Commendation to FCC for Captioning Quality from Consumer Advisory Committee

The Federal Communications Commission Consumer Advisory Committee commends the Federal Communication Commission for its formal action on TV caption quality.

On February 20, 2014, the FCC unanimously approved new, more comprehensive rules for television closed captioning to ensure that viewers who are deaf and hard of hearing have full access to video programming. Effective January 15, 2015, all television programming with captions will be held to the Commission’s quality standards for accuracy, synchronicity (timing), program completeness, and placement of closed captions. The Commission’s Report & Order:

• distinguishes between pre-recorded, live, and near-live programming and explains how the new standards apply to each type of programming.
• includes best practices for video programmers and captioning vendors, which promise to improve captioning quality for viewers.
• adopts measures to ensure that people who are deaf and hard of hearing will have greater access to news programming in their local communities.
• addresses several other issues related to closed captioning quality, including multicast channels, technical equipment monitoring, and recordkeeping.

[Berlyn is Chairperson FCC Consumer Advisory Committee]