21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act

Congress passed a surprisingly under-reported piece of legislation last October that's designed to make advanced communications, video (both traditional cable and broadcast TV, as well as Internet), and mobile phones more accessible to people with disabilities.  The chairman of the FCC called it "the most significant piece of disability legislation in 20 years".  He's probably right, which is why it's strange that no one knows about it. You can find the law here: 21st Century Communications Act.  Here's a short summary:

1. Browsers on smart phones must be accessible, and smart phones must be compatible with hearing aids;
2. FCC has the authority to ensure that people with disabilities can access next generation of 911 technology;
3. The top 4 broadcast and top 5 cable networks required to provide 50 hours of programming per week with video description;
4. Programs shown on TV with closed captioning must include such captions when reshown on internet; and
5. Emergency information typically shown as silent text crawl at bottom of screen must be made accessible to the blind.

More specifically, the bill establishes that:

• Within one year of passage of the Act that the FCC will define regulations to make Advanced Communications Services accessible to and usable by people with disabilities (Section 716).  "Advanced Communications Services" are defined as

• Effective three years after passage of the Act, internet browsers built into mobile phones will need to support accessibility in the browser’s features and functions (Section 718).  Such supports could include the use of technical standards to ensure that the browsers are compatible with common screen reader technology, for example.

• Within 60 days the FCC will establish a committee to advise on video programming and emergency access, and that group will develop reports (Section 201) including:

• a report within 6 months which includes deadlines for the delivery of closed captioning services

• a report within 18 months recommending the schedule for the delivery of video description

• Within 6 months, the FCC will set a schedule for requiring closed captions on video displayed online, for video that was delivered with captions on broadcast television. (Section 202)

• The FCC will commence an evaluation within one year of the passage of the Act to investigate the technical challenges, benefits, and technical challenges around video description for online video. (Section 202)

• The FCC will define regulations within 18-36 months which require access to the controls that accompany video programming (e.g. play, pause, closed captioning, volume controls) to enable access for people who are blind or visually impaired. (section 204)

• The FCC will define regulations within 18-36 months which require on-screen menus and program guides to be accessible to people who are blind or low-vision. (Section 205)

As you can probably just tell from the density of the information above, each one of those mandates is a huge task, and will require cooperation from various industries (telecom, search technology, mobile phone hardware, etc.), the FCC, and the disability community.  I'll try to explore a few of the mandates in future posts.


In the meantime, be aware that you - on behalf of yourself, or an organization that you're part of - can submit a comment to the FCC regulation.  The submission process for the video description notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) is detailed here: Video Description NPRM.  Deadlines for each of the various parts vary, but the general idea is that information is due in the next couple months.