Accessible Emergency Information, and Apparatus Requirements for Emergency Information and Video Description

Lee | Posted on July 4, 2015 |

7/14/15

From the Federal Register July 10, 2015

Federal Register Volume 80, Number 132 (Friday, July 10, 2015)

Rules and Regulations Pages 39698-39715

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov

FR Doc No: 2015-16324

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 79 MB Docket No. 12-107; FCC 15-56

Accessible Emergency Information, and Apparatus Requirements for

Emergency Information and Video Description

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission adopts additional rules under the authority of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video

Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA) to make emergency information in video programming accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. First, the document requires multichannel video programming distributors to pass through a secondary audio stream containing audible emergency information when they permit consumers to access linear programming on second screen devices, such as tablets, smartphones, laptops, and similar devices. Second, the document requires manufacturers of apparatus that receive or play back video programming to provide a mechanism that is simple and easy to use for activating the secondary audio stream to access audible emergency information.

DATES: Effective August 10, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Evan Baranoff, Evan.Baranoff@fcc.gov, of the Media Bureau, Policy Division, (202) 418-2120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission’s Second Report and Order (Order), FCC 15-56, adopted on May 21, 2015, and released on May 28, 2015. The full text of this document is available electronically via the FCC’s Electronic Document Management System (EDOCS) Web site at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/ or via the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) Web site at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/ . (Documents will be available electronically in ASCII, Microsoft Word, and/or Adobe Acrobat.) This document is also available for public inspection and copying during regular business hours in the FCC Reference Information Center, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW., CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. The complete text may be purchased from the Commission’s copy contractor, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. Alternative formats are available for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), by sending an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or calling the Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).

Introduction
In this Second Report and Order, we take additional steps under the authority of sections 202 and 203 of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (“CVAA”) \1\ to make emergency information in video programming accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The Commission adopted rules in 2013 to require that visual emergency information shown during non-newscast television programming, such as in an on-screen crawl, is also available to individuals who are blind or visually impaired through an aural presentation on a secondary audio stream.\2\ In adopting these rules pursuant to sections 202 and 203 of the CVAA, the Commission recognized the importance of making sure that individuals who are blind or visually impaired are able to hear critical information about emergencies affecting their locality, which can enable them promptly to respond to such emergency situations and to protect their lives and property.

Click on the following link to read the full document:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-07-10/html/2015-16324.htm