WASHINGTON—The most recently adopted closed-captioning rules from the Federal Communications Commission go into effect Sept. 22, 2016. The effective date applies to the Closed Captioning Responsibilities Order, adopted by the FCC in February. The order—an amendment to existing closed-captioning rules, delineates the responsibilities for closed-captioning services and outlines complaint procedures.
According to the FCC, the order “clarifies that responsibility for the quality of closed captioning falls on video programmers that prepare or make arrangements for the captions on their television shows, while the delivery and technical aspects of captioning remains the responsibility of distributors such as cable or satellite companies. The commission allocates the responsibilities for addressing and resolving closed captioning provision and quality control issues between video programmers and distributors, based on which entity has primary control for each issue. The order also modifies and improves the captioning complaint procedures and certification process.”
The amendment was published in the Federal Register Aug. 23, 2016, which triggered the 30-day effective date of Sept. 22.
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