FCC & US Dept. of Education Reassures the Public on Closed Captioning Plans

Effective October 1, 2001

The Consumer Information Bureau of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) received close to 1,000 email notes, letters and phone calls from consumers and businesses expressing concerns over possible funding cuts or drastic revamping of the criteria of closed captioning for TV programming by the U.S. Department of Education. The FCC in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education wishes to share the following information with advocacy groups, consumers and businesses in the deaf and hard of hearing community:

Under a new law, after October 1, 2001, the Department of Education has been directed to distribute funds for captioning of television programs which are educational, contain news, or are informational. The Department has received thousands of responses from deaf and hard of hearing viewers about the need to define this criteria in a manner that includes a broad variety of television programming. The Department is carefully reviewing these responses, and will ensure that its final criteria take into consideration the concerns raised by caption viewers. In the meantime, viewers should be aware that:

1. Funds for captioning will not cease after October 1, 2001.
   
2. By January 1, 2002 (3 months after October 1, 2001), FCC rules require all television providers (broadcast, cable, satellite, etc.) to caption approximately 50 percent of their programs, with few exceptions.
   
3. The FCC rules also require 100% of new programming to be captioned in 2006 - with few exceptions.
   
4. Remember, FCC rules say that complaints about closed captioning must first be sent in writing to the video program provider or distributor (cable or satellite company, or local broadcast station). You may send a cc of your letter to the FCC as well.
   
5. For more information about captioning regulations, check http://www.fcc.gov.