Massachusetts Representative Edward Markey has introduced legislation into the House of Representatives that would dramatically overhaul the nation's telecom disability laws, extending them to new Internet based communications devices. Meanwhile AT&T has filed a statement with the Federal Communications Commission extolling its services to customers with disabilities, calling itself an "industry leader" in the field.

On December 21st, Markey released a draft bill that would require cell phone manufacturers to significantly upgrade their technologies, making them far more accessible to people with hearing, speech, and sight limitations.

Markey's "Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act" would:

• require closed captioning on video programming transmitted by cell phone devices
• require the FCC to initiate a proceeding to "identify methods to render on-screen-displayed text in a manner accessible to individuals who are blind or visually-impaired," including text instructions and texting messages
• require manufacturers to bolster current phone/video technologies to allow people with hearing/voice disabilities to communicate with each other, not just with people without such disabilities
• clarify the legal relationship between the Communications Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, ensuring that both laws use the same definition of "disability"

Meanwhile, on the same day that Markey announced his new bill, AT&T submitted its annual report to the Commission on the corporation's progress in making its services more accessible, fulfilling one of the requirements it agreed to in December of 2006 when the FCC approved its merger with Bell South.

Sometimes I get interviewed on the radio about some subject related to the Federal Communications Commission. Invariably the host asks me the same question: "What can the public do about this matter?"

In response I rattle off the names of some good groups to contact: Free Press, the Benton Foundation, the Media Access Project, The Prometheus Project, etc, etc, etc.

After which the host invariably adds with a perky, helpful tone: "And you can also contact the FCC at dub dub dub dot fcc.gov. Right?"

"Er, uhum, rite . . ." I mumble, and hope that we move on to the next question quickly.

You see, I never tell civilians that they can contact the FCC on some matter, because they usually can't. Go to fcc.gov now and see for yourself.

Are you there? As you can tell, the home page of the site is a blizzard of links and options. After a minute or so you'll notice a link on the left: "Contacting the FCC."

But if you go to that page, you'll find no easy way to reach the Commission on a specific issue. Sure, there are e-mail links to the commissioners, but I can't seriously promise anyone that they will read, much less respond, to something Jane Q. Public e-mails them, because the chances are that they won't.

"I think that the FCC was a little bit surprised at the community's reaction to what just happened," civil rights attorney Karen Peltz Strauss told LLFCC in October. Strauss was commenting on the uproar over the Federal Communications Commission's decision to make it easier for non-profit broadcasters to obtain waivers from closed captioning requirements.

Since then, the controversy has shown no sign of abating.

After taking a firestorm of criticism for relaxing the agency's closed captioning rules, the Federal Communications Commission has finally gotten some support for its move. The backing comes from National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), a Virginia based trade association.

The group has filed a statement urging the FCC not to reverse a recent ruling that makes it easier for non-profit broadcasters to receive waivers from the agency's closed-captioning requirements. Seven leading disability rights groups, including the National Association for the Deaf, submitted a request on October 12th asking the FCC to stay the decision pending a review for which they applied on the same day.

"Please reconsider immediately - I and all of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in America need closed captioning - it's our window to the world!!"

Hell hath no fury, it seems, like the deaf and hard of hearing scorned.

Seven leading disability advocates have asked the Federal Communications Commission to set aside a recent move making it easier for non-profit TV broadcasters to avoid providing closed-captioning for the deaf.

The FCC "departed from long practice and improperly established a new class of programming that is exempt from the closed captioning requirements without proper notice and comment," charge the groups in a emergency stay petition filed on October 12th. They include the National Association for the Deaf, the Hearing Loss Association of America, and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD).

In a letter to FCC Chair Kevin Martin, a Massachusetts Congressmember today strongly criticized the agency's recent decision to make it easier for non-profit broadcasters to petition out of providing closed captioning for hard-of-hearing and deaf television viewers.

Edward Markey's letter comes in response to a September 12th FCC ruling granting exemption from closed captioning to two religious broadcasting groups: "Angler's for Christ Ministries, Inc," and "New Beginnings Ministries." The FCC's rules permit broadcasters to petition for an "undue burden" exemption, granted when closed captioning represents a "significant difficulty or expense" to the producer.