The FCC Honors Bridge’s Founder & CEO

Matt Kaplowitz of Bridge Multimedia Technologies receives FCC Award

This month, the Bridge Team is proud to announce that our CEO, Matt Kaplowitz, was awarded with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) 2026 Chairman’s Award for Advancement in Accessibility, which recognizes “outstanding efforts to advance communications accessibility for people with disabilities.”

Kaplowitz was selected for making“lasting and impactful contributions to the advancement of accessible communications technologies and services in the fields of policy, advocacy, research, and design.”

The annual awards ceremony, which also served to celebrate the 16th anniversary of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, took place on Thursday October 8th at the FCC’s headquarters in Washington DC.

According to the FCC, the award was created to encourage technological innovation in communication-related areas and to recognize individuals, companies, and organizations whose energies and perseverance have been successful in developing new ways for consumers with disabilities to benefit from the nation’s communications technologies. Matt Kaplowitz was chosen alongside fellow 2026 award recipients: 

• Zainab Alkebsi, disability advocate and Chief Policy Officer at Deaf Equity
• Stephen Ewell, Executive Director of the CTA Foundation
• Fred Moltz, Chief Accessibility Officer at Verizon.

Over the years Bridge Multimedia Technologies has enjoyed a productive relationship with the FCC. In 2021 and 2022 Matt Kaplowitz and our Senior Research Director Dr. Wendy Sapp were appointed, respectively, to serve as Representative Members on the FCC Disability Advisory Committee. During that time Bridge had the added privilege of serving on the FCC’s Internet Protocol Closed Caption Subcommittee Workgroup. This impressive team of interdisciplinary media and disability specialists was tasked with identifying expectations for streaming closed captions. Last year, The Coalition of Organizations for Accessibility Technology enlisted Bridge to be their technology lead in writing recommendations to the FCC regarding their Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV.

Kaplowitz said,

“As everyone knows, I’m seldom at a loss for words – but this honor means more than I can say. While I was receiving the award I kept thinking of all Bridge’s amazing friends and supporters because I’m so grateful for their partnership and untiring commitment to accessibility.”

With all our appreciation!
The Bridge Team

Left-to-Right in the photo:

1. Eduard Bartholme, Bureau Chief, FCC Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau
2. Zainab Alkebsi, Esq., Chief Policy Officer, Deaf Equality
3. Fred Moltz, Chief Accessibility Officer, Verizon
4. Stephen Ewell, Executive Director, Consumer Technology Association Foundation
5. Matt Kaplowitz, President/CEO, Bridge Multimedia Technologies
6. Brendan Carr, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission

Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act Celebration and Chairman’s Awards for Advancement in Accessibility