[WebPub] Proposed Rules for Internet Captions

Tue Oct 4 18:49:04 EDT 2011

Glad to see that the latest developments in captioning regs are hitting folks' radar.

As a hard-of-hearing person the FCC's position is a step forward in letting me "join the party". Can't tell you how frustrating it's been. I'm a technology and gadget lover who happens to need closed captions to enjoy video on the web. My iPhone's been able to display captions for a while but it's been kind of useless due to lack of content.

Regarding MIT web content. I'm always hopeful that we can provide captioning to allow everyone to have the same experience. Particularly if we're talking about short clips or interview type video with talking heads.  That shouldn't be too bad. Right? And what a great message it sends. IMHO a marketing opportunity :-)

cheers,
Barbara J.

On Oct 4, 2011, at 4:19 PM, "Stephani Roberts" <stephani at MIT.EDU<mailto:stephani at MIT.EDU>> wrote:

Thanks Chris, this is very helpful. It's handy that you have a friend at the FCC!

It's unclear how much these rules will impact us at the moment, but from all that I've read leading up to today it appears that previously broadcast content is certainly the main focus. My intent in sharing the original article was more to make content producers aware that the landscape for video on the web is changing and expectations surrounding captioning will likely change as well. It's not clear yet as to whether a change in expectations will be also be expressed in the form of legal mandates for the content we generally produce and/or post i.e. short web segments, how-to's, seminars, etc. Course materials already fall under the ADA (sections 508 and 504).

This is something I'm following pretty closely so please feel free to reach out to me if you have any concerns. In the meantime if any big announcements or news comes out I will be sure to share it.

Best,
Stephani

-----
Stephani Roberts
Web Accessibility Consultant
MIT IS&T Accessibility & Usability
<mailto:stephani at mit.edu>stephani at mit.edu<mailto:stephani at mit.edu>
website: <http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/accessibility/index.html> http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/accessibility/index.html

desk: 617.253.0866
mobile: 617.852.3100

Send accessibility testing requests to: <mailto:accessibility at mit.edu> accessibility at mit.edu<mailto:accessibility at mit.edu>

On Oct 4, 2011, at 3:34 PM, Chris Peterson @ MIT wrote:

My friend at the FCC helpfully directs me to page 2 clause 2, which appears to limit the reach of this regulation to content "previously broadcast or exhibited on television with captions."

So will likely impact some people at MIT but not as many as the original blog entry would make it seem.

____________________________
Sent by the magic of mobile technology.

On Oct 4, 2011, at 2:58 PM, "Chris Peterson @ MIT" <<mailto:chris.peterson at MIT.EDU>chris.peterson at MIT.EDU<mailto:chris.peterson at MIT.EDU>> wrote:

The article below appears to come from a company which provides closed captioning support.

Here is the FCC's proposed, which, as I read through it, contains significantly more complex guidelines for what must and must not have closed captioning.

<http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0919/FCC-11-138A1.pdf><http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0919/FCC-11-138A1.pdf>http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0919/FCC-11-138A1.pdf

On Oct 4, 2011, at 2:41 PM, Stephani Roberts wrote:

Hello,

Here are some new details from the FCC's Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committee that will impact video on the web. The full article is worth reading, and following as a topic if you're producing video for web delivery. It appears that the availability of television captions will be the guiding principle for web content as mentioned in this pull quote below.

'In fact, the report released this past July states that the “fundamental performance objective is that regardless of how the captioned video is transmitted and decoded, the consumer must be given an experience that is equal to, if not better than, the experience provided as the content was originally aired on television.”'

--------- Full Article ------------------------

Proposed Rules for Internet Captions<http://www.closedcaptioning.net/webcasting/proposed-rules> (original site)
<http://www.closedcaptioning.net/webcasting/proposed-rules><http://www.closedcaptioning.net/webcasting/proposed-rules>http://www.closedcaptioning.net/webcasting/proposed-rules

Proposed Rules for Internet Captions<http://www.closedcaptioning.net/webcasting/proposed-rules>
Television<http://www.closedcaptioning.net/category/television> Webcasting<http://www.closedcaptioning.net/category/webcasting>

Much progress has been made in recent months regarding accessibility and closed captioning of television content on the Internet.  In July, the FCC’s Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committee released a report that established a six month timeframe for the new rules that require captions on the Internet.

In short, the FCC<http://www.fcc.gov/> must release advanced rules for Internet captioning by January 2012.  All live and near-live programming must have online captions by this same deadline.  A 12 month deadline was also given for edited programming to have captions online by July 2012.

The goal of these deadlines is to ensure that all users can enjoy and benefit from television content played on the Internet.  In fact, the report released this past July states that the “fundamental performance objective is that regardless of how the captioned video is transmitted and decoded, the consumer must be given an experience that is equal to, if not better than, the experience provided as the content was originally aired on television.”

To strive towards this objective, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on September 19, 2011.  Several rules are suggested to help implement the 21st CVAA<http://www.closedcaptioning.net/webcasting/21st-century> and these suggestions are currently open to public comment.  Some of the proposed rules include that video programmers must provide the necessary caption files to the video distributor; the programmer and distributor must ensure that captions will be available to the end viewer; and the quality of captioning on video viewed on the Internet must be no less than the quality of captions available when viewing the same video content on a television set.

As the Internet continues to significantly change how people view media, the new rules for Internet captions will play a tremendous role in providing equal access to everyone.  For decades, the FCC has enforced regulations that provide access for deaf and hard-of-hearing people to content via closed captions on the television set.  Thankfully, the FCC’s deadlines and proposed rules are good start to establishing the same access that has been provided on television sets to be available on content viewed on the Internet.

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For those who don't know, TechTV and MIT's YouTube channel both support captions. Here are some basic guidelines and resources for captioning. <http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/accessibility/video.html> <http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/accessibility/video.html> http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/accessibility/video.html

We'll do our best to keep you informed as Internet captions evolve as a standard.

Best,
Stephani

-----
Stephani Roberts
Web Accessibility Consultant
MIT IS&T Accessibility & Usability
<mailto:stephani at mit.edu><mailto:stephani at mit.edu>stephani at mit.edu<mailto:stephani at mit.edu>
website: <http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/accessibility/index.html> <http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/accessibility/index.html> http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/accessibility/index.html

desk: 617.253.0866
mobile: 617.852.3100

Send accessibility testing requests to: <mailto:accessibility at mit.edu> <mailto:accessibility at mit.edu> accessibility at mit.edu<mailto:accessibility at mit.edu>

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