After continuous advocacy from DCAD, Brianne Burger, Erik Nordlof, and countless others, the DC Council reintroduced two bills benefitting the Deaf community in February 2019. The DC Council has until the end of the current council period in December 2020 to pass these bills, the Office on Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH) Establishment Act of 2019 as well as the Open Movie Captions (OC) Requirement Act of 2019. ODHH would create a DC government agency dedicated to accessibility for Deaf people and OC would require DC movie theaters to caption a small percentage of their movies.
- Full text of ODHH bill: http://lims.dccouncil.us/Legislation/B23-0147
- Full text of OC bill: http://lims.dccouncil.us/Legislation/B23-0146
- Press release and background on both bills: http://www.charlesallenward6.com/allen_reintroduces_three_bills.
DCAD thanks Councilmember Charles Allen for leading the charge on these bills in both 2018 and 2019. In addition to DCAD advocacy, you can contact DC Councilmembers (even if you only work or study in DC) at https://dccouncil.us/councilmembers/ and tell them why you want to see these bills passed