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Last month, CommunicationFIRST submitted extensive input to one of the largest federal government funders of AAC-related research – the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) – on its proposed 2024-2028 Long Range Plan. In these comments, among other points, CommunicationFIRST shared the following: Flawed and Biased…
Invited Remarks of CommunicationFIRST Policy Director Bob Williams to the Federal Communications Commission Task Force to Prevent Digital Discrimination September 14, 2023 Gallaudet University, Washington, DC Event Link Good morning. I am Bob Williams, the Policy Director and co-founder of CommunicationFIRST, the nation’s only organization led by and for, and dedicated to securing…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 7, 2023 Contact: Tauna Szymanski & Bob Williams at info@communicationfirst.org, 202-556-0573 WASHINGTON, D.C. – CommunicationFIRST, the nation’s only civil rights organization led by and for people with speech-related disabilities, welcomes today’s release by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the long-awaited…
I escaped the very worst that hundreds of thousands of baby boomers like me endured: institutionalization, isolation, illiteracy, and silencing. We believe that many — and likely most — young people needing AAC today are suffering virtually the same fate I escaped over 50 years ago.
We encourage as many AAC users as possible to share your research priorities with NIDCD.
This is a plain language guide to research and why it is important. The government is asking people what kind of research should be done about AAC and AAC users. AAC users should have a say in research about us and our lives. So, we are asking AAC users to…
We are naming ourselves. And we choose our words with great care. Our decisions are guided by respect for the diversity of our community and for every person’s right to choose the words they use for themselves.
It’s gratifying when policymakers #LISTEN! On November 21, 2022, CommunicationFIRST submitted comments to the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) in response to the agency’s forthcoming 2024-2029 Long-Range Plan. While listening to the NIDILRR Research Long Range Planning Stakeholder Follow Up Webinar recently, we were stunned…
Digital Accessibility for AAC Users is a Civil Rights Issue
Government websites and apps are a central lever for exercising our civic and constitutionally grounded rights and responsibilities of freedom of expression, assembly, grievance, petition, protest, jury duty, and the franchise. As a matter of right and necessity, people who need AAC must be afforded equally effective access to state and local government websites and apps that all others are afforded.
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