WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has voted unanimously to adopt a proposal to amend the Audible Crawl Rule that would ensure that people who are blind or visually impaired continue to have access to the same critical details of an emergency as sighted viewers.
The agency made the move after repeated delays over an 11-year period in implementing the so called “Audible Crawl” rule because the regulator and broadcasters had found no workable solution for implementing it.
The Commission’s Audible Crawl Rule requires the use of a secondary audio stream to convey televised emergency information aurally when such information is conveyed visually (e.g., in an on-screen text crawl or a small image like a weather radar map), so that it is accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.
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.
In early April, the Media Bureau has issued a Memorandum and Order once again delaying the implementation of the so-called “Audible Crawl Rule” until 2027. That was the sixth time implementation of the rule has been delayed.
Currently, no technical solution exists for compliance with the audible crawl rule as it relates to graphics like a weather radar map.
This modified rule will stipulate that the rule is met if video programming providers or distributors provide textual crawls that convey emergency information duplicative of or equivalent to the visual, non-textual emergency information, as long as the text is conveyed aurally.
The April 30 Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will start a rulemaking proceeding to seek comment on amending the Audible Crawl Rule. Importantly, the proposed rule change would ensure that TV broadcasters continue to provide radar maps and other graphics conveying emergency information during non-newscast programming, while also preserving accessibility and consumer interests.
