Senator Markey Demands Musk Reinstate X's Accessibility Team

Markey's letter to Musk: "All of these changes under your leadership signal a disregard for the needs of disabled people."

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Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) is calling on Chief Executive Officer of X Elon Musk to reinstate X's Accessibility Team and support the development and implementation of critical online features so that users with disabilities can fully access and utilize the social media platform. In his letter to the company, Senator Markey highlighted a variety of devastating changes under Musk's leadership for disabled X users, including X Spaces no longer offering automatic closed captions, which prevents users who are deaf or hard of hearing from engaging with Spaces.

"X has a responsibility to ensure that its platform is open and accessible to disabled users," wrote Senator Markey. "Yet, you recently eliminated X's Accessibility Team, which played a crucial role in developing and implementing essential features for X users with disabilities. Not surprisingly, since you shut down X's Accessibility Team, disabled users have reported increased difficulty and frustration using X. I urge you to immediately reinstate X's Accessibility Team and take all necessary steps to promote accessibility for disabled X users."

The Senator continued:

"All of these changes under your leadership signal a disregard for the needs of disabled people. Consequently, X users with disabilities are questioning their ability to continue to use the platform, and many have already left it entirely."

In the letter, Senator Markey requested X provide answers to the following questions by March 17, 2023:

• Please explain why you eliminated X's Accessibility Team.
• Will you commit to immediately restoring X's Accessibility Team? If not, why not?
• In November, before you eliminated X's Accessibility Team, it announced several upcoming projects, including improving both image description education and the closed caption button for users.13 What is the status of each of those projects?
• What resources is X devoting to the creation and maintenance of accessibility features for disabled individuals on the platform?
• Is X compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the accessibility regulations of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the Communications and Video Accessibility Act and other relevant laws?
• Please explain why X Spaces no longer includes automatic closed captioning features. Will X commit to reinstating automatic closed captioning for X Spaces? If not, why not?
• Will X allow third-party apps to provide accessibility services for users with disabilities? If not, why not?
• Will X commit to allowing automated accounts that increase accessibility on the platform without the need for providers to pay fees? If not, why not?
• Will X commit to changing its default settings to remind all users to include alt-text on all photos and images? If not, why not?
• Will X commit to creating user-friendly closed captioning tools for users when they upload videos? If not, why not?
• Will X commit to creating user-friendly audio description tools for users when they upload videos? If not, why not?

Senator Markey is the author of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), which mandates accessibility of devices and services for the millions of Americans with disabilities and enables the use of a wide range of devices and services needed in the digital era. In November 2022, Senator Markey introduced the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility (CVTA) Act, which updates and amends the CVAA to keep pace with the proliferation of emerging technologies that have come online since Senator Markey's 2010 bill was passed with bipartisan support. The new legislation would:

• 1) Strengthen standards for television programming and emergency communication.
• 2) Expand accessibility requirements, including closed captions and audio descriptions, to online platforms and video conferencing services.
• 3) Equip the federal government with the ability to improve accessibility of emerging technologies.

Last November, following Musk taking control of X, Senator Markey called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and enforce X's privacy consent decree and to investigate the company's violation of any consumer protection laws. In the same month, after a Washington Post reporter obtained the X handle "@realedmarkey" with a purchased blue verification check, Senator Markey demanded accountability and highlighted that the company's lax verification practices undermine the ability for users to be critical consumers of news and information on the platform.

Attribution/Source(s): This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by Senator Edward J. Markey and published on 2023/02/27, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.