WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau has issued a Memorandum and Order once again delaying the implementation of the so-called “Audible Crawl Rule.”
The rule applies to “video programming distributors and video programming providers,” including TV stations, who must “provide an aural representation of visual, non-textual emergency information that is displayed during non-newscast programming, such as radar maps or other graphics, on a secondary audio stream” for persons who are blind or visually impaired.
Implementation of the rule has been delayed six times in the past. The rule was adopted on April 8, 2013, with an original effective date of May 26, 2015, but has been waived and delayed “to the present day because a technical solution for automated descriptions of the information in such graphics does not exist,” the NAB said in a Nov. 15 2024 filing.
As it subsequently examined the issue, the Media Bureau granted two temporary six-month extensions until May of 2026.
In granting a waver until November of 2027, the Bureau ruled that “the record shows `special circumstances’ warrant a waiver. The Bureau continues to recognize the critical importance of making emergency information accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. We find that the best way to ensure the continued availability of emergency information is to extend the waiver that has been in place since 2015. Compliance with the Audible Crawl Rule as it is currently written cannot be implemented through technical means with regard to visual but non-textual emergency information, and there is no indication that any such technical means will be available soon.”
“We grant the waiver for a 18-month period (through November 29, 2027) or until there is a ruling on the underlying Petition, whichever is sooner,” the Bureau added. “During the more than ten years that the successive waivers have been in place, the record indicates that there has been little progress in developing a workable technical compliance solution, and there is no indication of imminent progress. A 18-month waiver will allow the Commission to consider the pending Petition, and it will allow the industry to consider compliance solutions.”
The full Memorandum and Order is available here.
