The Federal Communications Commission

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Digital Television Captioning Summit
National Center for Accessible MediaAdvanced
Television Systems Committee March 14,
2001 Washington, D.C. Presentation by Karen
Peltz Strauss Deputy Bureau Chief Consumer
Information Bureau Federal Communications
Commission
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(No Transcript)
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DISABILITIES RIGHTS OFFICE

• Review relevant agenda items and other
  documents prepared by other bureaus to ensure
  conformance with existing disability laws and
  policies
• Provide advice and assistance to other Bureaus,
  to members of the industry, and to the
  consuming public on disability laws and
  policies
• Prepare and conduct rulemaking proceedings
  related to disability access

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DISABILITIES RIGHTS OFFICE CONT.

• Assist consumer representatives (Consumer
  Advocacy Mediation Specialists) at Consumer
  Centers on disability- related questions and
  complaints
• Work with Consumer Centers and Enforcement
  Bureau on resolving consumer complaints
• Work with Consumer Education Office on outreach
  and education pertaining to disability issues
• Prepare Commission materials in accessible
  formats

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• 100 new (non-exempt) programming
  captioned by 2006
• 75 older (non-exempt) programming
  captioned by 2008
• 100 Spanish language (non-exempt)
  programming captioned by 2010

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TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING
Implementation Schedules New Programming all
programming exhibited after January 1,
1998 2000 450 hours of captioned
programming/channel/calendar quarter 2002 900
hours of captioned programming/channel/calendar
quarter 2004 1350 hours of captioned
programming/channel/calendar quarter 2006 100
captioned programming, excluding exempted
programming
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TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING
Implementation Schedules Pre-rule Programming
All programming first shown before January 1,
1998 2003 30 of captioned programming/channel/
calendar quarter 2008 75 of captioned
programming/channel/calendar quarter,
excluding exempted programming
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TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING
Implementation Schedules Spanish Language
Programming New Programming 2001 450 hours
of captioned programming/channel/calendar
quarter 2004 900 hours of captioned
programming/channel/calendar quarter 2007 1350
hours of captioned programming/channel/calendar
quarter 2010 100 captioned programming,
excluding exempted programming
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TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING
Implementation Schedules Spanish Language
Programming Pre-rule Programming 2005 30
of captioned programming/channel/calendar
quarter 2012 75 hours of captioned
programming/channel/calendar quarter
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DIGITAL PROGRAMMING

• Pre-rule Programming prepared for display on
  DTV receivers before July 1,
  2002
• New Programming prepared for display on
  DTV receivers after July 1,
  2002
• In order to be counted under the Commissions
  captioning guidelines, programming distributors
  must transmit captions capable of being decoded.
  Captions created for use in analog may be
  upconverted to be transmitted in EIA-708 for
  digital delivery.

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TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING
EXEMPTIONS

• Overnight programming (between 2 a.m. - 6
  a.m.)
• Advertisements under 5 minutes
• Public Service Announcement (except federally
  produced)
• Locally produced programming with limited
  repeat value
• Non-English programming (except Spanish)
• Primarily textual programming
• New networks (first 4 years of existence)
• Video Program Providers with revenues under
  3 million/year

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TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING

• Local News
• Real-time Captioning Mandated For
• 4 major national broadcast networks (ABC, CBS,
  Fox, and NBC)
• Television affiliates of these networks in the
  top 25 television markets
• National nonbroadcast networks (e.g., cable)
  serving at least 50 of the total number of
  households subscribing to video
  programming services
• Electronic Newsroom Technique (uses
  pre-scripted text that appears on the
  teleprompter) - permitted for other networks and
  stations for the present time

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ACCESS TO TELEVISEDEMERGENCY PROGRAMMING

• May 2000 FCC Report and Order - requires
  television programming distributors to make
  televised emergency program- ming accessible
  to persons who are deaf and hard of hearing
• Covers broadcasters, cable operators, satellite
  television services
• Access may be through closed captions, or other
  visual methods, including open captioning or
  scrolls that appear on the screen
• Requires information about areas affected by the
  emergency, details on ways to respond,
  instructions on how to obtain assistance,
  school and road closings, shelters, etc.

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DIGITAL TELEVSION (DTV) RECEIVERS

• REPORT AND ORDER
• Released July 31, 2000 - Effective July
  1, 2002
• In the Matter of Closed Captioning
  Requirements for Digital Television
  Receivers, Closed Captioning and Video
  Description of Video Programming,
  Implementation of Section 305 of the
  Telecommunications Act of 1996, Video
  Programming Accessibility
• ET Docket No. 99-254 MM Docket No. 95-176
• Adopts technical standards for the display of
  closed captions on digital television
• Television Decoder Circuitry Act FCC must
  take appropriate action to ensure that
  closed captioning services remain available as
  new technology is developed.

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DIGITAL TELEVSION RECEIVERS FCC REPORT
AND ORDER

• Incorporates minimums of Section 9 of EIA708B
  recommended practices for DTV closed
  captioning decoder manufacturers
• Requires additional capabilities contained in
  EIA708 to ensure that closed captioning
  will be accessible for the greatest number
  of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing.
• Adds a new Section 15.122 to Commissions rules
  (found at 47 C.F.R.)

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DIGITAL TELEVSION RECEIVERSFCC REPORT AND ORDER
CONT.

• Coverage
• DTV sets with widescreen displays - 7.8 inches
  vertically
• DTV sets with conventional displays - 13 inches
  diagonally
• Stand-alone DTV tuners and converter boxes
  (whether or not marketed with display
  screens)
• Converter boxes used to display digital
  programming on analog receivers must
  deliver encoded analog caption information
• Dual mode receivers receiver must be able to
  decode captions while operating in analog or
  digital mode
• Other TV interface devices e.g., VCRs, DVD
  players, personal video recorders must
  pass through closed captions intact to DTV decoder

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DECODER OPERATION FEATURES
CAPTION SIZE Decoders must support
standard, small, and large caption
sizes FONTS Decoders must
have ability to display 8 fonts in
EIA-708 COLOR Decoders must
support 8 colors of EIA-708 white,
black, red, green, blue, yellow, magenta,
cyan background and foreground OPACITY
Decoders must implement transparent,
translucent, solid, and flashing
character attributes CHARACTER EDGE Decoders
must implement varied character edge
surrounding body of the characters, including
none, raised, depressed,
uniform, or drop shadowed
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APPLICATION

• CAPTION PROVIDER CHOICE/CONSUMER OVERIDE
  Decoders must display features (size, font,
  color) chosen by caption provider unless
  overridden by consumer selection.
• PRESERVATION OF DISPLAY OPTIONS Customized
  caption display options must be saved when
  receiver is switched off default setting for
  customized options required.
• CAPTIONING SERVICES Decoders must be able to
  decode and process captioning data for 6 standard
  services in EIA-708 (display of only 1 service at
  a time).
• Multiple languages
• Easy-to-read captions for children

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How Can You Contact Us?


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How Can You Contact Us?
fccinfo_at_fcc.gov

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