Print
Email
/ 07.27.2010 1:00PM
House Approves Captioning and Accessibility Bill
WASHINGTON: Legislation that could make a wide variety of
communications and video technologies more accessible to millions of Americans
with disabilities is working its way through Congress.
The U.S. House on Monday passed the 21st Century Communications and Video
Accessibility Act, sponsored by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. The bill goes next to
the Senate.
It includes provisions to expand the availability of audio descriptions of
television shows to media markets across the country; new requirements to
ensure closed-captioned television programs are also closed captioned for
viewing on the Internet; and measures to increase the ability for Americans who
are blind to access the Internet from smartphones.
To achieve its intent, the bill establishes an FCC advisory committee to
examine closed captioning, video description; and access to emergency
information, programming guides, menus and user interfaces. It will require
most video devices, large and small, to include the capacity for audio
descriptions of video content, and for closed captioning of audio
content.
Another provision directs the FCC to make rules on captioning for video over
the Internet. Consumer-generated content is exempted. Government-made video is
covered by a previous presidential order.
An amendment that passed unanimously during markup will also provide up to $10
million a year out of the FCC’s existing Telecommunications Relay Fund for the
specialized equipment that low-income deaf-blind Americans need to access the
Internet, use special text telephones to communicate, and access advanced
communications services such as e-mail.
“In the 21st century, individuals with disabilities must be able to get on to
the Internet from wherever they happen to be--using online ramps to the Web
just as the ADA mandated physical ramps into buildings 20 years ago,” Markey
said in a statement. “Back then, Americans with disabilities couldn’t get
around if buildings weren’t wheelchair accessible; today it’s about being Web
accessible.” --
From Government
Video
See...
“
21st
Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.”
The committee
staff memo on the bill.
Print
Email
Sunday 12:00AM
EBU Pushes Hybrid Broadcast/Broadband TV
“Underlying this co-operation is the shared conviction that... only a flexible, cross-border approach will make it happen quickly.” ~ Ingrid Deltenre