NVRC  News – February 22, 2010

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Connecting Marlee and Mickey

by Blair Levin – Executive Director, Omnibus Broadband Initiative, 2/22/10

Nobody who was at the FCC’s broadband field hearing at Gallaudet University in November will forget
the passion of Marlee Matlin.

Her dedicated efforts led to captioning laws being passed nearly a generation ago.

But now, she told us, her work was being “erased.”  Closed captions were being taken out of broadcast content being shown on the Internet.  Among her many examples:  her own performance on “Dancing with the Stars!”  Her distress was palpable.

We posted a video clip of Marlee’s statement on our blog, and her passion was seen over the blogosphere.  Someone forwarded the clip to Disney.  And Disney got to work.

As a result, Disney has announced that ABC.com is expanding its captioning efforts. Instead of just captioning scripted dramas and comedies, it has committed to captioning all of its long form programs that it puts on its online player at ABC.com, including reality and live shows like “Dancing With The Stars.”

Way to go, Marlee. Way to go, Disney. And way to go to the person in the blogosphere who thought to connect the two.