On February 18th, the FCC released a 2016 order to clarify who is responsible for complying with closed captioning requirements. The commission unanimously agreed on their decision, which divides responsibility between video programming distributors (VPDs) and video programmers. There are significant changes that all VPDs and video programmers should pay attention to. In this webinar, Eliot Greenwald, the Deputy Chief of the Disability Rights Office at the FCC, will go over closed captioning requirements and responsibilities. He will cover the FCC's 2014 order for closed captioning quality, the FCC's recent 2016 order that allocates responsibility for captioning, and best practices for captioning according to the FCC. Eliot's presentation will cover: The FCC's requirements for closed captioning The FCC's captioning quality standards Overview of the FCC's recent 2016 order Responsibilities for ensuring captioning compliance for VPDs Responsibilities for ensuring captioning compliance for video programmers FCC best practices for captioning Use of Electronic Newsroom Technique Revisions to the FCC's captioning complaint procedure

1. 1
FCC’s 2016 Order on Closed Captioning
Responsibility Explained by the FCC
Eliot Greenwald
Deputy Chief,
Disability Rights Office
FCC
www.3playmedia.com
twitter: @3playmedia
live tweet: #a11y, #fcc
 Type questions in the window during the presentation
 Recording of presentation will be available for replay
 To view live captions, please click the link in the chat window
Lily Bond (Moderator)
Director of Marketing
3Play Media
lily@3playmedia.com

2. 3Play Media Webinar
March 9, 2016
Eliot Greenwald
Deputy Chief, Disability Rights Office
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau
Federal Communications Commission

3.  FCC noted expectation that video programming providers will establish
captioning quality controls through their arrangements, contracts, and licensing
agreements with captioning companies
 FCC expected captioning quality mandates will not be necessary because
providers will have their own strong incentives to maintain the overall quality of
captions as an integral part of programming, commensurate with the quality of
other video and audio program components
 FCC expected consumers can demonstrate disapproval of a program’s captions
through their purchase of advertised products, subscriptions to programming
services, or contacts with the video programming providers or programmers
 FCC promised to revisit the need to adopt quality standards if its assumptions
about marketplace incentives for quality captioning were incorrect, and
problems relating to closed captioning quality surface
3

4.  July 2004 – Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard
of Hearing, Inc. (TDI) and other deaf and hard of hearing
advocacy groups petitioned FCC for rules on captioning
quality – they sought:
◦ Requirements on accuracy, timing, completeness and placement
to make video programming fully accessible
◦ Mechanisms to ensure video programming providers (VPDs)
pass through captions intact
◦ Extension of prohibitions on using electronic newsroom technique
(ENT) to all TV markets
◦ Revision of complaint process
4

5.  2005 – FCC sought comment on consumer captioning quality petition
 2007 – FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee submitted report to FCC detailing
captioning problems resulting from the DTV transition (overlapping, obscured, and
garbled captions, etc.)
 2008 – FCC issued Order and Declaratory Ruling that:
◦ Amended captioning complaint process to allow complaints to go directly to the
FCC and specified deadline for their resolution;
◦ Required VPDs to provide contact information for the receipt and handling of
immediate closed captioning concerns and written captioning complaints
 FCC database since created for receipt of this contact data
◦ Clarified that there is no “digital exemption” to the obligation to caption TV
programming
 February 2014 – Adopted Closed Captioning Quality Order, 29 FCC Rcd 2221
5

6.  FCC received >1600 comments, in which consumers report “widespread problems” with
the quality of closed captions: “inaccurate,” “gibberish,” “garbled,” “butchered,”
“incomplete,” “misspelled,” “incomprehensible,” “obscure the speaker,” “significant lags
behind spoken words”
 FCC received an average of 465 captioning complaints per year
 FCC concluded that its original assumptions regarding the marketplace incentives for
quality captioning have not borne out
 FCC found that some providers provide high captioning quality, but this is not
consistent throughout the industry, and that the inaccuracies that occur are often severe
enough to “affect the comprehensibility of a program”
 FCC concluded that quality standards are necessary to achieve section 713’s
requirement for video programming to be fully accessible to consumers
 As in the 1990s, FCC recognized that captions must provide information substantially
equivalent to the audio portion of a video program in order to be useful, ensure
accessibility, and not interfere with the viewability of the video portion of the program
 FCC noted that the need for captioning quality standards is even greater given the
Communications and Video Accessibility Act’s (CVAA’s) mandates for closed
captioning on video programming delivered using Internet protocol
6

