VITAC has been actively involved in accessibility legislation, always seeking ways to help clients, consumers, and the community stay current with − and benefit from − the latest regulations.
We have a long history of collaboration with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and we’ve worked with the commission for more than two decades on a wide variety of projects.
VITAC was part of a committee formed after the passage of the 21st Century Video Communications Accessibility Act in 2010 that worked to establish technical requirements and safe harbors for the new rules. VITAC was a member of three committee working groups – Video Description, Emergency Information, and User Interfaces.
Heather York, VITAC Vice President, Marketing and Government Affairs, has served on three FCC Disability Advisory Committees, including as a co-chair of the Access to Live Programming subcommittee. In her role as a representative of caption providers, she advises on the technical requirements for topics ranging from mixed-case captioning to audio description pass-through possibilities to captioning clips delivered via IP after aired on television.
VITAC advised the commission on the feasibility of requiring captions for clips of full-length programming delivered via IP
VITAC served on the committee that advised the FCC on accessibility concerns in the transition from analog to digital television in 2009
VITAC collaborated with three other captioning providers and the National Court Reporters Association to draft the FCC’s Caption Quality Best Practices in 2014. The group crafted many of the requirements still in effect today for captioning, including the necessity of now-common elements in captions such as placement, punctuation, speaker identification, and the inclusion of lyrics and sound effects
We also have worked closely with both Gallaudet University and the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology on many FCC committees and actions.