We at Marashlian & Donahue are pleased to announce that Associate Attorney Michal Nowicki will be speaking at ACCESS, a virtual conference from 3Play Media that focuses on inclusivity and accessibility in media. Specifically, Mr. Nowicki will host a panel alongside Tom Wlodkowski, Vice President, Accessibility and Multicultural Technology and Product at Comcast, titled “Understanding the CVAA and Compliance in Entertainment.” The panel is slated for Tuesday, March 29, 2022, at 3 PM EST and will explore the legal landscape of accessibility, how companies should approach compliance, and how to audit current operations.
Michal Nowicki joined Marashlian & Donahue in 2019. His practice focuses largely on helping clients comply with a wide range of telecommunications laws, especially disability access laws like the 21st-Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) and Title IV of the ADA, which requires telecommunications relay services for consumers with hearing and speech disabilities. Even well before joining Marashlian & Donahue, Mr. Nowicki helped the National Federation of the Blind convince the FCC to deny Amazon’s petition for a permanent exemption from CVAA accessibility requirements for e-book readers. He has also worked closely with Comcast and DirecTV to ensure that both companies comply with FCC regulations requiring audio descriptions for blind and low vision customers. Finally, Mr. Nowicki recently responded to the FCC’s request for public comments on how audio description rules have been implemented, hoping that the FCC will expand the requirements to cover video-on-demand programming and television broadcasts delivered over the Internet.
Mr. Nowicki’s co-host, Tom Wlodkowski, has been uniquely positioned at the intersection of Internet, broadcast and cable television accessibility. He has managed a wide scope of projects including development of the cable industry’s first accessible set-top box interface, designing accessible user interfaces for web, mobile and desktop applications, opened a dedicated service center to support customers with disabilities and consulting on accessible technology to corporations. He is an active participant in public policy initiatives designed to further access to mainstream information and communications technologies (ICT).
In addition to Mr. Nowicki’s and Mr. Wlodkowski’s panel, the conference will host many other interesting discussions, including “Accessibility Trends in Employment with Charlotte Dales, Co-Founder & CEO of Inclusively” and “Podcasts for Everyone: Intro to Podcast Transcription with 3Play Media.” Further, the conference will feature keynote speakers for each day of programming. Some of the keynote speakers are Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Chief Accessibility Officer at Microsoft, and Aaron Golub, the first legally blind athlete to play Division 1 football.
If you are interested at attending the event, you may register for free here. The virtual conference will be fully accessible with professional close captioning and ASL interpreters on hand.
If you would like to learn more about ACCESS or Mr. Nowicki’s work with disability law, you may reach out to him at mjn@commlawgroup.com or (703) 714-1311.
