Understanding FCC's Closed Captioning Rules for TV and Internet Programs (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: General Guidance about Captioning Rules Closed captioning helps ensure access to video programs on television and the Internet for viewers in the United States. Congress has recognized closed captioning to be an increasingly important part of our lives at home, school, and workplace. The Federal Communications, or FCC's, requirements to caption video programming depend on whether the program is shown on television or the Internet. General Rules about Captioning General Rules Activating Captions If closed captioning functionality is built into the equipment, for example, televisions, set-top boxes, and similar devices, and was manufactured, leased, or requested after December 20, 2016, the device must include a simple and easy-to-use method for activating closed captioning, if the equipment. However, a small number of devices and some providers may have a later deadline for this requirement. Television On television, programs must be captioned unless the program is exempt. 100% of new programs shown on television that are not exempt must be captioned. 75% of older pre-rule programs that are not exempt must be captioned. Pre-rule programs are the ones that were shown before January 1, 1998 for analog programs. And, before July 1, 2002, for digital programs. Later in this video, we will share with you which programs are exempt from the FCC's captioning rules. Internet For the Internet, the captioning rules apply only if the video program was shown on television. In the United States, with captions after certain dates, different rules apply to full-length video programs and video clips. Some examples of full-length programs are half-hour situation comedies, hour-long dramas, and two-hour movies. A video clip is an excerpt of a full-length video program. Some examples of video clips include a 30-second news story, a one-minute sketch taken from a full-length comedy program, and a two-minute segment taken from a television drama. Here are the types of full-length programs that must be captioned when shown on the Internet. Remember, these programs only must be captioned if they were first shown on television with captions, or are simultaneously shown on television with captions. Full-length pre-recorded programs. Full-length live and near-live programs. A live program is a program shown on television at the same time it is performed. A near-live program is a program performed and recorded less than 24 hours before shown on television. An example may be a late-night show that was recorded earlier in the day. Even if a full-length captioned program that had been shown on television is substantially edited for the Internet, it must be captioned when shown on the Internet. If the entity showing the video program online has already posted the program on the Internet, before it was shown on television with captions, that entity must caption the program on the Internet beginning no later than 15 days after it is shown on television with captions. Video clips of full-length programs on the Internet. The FCC has different captioning requirements for video clips depending on the type of video clip. Remember, these requirements only apply to video clips taken from full-length programs shown on television. They do not apply to YouTube videos or other consumer-generated videos, for example, homemade videos created by individuals. And they do not apply to any video clips if not shown on television. There are various types of video clips as follows. Straight lift clips, montages, and live near-live. Straight lift clips are clips that contain a single excerpt of a captioned full-length television program, with the same video and audio that was shown on television. Captions are required for straight lift video clips that were posted on the Internet on or after January 1, 2016. Montages are video clips that contain a single excerpt of a captioned full-length television program, and live near-live are video clips that contain multiple straight lift video clips. Captioning is required for montages if posted on the Internet on or after January 1, 2017. Video clips of live and near-live full-length television programs. Captioning is required for these video clips if posted on the Internet on or after July 1, 2017. Once a live or near-live video clip is posted to the Internet, the responsible entity has 8 to 12 hours to add captions.