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A New Civil Right: Telecommunications Equality for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Americans | 
 enlarge | Author: Karen Peltz Strauss
Publisher: Gallaudet University Press
Category: Book
Buy New: $75.00
New (4) Used (5) from $56.66
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 1561378
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 10.2 x 7.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 1563682915
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.4283
EAN: 9781563682919
ASIN: 1563682915
Publication Date: July 15, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 7 to 11 days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
When three deaf men in the 1960s invented and sold TTYs, the first teletypewriting devices that allowed deaf people to communicate by telephone, they started a telecommunications revolution for deaf people throughout America. A New Civil Right: Telecommunications Equality for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Americans chronicles the history of this movement, which lagged behind new technical developments decades after the advent of TTYs.
In this highly original work, Author Karen Peltz Strauss reveals how the paternalism of the hearing-oriented telecommunications industries slowed support for technology for deaf users. Throughout this comprehensive account, she emphasizes the grassroots efforts behind all of the eventual successes. A New Civil Right recounts each advance in turn, such as the pursuit of special customer premises equipment (SCPE) from telephone companies; the Telecommunications Act of 1982 and the Telecommunications Accessibility Enhancement Act of 1988 and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which required nationwide relay telephone services for deaf and hard of hearing users.
Strauss painstakingly details how all of these advances occurred incrementally, first on local and state levels, and later through federal law. It took exhaustive campaigning to establish 711 for nationwide relay dialing, while universal access to television captioning required diligent legal and legislative work to pass the Decoder Circuitry Act in 1990. The same persistence resulted in the enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which required all off-the-shelf communications equipment, including new wireless technology, to be readily accessible to deaf users.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Mandatory Reading Required September 30, 2006
As one involved in this struggle over the last 25 years I agree this book is mandatory reading for anyone who wants to learn about the struggles related to accessibility. Congressman Edward J. Markey, Ranking Democrat, House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, stated, "Telecommunications technology can enable and ennoble the lives of millions, but only if our laws animate such technologies with human values to ensure universal access and inclusion. Karen Pelz Strauss, a tireless ally in expanding disability access to new technologies, presents a wonderful history about the inexorable march of innovation and the ongoing struggles to bring its wonders to all sectors of society." Former FCC Chairman William Kenard noted, "The lessons revealed in the pages of this book offer a compelling roadmap to those who are willing to take up this challenge in the decades to come." I am glad the author took the time to capture the struggle so others can learn.
A Must Read September 19, 2006
This is a must read for anyone who is interested in access including regulators, advocates, educators, audiologists and parents. The book provides the fundamental underpinnings of a regulatory framework that drives regulation today. Ms. Peltz Strauss' insight into the battles and personalities that shaped FCC regulation make the book an incredible tool for those trying to adapt existing regulation to today's and future technological advances in access. These issues should not be forgotten or assumed to be resolved. This book provides a compelling picture of the challenges and the realization that FCC regulation is required for people with hearing loss to receive the functional equivalence of what everyone else takes for granted.
Extraordinary piece of work on telecommunications access September 11, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you have ever considered the struggles of hearing-impaired people in securing access to basic telecommunications, you owe it to yourself to read this book. In fact, if you're just looking for a good story about the hard work of decent Americans who fought against all odds to improve the quality of life for millions of people, you will enjoy reading "A New Civil Right." Though it features a fast-paced narrative, it doubles as an instruction manual that begs to be studied by disability lawyers, activists and students alike. It contains principles for practical change and countless lessons in grassroots political activism that only a dynamic career in the field could confer.
As the hearing son of deaf parents, I am moved by the series of seemingly implausible victories that unfold in these pages on behalf of a population that was, for decades, shut out of American telecommunications. Were it not for the pioneering work of advocates --whose stories are capably told in this book-- my own parents would not be able to enjoy many of the benefits of modern technology that now enable them to communicate naturally with others from a distance. This is a work that every Deaf American, and every ally of Deaf America, should add to their bookshelf.
Not since Harry Lang wrote "A Phone of Our Own" has such a pioneering, authoratative account of telecommunications access for the deaf been presented to the public. With passion, humility, and an abiding respect for the Deaf community, this extraordinary work draws on the historical insight of Lang's story --without duplicating it-- to present one of the most compelling portraits of progress ever told in American history.
Conquering challanges August 19, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book has a chapter titled, "David and Goliath." But, in fact on every page of this exciting book amazing successes and improbable achievements are detailed. Strauss shares the struggles of deaf and hard of hearing people to gain telecommunications access with such drama and clarity, making
"A New Civil Right" a fascinating book to read.
Fascinating and inspiring August 11, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book provides a comprehensive account of how laws were created to provide better telecommunications access for people with hearing loss. The author played an active role in the efforts to achieve this access, so the reporting is both authoritative and enjoyable--it is interspersed with personal and other stories that took place along the way. The many battles that the deaf and hard of hearing communities had to fight in order to win these rights are quite amazing, and the ultimate success is encouraging and very relevant to other efforts to gain civil rights. I would think anyone involved in communications, civil or disability rights, or grass roots advocacy would find this both enjoyable and valuable.
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