilities (AAPD), a national, independent, cross-disability membership and advocacy organization located in Washington, D.C.