Closed Captioning – Christopher Tester

This is a great news for us Deaf and Hard of hearing population. This order focuses on 4 areas to ensure the quality of the closed captioning is high.
Quoted from the new order:

1) Accurate: Captions must match the spoken words in the dialogue and convey background noises and other sounds to the fullest extent possible.
2) Synchronous: Captions must coincide with their corresponding spoken words and sounds to the greatest extent possible and must be displayed on the screen at a speed that can be read by viewers.
3) Complete: Captions must run from the beginning to the end of the program to the fullest extent possible.
4) Properly placed: Captions should not block other important visual content on the screen, overlap one another, or run off the edge of the video screen.

Here is the link to the actual order: FCC order on closed captioning

I just wanted to share an announcement from FCC:

On January 12, 2012, the FCC adopted rules requiring captioned programs shown on TV to be captioned when they are re-shown on the Internet. These rules implement provisions of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA).
Starting March 30, 2013, when live and near-live programs are shown on TV with captions, these programs must be captioned when shown on the Internet. A “near-live” program is a program that is performed and recorded less than 24 hours before being shown on TV for the first time.
Prerecorded programs shown on TV with captions after September 30, 2012, have been required to be captioned when shown on the Internet since that date, if they were not substantially edited prior to being shown on the Internet.
Closed captioning requirements for other kinds of video programming – such as prerecorded programming that is substantially edited for Internet distribution – must be captioned at a later date.
Link to the news release:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-319817A1.doc (Word)
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-319817A1.pdf (PDF)
Link to information about filing complaints about accessibility for individuals with disabilities:
http://www.fcc.gov/complaints
Link to the FCC Consumer Guide: Captioning of Internet Video Programming:
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/captioning-internet-video-programming (HTML) http://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/captionsinternet.pdf (PDF)
For more information, contact Eliot Greenwald at (202) 418-2235 or Eliot.Greenwald@fcc.gov, or Rosaline Crawford at (202) 418-2075 or Rosaline.Crawford@fcc.gov.

Tag: Closed Captioning

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