7.  4 Quality Components – 47 CFR § 79.1(j)(2) and (3)
◦ Accuracy: Captions must reflect the dialogue and other sounds and music in the
audio track to the fullest extent possible based on the type of the programming,
and must identify the speakers
◦ Synchronicity: Captions must be synchronous with their corresponding dialogue
and other sounds to the fullest extent possible based on the type of the
programming, and must appear at a speed that can be read by viewers
◦ Program Completeness: Captions must run from the beginning to the end of the
program, to the fullest extent possible, based on the type of the programming
◦ Placement: Captions may not cover up other important on-screen information,
such as character faces, featured text, graphics, or other information essential to
the understanding or accessing of a program’s content, and other information may
not cover up captions
7

8.  Pre-recorded Programming: Compliance with 4 components expected.
Alternative: Follow best practices (discussed below)
 Live Programming: FCC will consider the challenges (e.g., lack of an
opportunity to review captions), but expects captioning to be sufficiently
accurate, synchronous, complete, and appropriately placed to allow a
viewer who depends on captioning to understand the program and have a
viewing experience that is comparable to someone listening to the sound
track
 Near-Live Programming: Programming that is performed and recorded
within 24 hours prior to when it is first aired on television will be evaluated
under the same standards applied to live programming, although the
Commission encourages measures that can be taken prior to the program’s
airing to improve its captioning quality (e.g., delivery of material in advance
to captioner)
8

9.  Includes agreements with captioning vendors that
include performance requirements for high quality
captions - examples:
◦ Requirements for error-free captions that are punctuated
correctly, placed properly, and synchronized with audio
◦ Performance evaluations of captioners
◦ Screening, training and supervision of captioners
◦ Ensuring technical system functionalities (e.g., properly working
telephone lines and IP transmissions)
◦ Video programmers providing preparatory materials, such as
names of people and places, to real-time captioners
9

10.  Electronic Newsroom Technique (ENT) is a process that converts
the teleprompter script into captions, that can be used for live
programming
 Pursuant to 47 CFR § 79.1(e)(3), ENT is not permitted to be used
by:
◦ ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and their affiliates in the top 25 Nielsen Designated
Market Areas (DMAs)
◦ Non-broadcast networks that serve at least 50% of all homes subscribing
to multi-channel video programming distribution (MVPD) services, such
as cable and satellite
 Prior to June 30, 2014, when ENT was used, many portions of a
newscast, including late breaking news, live interviews, field reports,
weather, and sports were not captioned
10

11.  New ENT rules - 47 CFR § 79.1(e)(11):
 In-studio produced news, sports, weather and
entertainment programming must be scripted
 Weather information explaining the visual information on
the screen will scripted, but scripts may not precisely
track the spoken words
 Pre-produced segments must be scripted for ENT
 For live interviews, on-the-scene reporting, and late-
breaking news, stations will supplement with crawls,
textual information, or other means
 Stations must appoint an ENT Coordinator for compliance
11

12.  National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) filed
an ENT progress report on October 28, 2015
 A coalition of consumer organizations
(Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of
Hearing, Inc. (TDI), National Association of the
Deaf (NAD), and Hearing Loss Association of
America (HLAA)) and the Technology Access
Program at Gallaudet University (TAP) filed a
Reply on November 13, 2015
12

13.  Codified existing requirement for video programming distributors
(VPDs) to monitor and maintain their equipment and take any
corrective measures necessary to ensure that such equipment is in
proper working order, as part of their obligation to ensure that the
captioning included with video programming reaches consumers –
47 CFR § 79.1(c)(2)
 New requirement for VPDs to perform routine technical equipment
checks in a manner that is sufficient to ensure that captions are
passed through to viewers intact – 47 CFR § 79.1(c)(2)
 New requirement for VPDs to keep records for 2 years of their
activities related to the maintenance, monitoring and routine
technical checks of their captioning equipment – 47 CFR § 79.1(c)
(3)
13

14.  New bilingual English and Spanish language programming and 75% of
older (pre-1998) bilingual English and Spanish language programming must
be closed captioned
 Small, discrete portions of English or Spanish segments that account for
only a small percentage of an otherwise non-English or non-Spanish
program, respectively, need not be captioned
 All video programming distributors are required to make contact information
available to consumers and the Commission
 “On demand” programming must comply with captioning rules (caption 100
percent of all new English, Spanish and bilingual English and Spanish
language programming; and 75 percent of older (pre-1998) English,
Spanish and bilingual English and Spanish language programming)
 Low power television stations must comply with the Commission’s closed
captioning rules
14

15.  The Second Report and Order released on
February 19, 2016, FCC 16-17:
◦ Extends some of the responsibilities for the quality and
provision of closed captioning to other entities involved
in the production and delivery of video programming
◦ Revises procedures for the handling of complaints
◦ Revises video programmer certification requirements
◦ Makes other procedural modifications
15

