[Nfbf-l] Emergency Information on Television - Accessibility for Individuals who are Blind or Visually Impaired

[Alan Dicey]

Dear Friends,
Sounds like some encouraging news here!
Emergency Information on Television - Accessibility for Individuals who are 
Blind or Visually Impaired
This announcement describes two actions taken by the FCC relating to the 
accessibility of emergency information on television for individuals who are 
blind or visually impaired.
In the first action, taken on May 21, 2015, the FCC expanded its rules to 
make sure individuals who are blind or visually impaired get critical 
details about emergencies shown on television.  In the second action, taken 
on May 26, 2015, the FCC addressed two petitions regarding the deadline for 
compliance with the FCC's rules requiring televised emergency information to 
be accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
These actions relate to rules adopted by the FCC in 2013, which require 
emergency information that appears visually during a non-news program (such 
as in a text crawl displayed during a regularly scheduled program) to be 
provided aurally on the secondary audio stream.  These requirements stem 
from the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, 
which was signed into law by President Obama in 2010.
FCC Expands Emergency Information Accessibility Requirements
On May 21, 2015, the FCC expanded its rules to make sure individuals who are 
blind or visually impaired get critical details about emergencies shown on 
television.
The new rules adopted by the FCC require that emergency information be made 
accessible on a secondary audio stream on "second screens," such as tablets, 
smartphones, laptops, and similar devices when subscription television 
providers, such as cable and satellite operators, permit consumers to access 
scheduled programming over their networks using an app on these devices.  In 
addition, the new rules require that the equipment used to receive and play 
back television programming, such as set-top boxes, have a simple and 
easy-to-use mechanism to switch from the main program audio to the secondary 
audio stream to hear audible emergency information.
The FCC also seeks comments on additional issues related to the 
accessibility of emergency information for individuals who are blind or 
visually impaired.  We will announce the deadlines for comments and reply 
comments after the notice is published in the Federal Register.