The Justice Department will publish four new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) proposals addressing website accessibility, captioning and video description in movie theaters, accessible equipment and furniture, and 9-1-1 emergency call centers accessibility. The Advance Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) for public comment will be published in the Federal Register on July 26, 2010. The new regulation proposals are needed to keep up with “...technological advances that were unimaginable 20 years ago,” according to Attorney General Eric Holder.
Visit http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/July/10-crt-850.html for the entire press release.
2 comments:
I am glad to see that the Department of Justice is considering technological improvements for people with disabilities. We are living in an era where technology permeates many aspects of our daily life. Therefore, it is important that those advantages are available to everybody. I can see how the life of many people with disabilities will improve by having access to internet services, accessible furniture and equipment, among others. Knowing that disability is socially constructed, and seeing that there are evident efforts to make technology available to people with disabilities make me think that we as society are moving to the right direction to hopefully one day achieve fully inclusion of PWD into what is called main stream society.
Isabel Corbi
I believe that the four proposals being addressed to the ADA concerning the accessibility of websites, provide captions on movies, accessible equipment, and the use of texts and video calls of 911 centers is a good and necessary change is very needed in this time. As the article says, these issues were not considered in the past because technology was not as advanced as it is right now. People with disabilities should also be able to access webpages just as we all do. Creating the necessary modifications will allow them to do so especially because today the web is part of our daily life. I think the new technology that will be used at the 911 centers will be helpful for people with disabilities. They will have an easier way to communicate with the 911 operator when they have an emergency. I found very interesting that until now they are seeing the need to add captions and video descriptions at movie theaters. Even though movies have been out for several years, the technology was not the same which did not allow them to incorporate this type of technology when needed. Modifying and making furniture and equipment accessible is also a necessary change. This equipment is used by many of us and should be made accessible to those people with disabilities. Hopefully these proposals can start taking effect soon so that people can begin to have an equal access to this resources.
Post a Comment