Summary: The FCC has adopted an order requiring that closed captioning display settings be “readily accessible,” making it easier for individuals with disabilities to customize captions on video programming.
Key Takeaways:
- Enhanced Customization: The new FCC Order mandates that users must have easy access to customize closed captioning settings, such as font, size, and color, to better suit their needs.
- Readily Accessible Requirements: The Order introduces four factors—proximity, discoverability, previewability, and consistency/persistence—to ensure caption display settings are accessible across devices.
- Broad Compliance: The rule applies to a wide range of devices, including TVs, set-top boxes, and other video playback devices, ensuring broader access to customized closed captioning for users in the United States.
The Federal Communications Commission recently adopted a Third Report and Order furthering its efforts to enable individuals with disabilities to access video programming through closed captioning.
The requirement is designed to make it easier for users to customize captions by adjusting, font, size, color, and more.
The New FCC Order for Captioning
The Order adopts 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 consumers have had difficulty accessing these caption display settings. The Order takes steps to alleviate this problem by ensuring that users are able to customize captions to fit their needs.
The Commission will evaluate four factors in determining whether caption display settings are readily accessible to consumers. Those factors were described in a joint proposal between the NCTA and a coalition of consumer groups. The four factors are: proximity, discoverability, previewability, and consistency and persistence. Both manufacturers of covered apparatus and multichannel video programming distributors will be responsible for compliance with the rule.
Action by the Commission July 18, 2024 by Report and Order (FCC 24-79) with Chairwoman Rosenworcel, Commissioners Carr, Starks, Simington, and Gomez approving.
“Device manufacturers and MVPDs must ensure that closed captioning display settings are readily accessible,” Starks says. “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.”
Further reading: National Acoustic Laboratories Unveils Live Captioning App for Apple Vision Pro
