At a meeting on September 19th, 2017, the Rochester City Council (New York) approved a new city ordinance that will now require its local businesses to enable the closed captioning feature on televisions displayed to the public. Rochester will join only a few other U.S. cities, such as Portland, Oregon, that require all city businesses to provide this service to their patrons.Read
Over the past couple of years – and after several lawsuits filed against a few Ivy League schools – a growing number of universities are working toward accessibility compliance with their online video courses. Initially, the process can be overwhelming and take up a lot of resources. One university even resorted to removing its public library of 20,000 free educational videos because of a complaint filed by the Department of Justice. Unfortunately, because accessibility requirements are often met by a big-bad lawsuit when standards are not met, the whole process gets a negative designation right from the get-go.
Where to Begin
It appears that the initial obstacle for universities is a lack of appropriate education on both the requirements and the benefits of closed captioning. Often, universities do not take the proper initiative in allocating suitable funding or appropriately equipping the classrooms until the school is approached by an organization advocating for accessibility rights – at which time the need to comply becomes a time-crunched burden with a possible lawsuit attached.
It’s important to know that public and private educational institutions must provide equal access for students with disabilities in agreement with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as detailed in Title II (publicly-funded universities & vocational schools) and Title III (privately funded). Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 also ensure equal accessibility in any system of higher education that receives federal funding.
Beyond ensuring equal accessibility to all students, closed captioning is used as an effective learning tool by a significant percentage of students who do not self-identify as having difficulty with hearing. The availability of lecture and video transcripts helps students review and retain information outside of the classroom. It also aids students with learning disabilities, as well as ESL students.
Breaking Down the Roadblocks
Universities should not be overwhelmed by the thought of having to equip classrooms with an array of expensive technologies. The closed captioning process is simple. As long as clear audio can be transferred via the internet or a phone line, real-time captioners can write remotely to a variety of web platforms across multiple devices already available to students – devices such as mobile phones or laptops.
Furthermore, the educational value and benefits of closed captioning are often overlooked when it’s perceived as economically burdensome. Captioning is not only for the deaf and hard of hearing. Recognizing the value of captioning as a successful tool for all students should motivate all administrators to provide captioning on all their online courses.
The instant popularity of live video streaming apps like Periscope, Snapchat, and Facebook Live proves that authentic, in-the-moment content effectively captures the attention of audiences worldwide. Today, one out of five videos on Facebook are broadcast live and are watched three times longer on average than non-live. Considering that more than 5% of the world’s population – about 360 million people – have some degree of disabling hearing loss, there’s a significant number of users that the social networking service cannot ignore when over 100 million hours of videos are watched a day.Read
The final deadline of the FCC’s Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) pertaining to online videos is quickly approaching. On July 1, 2017, video clips (both straight-lift and montage clips) of live and near-live television programming (such as news or sporting events) will need to observe the following turnaround times for posting online with captions:
For clips of live programming, up to a 12-hour delay is permitted in posting a captioned clip after the programming has been shown on TV.
For clips of near-live programming, up to an 8-hour delay is permitted in posting a captioned clip after the programming has been shown on TV.
Live & Near-live Programming
Live programming is defined as programming shown on TV substantially simultaneously with its performance. When the Commission evaluates the compliance of captioning standards on live programming, there’s an understanding that live programming cannot be perfect since there’s a human element to live captioning and no opportunity to review and edit captions in a live setting. Therefore, there’s a little bit of leeway provided given the nature of live programming.
Near-live programming, which is programming that is performed and recorded within 24 hours prior to when it is first aired on television, is evaluated under the same standards applied to live programming. Although the FCC encourages measures to be taken prior to the program’s airing to improve its captioning quality, it’s understood that the window of time to make those corrections is very limited.
Revisiting the Internet Captioning Rules
The rules of the CVAA require video programming distributors that show programming on TV to post captioned clips of their programming on their own websites or applications ("apps"). Currently, the video clips rules do not apply to third-party websites or apps.
The Internet closed captioning rules only apply if the video programming was shown on TV in the U.S. with captions.
"Full-length video programming" is video programming that is shown on TV and is distributed to end-users in its entirety.
Excerpts of full-length video programming (with the same video and audio) captioned for television and posted online are denoted as video clips, or “straight-lift clips”, and require captioning as of January 1, 2016. The timeline for posting captions on videos online is within 15 days after the date of its initial broadcast.
On January 1, 2017, the law extended to “montages,” or edits composed of multiple single excerpts (“straight-lift clips”). For example, an hour-long talk show that aired on television may appear as multiple segments on the web afterward – say, abridged interviews of each of the guests. Those clips, all stemming from the original full-length program, are required to be captioned.
As of July 1, 2017, live and near-live programming will have to follow the turnaround times noted at the beginning of this post.
It’s also important to remember that consumer-generated media (e.g., home videos) shown on the Internet are not required to be captioned unless they were shown on TV with captions.
Repurposing caption files for the web can be as simple as reformatting and a quick file conversion. After all, the videos have already been transcribed. It’s just a matter of matching your video player’s specifications for web play-out. To learn more about getting your Internet clips compliant, please contact us.
Earlier this month at NRB Proclaim 17, we hosted a brief talk with broadcasters regarding the most updated FCC laws pertaining to closed captioning. Although it was intended as a review of the laws that are already in place, it proved that many of the laws are still not known, or unclear, to many broadcasters.
