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As more and more television content become available with closed captioning, it's important to be familiar with the laws surrounding closed captioning services. In this post, we'll briefly go over the laws that safeguard deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals from discrimination, as well as some of the more recent changes to these laws. We'll also discuss how you can ensure your closed captions are compliant with current regulations. So, if you're curious about closed captioning laws or would simply like to know more about them, read on!
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the primary law that protects the rights of viewers with hearing impairments. This law requires all public accommodations, including movie theaters and other entertainment venues, to provide closed captioning services upon request. Additionally, the ADA prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including employment, education, transportation, and state and local government services.
The ADA does not, however, explicitly require all television programming to be captioned; or make subtitling movies. However, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has interpreted the law to mean that any form of television programming that is shown in a public accommodation must be captioned upon request. So, while you may not see captions on every show or movie you watch, chances are that if you ask for them, the theater or venue will be required to provide them.
The ADA also requires that any captioning services that are provided be of high quality and accurately reflect the dialogue and other audio content of the program. Additionally, all captions must be synchronized with the audio track of the program.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is responsible for enforcing the ADA, and individuals who believe that their rights have been violated may file a complaint with the DOJ.
In addition to the ADA, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 also requires closed captioning of all television programming. This law applies to all television broadcasters, including cable and satellite providers, as well as any other entity that delivers video programming to consumers.
The Telecommunications Act requires that all newly created or syndicated programming be captioned from the moment it aired. For older programming, the law gives broadcasters a grace period of four years to caption their content. After that, all programming must be captioned.
The law also requires that captions be of high quality and accurately reflect the dialogue and other audio content of the program. Additionally, all captions must be synchronized with the audio track of the program.
In addition to the ADA and the Telecommunications Act, the FCC has also promulgated regulations that require closed captioning of all television programming. These regulations are similar to the requirements set forth in the Telecommunications Act, but they also include a number of additional provisions.
For example, the FCC requires that all pre-recorded programming be captioned from the moment it is aired. For live and near-live programming, the FCC requires that captions be provided within eight hours of the program's airing.
Additionally, the FCC requires that all captions be of high quality and accurately reflect the dialogue and other audio content of the program. Additionally, all captions must be synchronized with the audio track of the program.
