Re: AB 772 – Support with amendment

Dear Assemblyman Pacheco:

I am writing in support of AB 772 on behalf of the California Coalition of Agencies Serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. AB 772 will help insure California’s compliance with Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act and California’s own expressed commitments to its deaf and hard-of-hearing citizens by establishing a specific policy of captioning broadcasts of floor sessions and committee meetings of the Legislature.

Without captioning, deaf and hard-of-hearing citizens do not have full and equal access to audio or video broadcasts. It is feasible to caption audio web broadcasts and the state is legally bound to caption them to the extent it is not prohibitively expensive to do so.

In light of the amendment (No. 3) being offered that removes the requirement that “all” broadcasts be captioned, the Coalition urges that the bill be further amended to include a goal of 100% captioning for any video broadcasts and audio web broadcasts.

The Coalition would also be supportive of similar legislation targeted to all state government agencies as a model for local government – and private business – to follow.

As its name implies, the Coalition is a statewide membership organization. It has advocated for equal access on behalf of deaf and hard-of-hearing Californians for many years before the Legislature and various state agencies and commissions. The Coalition is proud of its own efforts as it is of the of the Legislature’s progressive stance on the rights of Californians with disabilities generally and specifically of those who are deaf or hard of hearing; AB 772 is consistent with California’s long commitment to ensuring that all of its citizens have equal access to their state government.

Sincerely,

J. Kendrick Kresse

Legal Director

cc: Sheri Mutti, Chair, CCASDHH