New Federal Technology Accessibility Law

MSNBC.com relates thatPresident Barack Obama last Friday signed the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 ( Senate Bill 3304 ) into law setting up new federal guidelines that will require the telecommunications industry to:

• Make getting to the Internet easier by improving the user interfaces on smart phones,


• Provide audible descriptions of on-screen action to help the blind more fully enjoy television,


• Add captions to online TV programming to help the deaf,


• Make the equipment used for Internet telephone calls compatible with hearing aids, and


• Add a button or other switch to television remote controls for simpler access to closed captioning on television.

The President said the new law "will make it easier for people who are deaf, blind or live with a visual impairment to do what many of us take for granted, from navigating a TV or DVD menu to sending an e-mail on a smart phone.

"It sets new standards so that Americans with disabilities can take advantage of the technology our economy depends on, and that's especially important in today's economy when every worker needs the necessary skills to compete for the jobs of the future."