We fail to comprehend why anyone would either want to receive or want to require describing costumes, lighting, and gestures when the real information remains unavailable. That's a very large bite for FCC to contemplate, but it's the real first bite in achieving access for the blind to television's inaccessible areas. We urge FCC to give us information and to worry about entertainment at some later date. What we truly seek is technically feasible. What we truly seek will never be provided unless FCC mandates it.
Federal mandate lacks sufficient support among blind people.
The National Federation of the Blind is a membership organization, and our membership is overwhelmingly composed of blind and visually impaired individuals. Withmore than 50,000 members, we are America's largest and most active organization of the blind with hundreds of chapters located throughout the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. However, that does not justify a federal mandate for its use. In July of 1996, thousands of our delegates and members gathered at our annual National Convention and discussed the issue of mandated audio description. We trust that the FCC will give this resolution great weight in considering whether to go forward with rulemaking in this area.