/ 12.17.2012 12:01PM
FCC Recognizes SMPTE for Closed-Captioning Standard
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Feds likes the Society of Motion Picture and Television
Engineers’ Timed Text standard for captioning online video
content. SMPTE said the standard is receiving an honor from the Federal
Communications Commission—a Chairman’s Award for Advancement in Accessibility.
SMPTE said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will present the award to the
Society at a ceremony on Dec. 19, 2012 at the FCC headquarters in Washington,
D.C.
The FCC declared
the SMPTE Timed Text standard a safe harbor interchange and delivery format in
February. As a result, captioned video content distributed via the Internet
that uses the standard will comply with the 21st Century
Communications and Video Accessibility Act, a recently enacted law designed to
ensure the accessibility, usability, and affordability of broadband, wireless,
and Internet technologies for people with disabilities. The standard is based
on Timed Text Markup Language 1.0, which now is used for captioning UltraViolet
content. The SMPTE standard is available free of charge at www.smpte.org/standards.
The FCC
Chairman’s awards are intended to encourage technological innovation in
communication-related areas and to recognize engineers, researchers, and other
technologists whose energies and perseverance contribute to technologies that
help people with disabilities to obtain and succeed at jobs and participate more
actively in the community. The awards are a project of the FCC’s Accessibility
and Innovation Initiative, which is based on a recommendation from the FCC’s
2010 National Broadband Plan.