DTV Access
The Basics
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Legislation and Federal Access Initiatives
Providing access to Americans with disabilities is an issue that has captured the attention of Congress, the media, and the American public. Recent years have seen the passage of major laws with implications for persons with disabilities.
The federal Americans with Disabilities Act is an unprecedented civil rights law that protects disabled people from discrimination in employment, transportation, and public accommodation. The passage of the ADA in 1990 reflected a changing climate in the United States: an increased awareness of the needs of persons with disabilities and a willingness to respond to these needs. Although the ADA does not specifically mandate captioning or video description (see FCC section below), court cases are further defining rights and responsibilities under the ADA.
The Television Decoder Circuitry Act (passed in 1990) requires closed-caption decoding capability to be a built-in feature in all television sets 13 inches or larger manufactured for sale in the U.S. since 1993. With 29 million TV sets of this size sold in the U.S. each year since 1995, it is now assumed that every home has at least one caption-capable television set. With captions available at the touch of a button, the audience has grown tremendously, and now includes the traditional deaf and hard of hearing audience as well as people learning to read and learning English as a second language.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Regulations and Proposals (More information is available at the FCC's Web site, www.fcc.gov.)
Report and Order on Closed Captioning
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 brought about many changes for the broadcast and cable industries. It also charged (FCC) to survey the landscape of television and to create mandates to increase the amount of captioned programs. After providing an opportunity for consumers and the television industry to comment, a final Report and Order on Closed Captioning was issued in 1997. In late 1998, the FCC issued a number of revisions to the rules, which will require nearly 100% captioning of television programs by 2006. The Caption Center's Web site contains a summary of these rules, main.wgbh.org/caption.
Notice of Proposed Rule Making, Closed Captioned Requirements for Digital Television Receivers
The Decoder Circuitry Act (see above) requires the FCC to take appropriate action to ensure closed captioning services continue to be available to consumers when the current analog system gives way to the digital broadcast system. In July 1999, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to amend technical standards for displaying closed captioning on analog television receivers to facilitate the display of captions text on DTV receivers.
This NPRM proposes requiring DTV receiver manufacturers to incorporate a set of technical standards for encoding, delivery and display of closed captioning once the standards have been developed and tested. Once the receiver standards are adopted, programming prepared for display on DTV receivers will be subject to the transition schedule for the captioning of new programming (see information on FCC captioning mandates above).
Notice of Inquiry, Public Interest Obligations for Digital Broadcasts
In 1996, Congress decided to provide digital TV station licenses to holders of analog licenses and not conduct auctions for the digital broadcast spectrum. In exchange for these licenses, consumer advocates and the FCC held that broadcasters must meet certain obligations to serve the public. The FCC has issued a Notice of Inquiry to create a forum for debate on how broadcasters can best serve the public interest during and after the transition to digital transmission technology.
The NOI also seeks comment on some recommendations of the President's Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Broadcasters, and on some ideas contained in petitions filed by outside parties, including People for Better TV, asking for the FCC to commence a proceeding on this subject.
The Commission seeks comment on several categories of issues. One category concerns how broadcasters can make their programming more accessible to persons with disabilities, such as enabling viewers to change the size of captions or to make video description for blind and visually impaired viewers more widely available. The Commission also asks for comment and suggestions on innovative ways unique to DTV to encourage diversity in the digital era. A public comment period is underway until the end of March 2000. A public response period ensues, and lasts until the end of April 2000.
Notice of Proposed Rule Making, Described Television Broadcasts
In November, 1999, the FCC decided unanimously to release a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) which would significantly increase the amount of described programming on television, in particular on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC and on the major cable networks. A number of organizations have advocated for FCC action on video description (AARP, National Council on Aging, and veterans groups in addition to blindness organizations).
The FCC action stems from a section of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which directed the FCC to take appropriate action to study and promote the greater use of video description (the same section of the Act set in motion the closed captioning mandates now in place). A public comment period on the Description NPRM is underway until the end of February. A public response period ensues, and lasts until the end of March. There is not yet a schedule for when description mandates might be announced by the FCC.
