[Ncabs] Audio Description

[Alan A. Chase]

Thought you all might be intersted in this article.  The legal and legislative battle over audio description on television ended two years with the passage of federal legislation.  The FCC has been working on implementation guidlines for the past two years and they are now ready to begin requiring compliance.



Beginning July 1, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, plus the top five cable 
networks will begin providing audio descriptions of some of their 
programming for blind or sight-impaired viewers. The shows to be 
described range from ABC's Modern Family to CBS's NCIS to Nickelodeon's 
Dora the Explorer to USA's Royal Pains. 

It's not altruism driving the surge in 
descriptions. They were mandated by Congress in the 21st Century 
Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. 

These described programs are the culmination of a 12-year battle by the 
FCC and groups such as the Audio Description Institute. They thought 
they had won the battle in 2000 when the FCC adopted rules similar to 
the 2010 act, but a court agreed with broadcasters that the agency had 
overstepped its authority. 
 
Now backed by law, the new FCC rules gradually expand the description 
obligations to other TV stations. 
 
For now, stations in the top 25 markets and cable systems with 50,000 
or more subs will be required to offer about four hours a week of the 
new service. The number of stations and hours will gradually increase. 

Starting July 1, the country's 21.5 million visually impaired people 
will be able to enjoy TV more than ever before. 

On that day, the Big Four broadcast networks and the top five-rated 
cable networks will begin offering four hours a week of so-called video 
descriptions that clue in blind and partially sighted viewers on what's 
going on when the characters aren't talking. The descriptions, audible 
only to viewers who want them to be audible, are squeezed in between 
the dialog.  

Video descriptions have been part of 
broadcasting, cable, home video, but never to the extent on TV as they 
will be beginning next month. 

According to the FCC's implementing rules, the Big Four O&Os and 
affiliates in the top 25 markets will have to air 50 hours each quarter 
- or roughly four hours a week - of described programming. 

Cable and satellite systems with at least 50,000 subscribers have to 
offer the same amount of described programming for the top five-rated 
cable networks - currently Disney, Nickelodeon, TBS, TNT and USA. 

And with just weeks to go before the deadline, the described 
programming plans of nine affected networks are shaping up. 

ABC's plan is to provide descriptions on some of its Tuesday and 
Wednesday shows. This summer, those shows include sitcoms Last Man 
Standing, The Middle, Suburgatory, Modern Family, Happy Endings and 
Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23. 
 
In the fall, ABC will likely include most of those shows and new sitcom 
The Neighbors and new drama Nashville. 

CBS has been providing audio descriptions for several programs since 
2002. The lineup is CSI, Criminal Minds, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, plus 
movies and miniseries. 
 
NBC has broadcast a slew of shows with 
descriptions, including the Betty White reality show Off Their Rockers, 
drama Grimm and the summer series Saving Hope. Described sitcoms 
include The Office, Up All Night and Parks and Recreation. 

At Fox, The Simpsons has been audio described for several years. Beyond 
the animated sitcom, Fox isn't prepared to say what it would be offering. 
 
Disney Channel's described shows will include hit sitcoms Jessie, 
A.N.T. Farm and the animated Phineas and Ferb. 

Nickelodeon will offer descriptions for some of its biggest hits, like 
the long-running animated Dora the Explorer and preschool educational 
show Team Umizoomi. 

Turner Broadcasting will have described movies as well as TV series. 
Among the series: TNT's The Closer and TBS's Tyler Perry comedies House 
of Payne and For Better or Worse. 

USA's described programs will include off-network shows NCIS and Law & 
Order: SVU, plus originals like Royal Pains and Suits. 
 
For the most part, video-described programs won't include live shows or 
news. The networks, which are providing most of this content to their 
affiliates, need time to write description scripts for voice artists to 
record. 

"It takes longer to get that done than closed captioning," says one 
network executive. "It also requires us to look at how our 
post-production schedules are set up. We have to work very closely with 
the folks at the post-production houses to make sure we get the 
programming to our vendors with sufficient time to get the video 
description correct." 

Producing the descriptions costs between $2,000 to $4,000 per hour. 

The networks and some associations for the blind are helping to ensure 
that people with vision problems know that descriptions are coming. 
 
"It's great for the networks to comply, but what's more important is 
getting the information out to folks," says Helena Berger, EVP-COO of 
the American Association of People with Disabilities. 
She is also a member of Comcast-NBCUniversal's joint diversity council. 

Some of the networks are creating logos and audio tones so that people 
with vision problems know when a program has audio descriptions. So 
far, there isn't an industry standard. 

And TV listing providers like Tribune Media Services will provide data 
to programming services to let them know if a program is 
audio-described. Then, it's up to individual cable systems to add 
symbols or sounds to their on-screen listings. 
 
According to broadcasters, it costs stations anywhere from $10,000 and 
$25,000 to install the gear necessary to handle the extra audio channel. 
 

--
Alan A. Chase, M.Ed.
Cross Categorical Resource Teacher, Wake County Public School System
Secretary, GMS Alumni Association Board of Directors