"A major benefit offered by telemedicine is the avoidance of travel, by patients, their carers and health care professionals," wrote the authors of a recent international study.

On July 26, 2011, the 21st anniversary of the 1990 American with Disabilities Act, the Obama administration instructed federal agencies to improve technology accessibility for people with disabilities.

Last October, President Obama signed into law the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 — "a bill to increase the access of persons with disabilities to modern communications, and for other purposes." In short it required that Internet video content be closed-captioned for the hearing impaired — just as it is on broadcast and cable television.

Among the people who benefit most from innovative online technologies are the disabled. The profoundly deaf can communicate as easily by email as the general population. People with mobility problems can without difficulty conference via Skype or other video service. But according to one estimate, only half of people with disabilities have adopted broadband.

An analysis in Broadband Expanded, a project of New York Law School, urges policy-makers to make broadband and its devices and services accessible to people with disabilities ? especially those who can't use standard devices.

There has been tremendous growth in online access to movies and television, but a lack of closed captioning options on Netflix "Watch Instantly" Streaming Content is leaving a vast majority of deaf and disabled viewers behind.

The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) spoke out in favor of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, noting that it fully expects the new entity to continue AT&T's commitment to products and services for people with disabilities and to expand those programs to T-Mobile's customers after the merger.

While many Americans live in areas that are wired for broadband, about one third of the United States still does not have Internet access at home. The FCC and the James L. Knight Foundation issued a challenge to designers and programmers across the country: create an application that makes public data easily accessible to the public, providing people with a tangible incentive to go online.

In a bid to ensure equal access to 21st century technology, the FCC established the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP), making it easier and more affordable for low-income, deaf-blind individuals to connect to the Internet and other services.

The American Association of People with Disabilities, a Speed Matters partner, is hosting a forum on the intersection of broadband and rehabilitation on April 1 in Washington DC.