2009 falls behind with FCC regulations

By Meghan Gonski

For the Frontiersman

When my eyes scan the back of a video I am searching for one thing: a black and white CC sign alerting me that the broadcast will be in typed words. It is surprising how many I have to put back before I find one with the CC image. CC stands for Closed Captioning, a timed script that appears on the bottom of the TV screen for the hearing-impaired. The term “closed” in Closed Captioning indicates that not all viewers see the captions — only those who choose to activate them. This distinguishes from “open captions” which are visible to all viewers. The hearing population found the open-captions distracting therefore Closed Captioning was invented.

In 1996, Closed Captioning was required by Congress for all video programming distributors.

As of January 2006, the Federal Communication Commission mandated all broadcasters of video programming (i.e., television stations, cable operators, satellite providers, etc.) provide 100 percent of its new, non-exempt programming with captioning. But when I rent videos or watch DTV, I don’t see this required component because the responsibility of adding CC is at the mercy of the video-program’s producers. Closed Captioning is expensive; still, the producers need to start viewing it not as an act of kindness but as part of the regular production cost, just like the production cost of sound.

The FCC website states “Closed Captioning enables more than 24 million hearing-impaired Americans to understand programs and advertising messages.” However, Closed Captioning doesn’t just help the hearing impaired; it helps the older-generation, children learning to read, and foreign language-speaking people learning English. Closed captions are also used in public hearing environments, such as bars and restaurants, where patrons may not be able to hear over the background noise, or where multiple televisions are displaying different programs.

Broadcasts have more and more information online. Television shows such as “Lost” and news stations broadcast entire episodes and “more of the news story” on websites. Also, YouTube and other citizen-generated video websites hold a variety of information. However, an extremely thin number of these videos are Closed Captioned. Even though these episodes have CC when broadcast on TV, they do not when broadcast over the Internet. If a deaf person misses a show, they miss it. They can not watch it online. How is that justified? It is not.

The bill HR3101, (Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009) needs to be passed by Congress requiring CC on the Internet. It is extremely important HR3101 is made into law for the benefit the benefit of deaf citizens.

Help get this bill passed by writing to your local representative asking them to co-sponsor this bill, HR3101. Citizens who rely on CC for their media information should not be denied in the 21st century.

Meghan Gonski, 19, is a deaf BYU-online student. She uses CC for her news and entertainment.