AG Bell to Launch Online Community “Virtual Voices” in Early January
In early January, all AG Bell members and supporters will receive an email and invitation from AG Bell to join its new online community, “Virtual Voices.” An email with your username and password will be sent to your email address on file with AG Bell. Over the last year, AG Bell has made a significant investment in its IT infrastructure in order to bring you a series of improvements that will make it easier for you to connect, network and actively participate in Chapters, Shared Interest Groups (SIGs) and other online AG Bell communities.

Virtual Voices allows you to update your contact information and email preferences instantaneously; access other members through an online member directory; access and post events to the online event calendar; support AG Bell through membership renewal and donations as well as a new and improved bookstore via a secure, instantaneous payment system; view and make changes to your membership; view and access your giving history; access member-only content, such as archives of Volta Voices; and participate in networking opportunities, such as SIGs, through discussion groups and weblogs.

AG Bell will alert members when the ability to access Virtual Voices becomes available. Monitor your email in early January for a notification from AG Bell that you can log-in to Virtual Voices. If you do not receive an email alerting you to access your log-in information by late-January, please make sure you are checking the correct email account as well as your spam and junk mail folders for an email from info@agbell.org. If you have any questions or have trouble logging in, contact AG Bell at info@agbell.org or call 888-337-5220.

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AG Bell Files Amicus Brief in Movie Captioning Appeal
AG Bell has long been an advocate of increasing captioning accessibility in movie theaters. AG Bell has consistently taken the position that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires a reasonable amount of captioning access. When a federal judge in Arizona ruled last year that the ADA does not require any captioning access at all, and the decision was being appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, AG Bell decided to get involved in the case.

Last week, AG Bell filed an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit urging that the district judge’s opinion be reversed. AG Bell argued that the ADA requires that movie theaters—at a minimum—install closed-captioning equipment (such as Rear Window Captioning) in their auditoriums to provide captioning access for deaf patrons, and that the Arizona judge was simply wrong in concluding otherwise. A decision from the Ninth Circuit is expected sometime in mid to late 2009.

AG Bell was part of a larger effort among the deaf and disability communities to see the district judge’s decision reversed. Although there have been several captioning lawsuits in federal courts this decade (with mixed results), the Arizona case is by far the most important. The Ninth Circuit governs not only Arizona, but also California, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Alaska, Nevada, Montana, Idaho, Guam and the Mariana Islands. The Ninth Circuit’s decision that the ADA does or does not require captioning access will be binding on those jurisdictions as well as Arizona.AG Bell will monitor the proceedings in the Ninth Circuit very closely and apprise its membership of any developments in the appeal. Click here to read the amicus brief filed by AG Bell.