The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week adopted a rule designed to better enable individuals with disabilities to access video programming through closed captioning.
The FCC’s new rule establishes a “readily accessible” requirement for closed captioning display settings. The commission previously adopted requirements that users must be able to customize caption displays by changing the font, size, color, and other caption features, but many viewers have had difficulty accessing these caption settings. The new rule takes steps to alleviate this problem by ensuring that viewers can customize captions to fit their needs.
“Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and advocacy groups have told us how it’s difficult to find the closed captioning display features on a device,” said FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. “And frankly, anyone who has ever watched video programming knows the experience of pressing multiple buttons on a remote, or going through multiple settings on a smartphone or tablet, in order to get to the menu you actually want.
“I’m pleased that we have adopted the details necessary to make our closed captioning display rules fully effective. Device manufacturers and MVPDs must ensure that closed captioning display settings are readily accessible. And this applies to a wide range of devices – not just televisions and set top boxes, but any device manufactured or used in the United States that is designed to receive or play back video programming transmitted simultaneously with sound. This will aid – and potentially increase – the substantial audience served by closed captioning.”
The Commission will evaluate four factors in determining whether caption display settings are readily accessible. Those factors, described in a joint proposal between the Internet & Television Association and a coalition of consumer groups earlier this year, are proximity, discoverability, previewability, and consistency and persistence.
- Proximity looks at the number of steps required to access closed captioning display settings as well as whether the settings are available on the same device as the video programming.
- Discoverability takes into consideration whether it is simple and intuitive for viewers to find closed captioning display settings.
- Previewability considers whether viewers can preview the appearance of closed captions on their screens while changing the closed captioning display settings.
- Consistency and persistence involves whether access to the display settings is consistent across devices and platforms and across different applications on the same device and persistent over time.
Both manufacturers of covered apparatus and multichannel video programming distributors will be responsible for compliance with the rule.