Senate Commerce Committee approves disabilities legislation

The Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation on Thursday to require technology companies to make products that can be used by people with disabilities.

The Equal Access to 21st Century Communications Act would require consumer electronics companies to make their products more accessible. For instance, the bill would ensure the availability of closed captioning on the latest devices and bring captions to online video. 

Some industry groups and advocates for the blind and deaf are split over whether the legislation goes too far. The Consumer Electronics Association has argued it creates unreasonable new burdens on companies that could drive up the cost of products and stifle innovation.

But advocates say the bill simply brings existing accessibility standards that already govern television to the latest technologies. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association and CTIA, the wireless association, praised the progress of the bill on Thursday. CTIA added that more work is needed. 

“We must make sure that the programs and policies we have in place to support Americans with disabilities keep up with the rapidly increasing speed of changing technology,” Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said in a statement.

“We have a responsibility to make sure that kind of opportunity is available to everyone. Period,” he said.