The talk was hosted at the Learning Arena located in the vendor exhibit hall. The goal of the Learning Arena is to foster true interaction between exhibiting companies and convention participants to share and connect; highlighting relevant education and training.Read
It has been a year since the FCC published updated guidelines pertaining to the closed captioning requirements for online video clips. The notice specified that excerpts of full-length video programming captioned for broadcast in the U.S. and posted via the video programming provider or distributor's website or app would need to have captions present.
This only applied to single excerpts or single “straight-lift clips” from a full-length program.
In that announcement, the FCC also marked January 1, 2017, as the date that this law will extend to “montages,” or edits composed of multiple single excerpts (“straight-lift clips”). For example, an hour-long talk show that aired on television may appear as multiple segments on the web afterward – say, abridged interviews of each of the guests. Those clips, all stemming from the original full-length program, will now be expected to be captioned.
This also warrants a reminder that Internet closed captioning rules only apply if the video programming was shown on television in the U.S. with captions. Consumer-generated media (e.g., podcasts, home videos, or tutorials) shown on the Internet are not required to be captioned unless, of course, they were shown on TV with captions.
On Deck
Another deadline for Internet video clips will be stepping up to the plate in mid-2017. On July 1, 2017, video clips of live and near-live television programming (such as news or sporting events) will need to observe the following turnaround times for posting online with captions:
For clips of live programming, up to a 12-hour delay is permitted in posting a captioned clip after the programming has been shown on TV.
For clips of near-live programming, up to an 8-hour delay is permitted in posting a captioned clip after the programming has been shown on TV.
Currently, these are the only dates remaining on the FCC’s initial 2012 release of Internet video programming requirements. We wouldn’t bet on this being the last.
Repurposing a caption file for the web can be as simple as reformatting and a quick file conversion. After all, the videos have already been transcribed. It’s just a matter of matching your video player’s specifications for web play-out. To learn more about getting your Internet clips compliant, please contact us.
Amidst the growing number of accessibility discrimination lawsuits being filed against US movie theater chains, the Department of Justice announced yesterday that a Final Rule of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III will soon be published to enforce a nationally consistent standard. This rulemaking will provide specific requirements that cinemas must now meet to satisfy their equal access obligations to patrons with hearing and vision disabilities.
For screenings of features produced with closed captioning, movie theaters will now be required to provide caption display devices, such as Sony’s Access Glasses or Dolby’s CaptiView, to patrons who request them. The law will also require these theaters to provide assistive listening devices for any film produced with an audio description track, which contains a personal narration throughout the film.Read
Earlier this month, a team of Aberdeen caption editors took an educational field trip to the cinema! We were excited to check out Sony’s closed captioning glasses offered at Regal Cinemas. We decided to watch Hillsong’s “Let Hope Rise” documentary.
Our captioning team awaiting their showtime. Left to right: Nathan, Austin, Christina, and Brittany
We were surprised at how easy the process was—you simply need to check that accessibility devices are available for the movie you want to see. After you purchase your tickets, head over to guest services and request the glasses. Unfortunately, there were only 4 pairs of glasses available so we had to share.
The team sporting the Sony's Access Glasses. Left to right: Christina, Brittany, Nathan, and Flora
The glasses fit like heavy 3-D glasses. They are attached to a small receiver box where you can choose mid, near, or far distance and even change the brightness of the text. (You can also choose different languages if available and there is a headphone output if you desire described audio as well.)
Christina's POV through Sony's Access Glasses
The captions appear in bright green font and “move” on the screen depending on where you look or how you tilt your head (which took a little getting used to). This technology is wonderful for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community and is likely going to encourage these viewers to choose Regal over other theaters. We had a blast evaluating the closed captions as we watched and were all pretty impressed with the movie theater glasses.
The field trip was even more rewarding for our team because of our longstanding relationship with the Hillsong team. The influx of content due to the June 1st Hillsong Channel launch has exposed more of our captioners to their productions and, along the way, created a few more super-fans of their work. They all jumped at the opportunity to check out their new theatrical release.
Here’s the trailer for the documentary...
A few weeks ago, we announced that the FCC published their final ruling on the responsibilities related to the provision and quality of closed captions on pre-recorded programming (FCC: Captioning Assurance Now a Shared Responsibility) effective September 22, 2016. To producers and owners of content, you are now directly responsible for providing and confirming the compliance of captioning work for non-exempt programming.
The Commission’s on-going attention to closed captioning quality, along with the NAD’s persistent class action lawsuits against universities, Netflix, Hulu, movie theaters, and airlines, are further proof that captioning work still remains inconsistent throughout the industry.
As a captioning company, we passionately support any efforts put in place to ensure that the industry can support and enforce these standards.Read
On February 18, 2016, the FCC implemented amendments to its rules on closed captioning of televised video programming to help clarify which bodies are responsible for the quality and the technical aspects of the delivery of closed captions on television. In a publication posted to the Federal Register last week, the FCC has assigned September 22, 2016, as the effective date for these new responsibilities.
In short, the FCC will now be holding the individual Video Programmers (producer, ministry, etc.) responsible for meeting the closed captioning quality standards in addition to holding TV stations responsible for broadcasting closed captions correctly. Video Programmers will also be required to register directly with the FCC in the future. More on that to come in the following weeks.
Follow the law or be ready to face the FCC directly.Read
