WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau has issued a reminder that stations in DMAs 111 through 120 must implement its audio description rules by January 1, 2026.
The FCC's 2023 Audio Description Order expands the Commission’s audio description rules to an additional 10 designated market areas (DMAs) per year until all DMAs are included.
As previously reported, audio description aims to makes video programming more accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired through “[t]he insertion of audio narrated descriptions of a television program’s key visual elements into natural pauses between the program’s dialogue,” the FCC said.
The Commission’s audio description rules require certain television broadcast stations and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to provide audio description for a portion of the video programming they televise to consumers.
The geographical areas impacted by the rules are DMAs determined by Nielsen as of January 1, 2023. Those markets are:
- 1. Tyler-Longview (Lufkin & Nacogdoches)
- 2. Sioux Falls (Mitchell)
- 3. Fargo
- 4. Springfield-Holyoke
- 5. Lansing
- 6. Youngstown
- 7. Yakima-Pasco-Richland-Kennewick
- 8. Traverse City-Cadillac
- 9. Eugene
- 10. Macon
For general information about audio description, visit www.fcc.gov/audio-description.
