As the nation celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, both private and public organization are making efforts to show their initiatives. Yahoo! today announced its new accessibility blog, led in part by Alan Brightman, who works on accessibility issues at the Internet company. The National Council on Disability has gathered a group of 500 people and partners from 48 states to its policy summit on disabilities. The summit wants to encourage a national dialogue on disability policies and programs in the 21st century.

Later today there will be a celebration at the White House, with President Obama marking the ADA’s anniversary. There will be performances by Patti LaBelle, Marlee Matlin and others. The celebration, which begins at 5:30 p.m., will be streamed live at www.whitehouse.gov/live

The House is expected today to take up H.R. 3101, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009, a bill that would make closed captioning mandatory for large Internet television and movie distributors, excluding user-based sites such as YouTube.

The Department of Justice also announced today four advance notices on proposed rulemaking covering key areas: Internet, movie captions, emergency preparedness and accessible furniture/equipment. The Department is seeking comment by the public on its possible plans to require the following:

Movie captions: DOJ is considering mandating that movie theater owners and operators to show movies with closed captions and video description in their theaters at least fifty percent of the time.

Internet: The DOJ is considering requiring public and private websites – including retailers and other e-commerce sites — to be accessible to individuals with disabilities.

9-1-1: The DOJ is considering requiring emergency 9-1-1 call centers to become equipped to receive text or video calls over the Internet.

Equipment and Furniture: The DOJ is considering mandating that equipment and furniture including medical and exercise equipment and furniture, accessible beds in hotels, hospitals and nursing homes, accessible golf cars, and electronic technology, including ATMs, and point of sale (POS) devices is made accessible to people with disabilities.

By Suzanne Robitaille

I’m in Washington this week as a delegate to the National Council on Disability’s National Summit on Disability Policy 2010. NCD and its delegates will join with group of federal partners, Congress, and disability community stakeholders to launch a national dialogue on disability policies and programs in the 21st century. This year’s theme is Living, Learning, and Earning, and Monday’s session will focus on technology, healthcare reform, emergency management and disability rights. Many of the participants will head over to the White House on Monday for a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on the South Lawn. The event, which starts at 5:30 p.m., will include remarks by President Obama and performances by by Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, Patti LaBelle and Marlee Matlin.

Also, on Monday check out the Today Show at 8:45 am ET; the always smiling Bonnie St. John will appear to discuss the results of a national survey on disabilities, which I wrote about last Friday for Healthday.com, Yahoo!, and USNews.com. She’ll appear with a representative from Think Beyond the Label, a campaign lead by Health Disability Advocates that works to encourage businesses to hire more people with disabilities. Check out the campaign here.

By Suzanne Robitaille

The Department of Justice celebrated the American with Disabilities Act’s 20th Anniversary, with Attorney General Eric Holder speaking about the ADA. Holder says that over the past two decades, the law has “helped create revolutionary improvements in the lives of Americans with disabilities … [and] helped improve our society’s understanding of what Americans with disabilities could accomplish when given the chance to participate on equal terms.”

Holder says the Department of Justice has placed a renewed focus on enforcing the ADA, including settling discrimination lawsuits against people with disabilities and advocating for more in-home health care. More importantly, the Justice Department says it will soon publish four notices regarding accessibility requirements for websites, movie theaters, equipment and furniture, and 911 call-taking technologies.

That means that movies may be required to display, at least at certain times, closed-captions for the deaf and audio descriptions for the blind. Currently, movie theaters in the U.S. skirt the law by saying they only are required to provide access to their physical structures. At the same time, Congress is working on bills that would require captioning on new and digital technologies.

Within the department, Holder also plans to hire a Special Assistant for Disability Resources.

For the rest of the month I’ll be devoting some of my blog to announcing nationwide events that are taking place to celebrate the American with Disabilities Act’s 20th anniversary.

For the rest of the month I’ll be devoting some of my blog to announcing nationwide events that are taking place to celebrate the American with Disabilities Act’s 20th anniversary.

The Federal Communications Commission is inviting the public to mark the American with Disabilities Act’s 20th anniversary in Washington. On July 19, the FCC will hold a Technology Showcase from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Commerce Department Main Foyer. More than 50 exhibitors have been invited to demonstrate their accessible technologies.

Also, an ADA Celebration Program in the Commerce Department Auditorium from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m will include welcoming remarks from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, presentation of an original video chronicling personal stories about the impact of technology on people with disabilities, performances by Gallaudet University performers, and a reception.

