[Nfbmo] FCC re-instates video description.

[fred olver]

FCC Reinstates Video Description Programming,

The U.S. government is reinstating a rule requiring video description programming by large-market broadcast affiliates of the top four national networks,

and multichannel video programming distributor systems (MVPDS) with more than 50,000 subscribers.

 

On Sept. 8, the Federal Communications Commission posted a Federal Register Notice—Video Description: Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications

and Video Accessibility Act of 2010—which says this order reinstates the video description rules adopted by the commission in 2000.

 

“Video description” is the insertion of audio narrated descriptions of a television program’s key visual elements into natural pauses in the program’s dialogue,

which makes video programming more accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired, the notice says.

 

The FCC’s order reinstates the requirement that large-market broadcast affiliates of the top four national networks, and MVPDS with more than 50,000 subscribers,

provide video description.

 

The order also reinstates the requirement that all network-affiliated broadcasters (commercial or non-commercial) and all MVPDS pass through any video description

provided with network programming they carry, to the extent that they are technically capable of doing so and when that technical capability is not being

used for another purpose related to the programming.

 

The FCC originally adopted video description regulations in 2000, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the video description

rules on the grounds the FCC had insufficient authority to impose such regulations, according to the commission. However, the Twenty-First Century Communications

and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-260) directs the FCC to reinstate those rules with certain modifications. The new video description rule

becomes effective Oct. 11, 2011, with Oct. 1, 2012 as the final compliance date.

http://www.dealingwithvisionloss.com  For some of us it's a way of life and for some of us it just makes life easier. Fred Olver