Washington Post
July 26, 2010

The House late Monday passed a bill that aimed at making the Internet and mobile phones more accessible to the disabled through video captions for the hearing impaired and better descriptions of smartphone screens for the blind.

The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which was sponsored by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), cleared the House on a vote of 348 to 23. Its approval came on the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and as a similar bill works its way through the Senate.

"The ADA mandated physical ramps into buildings," Markey said in a statement. "Today, individuals with disabilities need online ramps to the Internet so they can get to the Web from wherever they happen to be."

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