The FCC will introduce a new forum to discuss accessibility issues for people with disabilities. The Accessibility and Innovation Forum is designed to promote collaborative problem-solving between the disability community, industry, academics, government representatives, third-party developers, innovators, students, and assistive technology vendors, according to an FCC press release.

The forum will include workshops, field events, facilitated dialogues, and online tools, including blog posts covering a wide range of communication technology access issues. It will also include the “Chairman’s AAA Awards,” Awards for Advancements in Accessibility. The first of these awards will be given out on the next anniversary of the ADA to recognize efforts in the private and public sector — as well as public-private partnerships — that advance accessibility, the FCC says.

Launching a forum this year is significant due to high-profile telecommunications issues being discussed in Washington that related to access and affordability for Americans with disabilities. In March, the FCC submitted a National Broadband Plan to Congress that detailed how it would aim to addresses disabilities and access issues.

In its most ambitious recommendation, the FCC says it will work with Congress and the Justice Department to “modernize” accessibility laws to cover Internet Protocol (IP)-based communications and video-programming technologies. Simply put, to make sure Internet services and equipment, smart phones and tablets are accessible. The FCC also says it will consider requiring captions on Internet devices and services for the deaf, and audio descriptions for the blind. These features have been required since 1990s on television, but not for web programming, like Hulu and Netflix.

Both the Technology Expo and the ADA Program are free and open to the public and press. Sign language interpreters and computer aided real-time transcription (CART) will be provided.

For the rest of the month I’ll be devoting some of my blog to announcing nationwide events that are taking place to celebrate the American with Disabilities Act’s 20th anniversary.

Oprah Winfrey, who is starting her own network called OWN and is looking for contestants to host a new reality TV show, is at the center of a voters’ dilemma. Rumors are adrift that Winfrey’s show producers may be rigging viewers’ votes against lead contestant Zach Anner, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. Anner auditioned for a spot with a video showing his comedic value and finesse as a traveler with a disability, calling himself a “wheelchair-bound lady magnet.”

The rumors surfaced Tuesday when another contestant, a woman by the name of Dr. Phyllis, mysteriously gained more than 300,000 votes, surpassing the previously first placed Anner in 20 minutes. Both contestants now have more than four million votes apiece.

All votes aside, Oprah needs Zach Anner and so does the world. She should find a way to bring him on board regardless of the results. Anner is cute, funny and gives a fresh take on life. Anner has the potential to crack open the injustices and inconsistencies for the disability community on a stage built by the word’s most famous talk show host.

Viewers will be blown away by how difficult it is to travel with a physical disability within the U.S., let alone places like Europe and Africa. Wheelchairs that get knocked around in cargo. Travelers whose chairs cannot fit through the doors of hotel rooms, or give enough room for a chair to turn around fully. Showers with too high of a “lip” so that a chair can’t roll in. Transfers (from chair to bed) that break in mid-air.

The list goes on. Tourist attractions with no accessible bathrooms. Places steeped in history, such as Paris and the French capital, that have architecture making it difficult to maneuver (and local attitudes don’t help.) “The biggest problem that exists worldwide is the lack of accessible ground transportation,” says Candy Harrington, author of Barrier Free Travel and 101 Accessible Vacations. Wheelchair users who cannot find an accessible cab often must resort to a van or livery service, at a much higher cost.

Watch Zach Anner's OWN audition video.

In seeking her new reality show contestant, Oprah opened her auditions to the public. In my opinion she should have hand-picked her own contestant if she didn’t want to see how the sausage is made. The thing is, I believe she’s all about the sausage, but that her show’s producers (and public relations team) might not be. Keep in mind that they’ll be the ones following Anner around the globe in his wheelchair if he wins. (Note to OWN crew: Put Anner up in Microtel.)

Situations like open contests are difficult for people with disabilities to compete in. The very nature of a contest weeds out weak performers, especially If there’s a preconceived notion that someone is physically or mentally unable to carry the torch. It happens in showbiz, in sports and in the job market.

Anner won four million votes. He deserves an opportunity to make us laugh, cry and see the world in a different light while peeling back the intimate layers of traveling with a disability. (Vote for him here.) It won’t be pretty, but he’ll give viewers one of the most rewarding experiences on TV. And that’s something Oprah can truly OWN.

By Suzanne Robitaille