[blindlaw] FCC seeks comments regarding delivery of videoprogramming

[ckrugman at sbcglobal.net]

this may be of interest.

Chuck 

The following information is sent as a public service by AudioVision. We hope you can share this information with those who have diminished vision.

 

The Federal Communications Commission is asking for your comments for their Annual Assessment of the Status of Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video Programming (http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/02/11/3981295.htm). This might be something that description consumers are interested in (especially in light of some of the recent discussions about description availability or lack thereof), and description is addressed specifically in number 17 on the list of comment requests by the FCC:

 

"We also invite comment to provide information on access to programming by persons with disabilities. We seek comment on what, if any, concerns industry and the public have with meeting these increased captioning requirements for new Spanish language and "pre-rule" English language programming. We also seek information on the level and quality of captioning for non-English language programming. We seek information on the quality, accuracy, placement, technology, and any instances of missing or delayed captions, and the amount of digital programming that contains closed captions translated from analog closed captions. We seek comment on the extent to which digital programming may not be captioned and ask why this is the case. We seek information on the availability of video description services, currently provided by programmers on a voluntary basis and the amount and types of video programming that includes video descriptions and whether MVPDs generally carry video descriptions inserted by programmers"

 

Please note that the deadline for submitting comments is February 27th.

 

Contact info for the Federal Communications Commission is below:

 

E-MAIL

Commissioner Michael J. Copps: Michael.Copps at fcc.gov Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein: Jonathan.Adelstein at fcc.gov Commissioner Robert McDowell: Robert.McDowell at fcc.gov

 

PHONE

1-888-225-5322 Voice: toll-free

1-888-835-5322 TTY: toll-free

 

MAIL

Federal Communications Commission

445 12th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20554

 

John Harris

AudioVision

1-866-297-7623

Movies and TV for those who can't see.