16.  Assigns responsibility for the quality of closed captioning to video
programming distributors (VPDs) and video programmers
 Each entity is responsible for closed captioning issues that are
primarily within its control
 Video programmers are responsible for:
◦ Closed captioning problems that stem from production of the captions
◦ Transmission of the captions up to the point where they are handed off to
VPDs
 VPDs are responsible for:
◦ Quality problems that are the result of the VPDs’ faulty equipment
◦ Failure to pass through the closed captioning data intact
16

17.  Maintains current rules that place primary responsibility
for the provision of closed captioning on video
programming distributors
 Also holds video programmers responsible for a lack of
captions where they have failed to provide captions on
non-exempt programs
 Those rules addressing assignment of responsibilities
become effective 30 days after a summary is published
in the Federal Register
◦ We expect publication around the end of this month
17

18.  Under 47 CFR § 79.1(g)(2), complaints filed with the Commission
must include:
◦ (1) the channel number, channel name, call sign, or network
◦ (2) the name of the MVPD, if applicable
◦ (3) the date and time when the captioning problem occurred
◦ (4) the name of the program with the captioning problem and
◦ (5) a detailed description of the captioning problem, including specifics
about the frequency and type of problem (e.g., garbling, captions cut off
at certain times or on certain days, and accuracy problems)
 The Commission will work with the consumer to fill in the missing
information
 These rules were adopted in 2014 and have been in effect
18

19.  Revises the procedures for receiving, serving, and
addressing television closed captioning complaints in
accordance with a burden-shifting compliance model -
47 CFR § 79.1(g)
◦ The video programming distributor (VPD) is required to initially
address complaints
◦ Allows the VPD to shift the responsibility for responding to a
complaint to the video programmer
 If the VPD, after conducting an investigation
 Determines that the problem was not within its control but appears to
be within the control of the video programmer
19

20. ◦ The VPD may also (after investigation) find that the cause of the
problem is third-party equipment that is not within the control of
the VPD or video programmer
 Establishes a “compliance ladder” for the Commission’s
television closed captioning quality requirements – 47
CFR § 79.1(g)(9)
◦ Provides video programming distributors and video programmers
with opportunities to take informal and prompt corrective action to
reduce the need for enforcement action by the Commission
20

21.  Revisions to the complaint procedures and the new
compliance ladder for caption quality complaints become
effective after:
◦ Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) approval by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) and
◦ The Commission issues a notice of the effective date in the
Federal Register
◦ This process can take approximately 6 months
 Until the new rules take effect, the current rules for
handling complaints remain in effect
21

22.  47 CFR § 79.1(m) requires each video programmer to
file with the Commission a certification that:
 The video programmer is in compliance with the rules
requiring the inclusion of closed captions, and either:
◦ (1) Is in compliance with the captioning quality standards or
◦ (2) Has adopted and is following related Best Practices or
◦ (3) Is exempt from the captioning obligations
 If exempt, the video programmer must include in its certification the
specific exemptions claimed
22

23.  47 CFR § 79.1(i)(3) requires each video programmer to
register with the Commission:
◦ Contact information for the receipt and handling of written closed
captioning complaints
◦ Must use the Commission’s web form
23

24.  The new rules for video programmer registration and certification
become effective after:
◦ PRA approval by OMB
◦ Development of the web form for filing the information
◦ The Commission issues a notice of the effective date in the Federal
Register
◦ This process can take approximately 6 to 12 months
 Until the new rules take effect
◦ There are no registration requirements for video programmers
 VPDs must continue to register under current 47 CFR § 79.1(i)(3), and this
requirement will not change when the rule revisions take effect
◦ Video programmers must continue to provide widely available
certifications pursuant to 47 CFR §§ 79.1(j)(1) and (k)(1)(iv)
24

25.  Eliot Greenwald - 202-418-2235 (voice)
 Eliot.Greenwald@fcc.gov
 Subscribe to AccessInfo by sending an e-mail to
AccessInfo@fcc.gov and typing “subscribe” in the
subject line or the main body of the e-mail
 DRO website:
www.fcc.gov/general/disability-rights-office
25

26. 26
Presenters
Eliot Greenwald
FCC
Deputy Chief, Disability
Rights Office
eliot.greenwald@fcc.gov
202-418-2235
Lily Bond (Moderator)
3Play Media
Director of Marketing
lily@3playmedia.com
617-764-5189 x119
Q&A
Please type your questions into the window in your control panel. A recording of this
webinar will be available for replay.
Resources
Come see us at NAB!
www.3playmedia.com/schedule-a-meeting/
Booth SU9525 in South Hall (Upper Level)
White Paper: FCC Closed Captioning Requirements
info.3playmedia.com/wp-fcc.html
FCC Second Report & Order (Captioning Responsibility)
Transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2016/db0
302/FCC-16-17A1.pdf
Closed Captioning for Media and Entertainment:
www.3playmedia.com/solutions/entertainment
Upcoming Webinars
www.3playmedia.com/webinars/