Republicans Make Blind Americans Wait For Video Accessibility Until After Trump Takes Office

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:33 pm

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Millions of blind and visually impaired Americans will be forced to wait for video accessibility access until after Donald Trump takes office thanks to Republican FCC commissioners.

The Hill reported that the Republican FCC commissioners took a request that controversial items be dropped from the agenda until the new administration takes office to the extreme:

After reviewing the letters, the FCC announced that it was deleting almost all of the agenda items from Thursday’s open meeting. This included a consideration of pricing plans for business data services –– special access lines which businesses use to transfer large amounts of data –– and implementing video accessibility measures for visually impaired consumers.

“It is tragic that 1.3 million Americans who are blind and millions more who are visually impaired will not be able to enjoy expanded video description,” Wheeler said on Thursday at the FCC’s monthly meeting. “They deserve better from this Commission.

The Trump administration is now going to get a say on whether something as non-controversial as video accessibility for the blind and visually impaired becomes a reality.

Election consequences are often discussed in macro terms. Will the economy blossom? Will a new president change the balance between war and peace? Will the United States prosper under the leadership of a new administration?

However, there are also micro consequences that influence the daily lives of the American people in a more direct manner.

Will people with visual impairments have access to needed technology? Will discrimination be tolerated? Will healthcare be available when you get sick? Will you go bankrupt if you do get sick? The answers to these questions will be shaped by the new administration.

When someone tries to tell you that they didn’t vote in 2016 because both candidates were the same, think of the visually impaired American who may be forced to wait for accessible technology because Donald Trump won.

Who we send to the White House matters, and the decision that the new president will make impacts lives in ways big and small that will be felt for the next four years.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association