Author: TDI Administrator

TDI’s Awards ceremony was hosted during its biennial conference in the late afternoon on Monday, July 26.

The Karen Peltz Strauss Award for Public Policy was awarded to the DHHCAN. This award is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in improving accessibility in telecommunications, media, and information technology through efforts in public policy development. In recognition of DHHCAN’s 28-year history of spearheading coalition efforts across many deaf and hard of hearing organizations by sharing policy reports and progress in legislative developments. During Election cycles, DHHCAN creates in-depth policy proposals covering 7 essential topics benefiting the deaf and hard of hearing community for Presidential nominees’ election and transition teams on the road to the White House.

Please visit www.NAD.org/coronavirus for information relating to COVID-19

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR NEWS PROGRAMS

TV news programs also must provide 100% closed captioning as of January 1, 2006.

ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and their affiliates must realtime caption their news in the “top 25” television markets.  Realtime captioning should display captions for everything that is being spoken.  The Captioning Action Guide contains information on how to report your complaints on programs that are not accessible.

Click here for a copy of the DHHCAN Captioning Action Guide.

The events of September 11, 2001 and its aftermath exposed many glaring weaknesses in the emergency preparedness infrastructure that compromise the safety and security of 28 million Americans who are deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened and deaf-blind. Experiences with emergencies since then continue to reinforce the urgent need for these weaknesses to be addressed.

For the full DHHCAN report on the state of the emergency preparedness and emergency communication access, click here: DHHCAN Emergency Report.

The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA):

• Prohibit U.S. and foreign airlines from discriminating against passengers on the basis of disability;
• Require airlines to make aircraft, other facilities, and services accessible; and
• Require airlines to take steps to accommodate passengers with a disability.

This means:

• Information and reservation services must be accessible;
• Information at airports must be accessible after self-identification;
• Televisions at airports must have captions turned on;
• Communication on aircraft must be effective after self-identification;
• Service animals are permitted;
• Safety assistants are provided for Travelers who are Deaf-Blind;
• Assistance with moving within the airport.

Click here to read the complete DHHCAN Airline Travel Action Guide.