“This page is a digitally archived AccessInfo Announcement”
Comments Due: October 17, 2016
Reply Comments Due: October 27, 2016
On October 5, 2016, the FCC’s Media Bureau released a Public Notice seeking comment on a petition requesting a limited extension of time to comply with a portion of the FCC’s rules requiring television broadcasters to make emergency information accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. The requested waiver is for rules requiring an aural representation on the secondary audio stream of visual, but non-textual, televised emergency information, such as radar maps or other graphics. The petition was filed jointly by the American Council of the Blind (ACB), the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).
Background: To implement the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA), the FCC adopted rules in April 2013 to make visual, but non-textual, televised emergency information accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The deadline for compliance was May 26, 2015. The FCC granted NAB an 18-month waiver of the requirement to give the broadcast industry time to develop a technical solution for compliance. That waiver is set to expire on November 26, 2016. ACB, AFB, and NAB jointly request that the FCC extend this waiver for an additional 18 months.
Comments are due by October 17, 2016, and reply comments are due by October 27, 2016.
Links to the Public Notice:
Word: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-16-1137A1.doc
PDF: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-16-1137A1.pdf
Text: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-16-1137A1.txt
Link to the ACB, AFB, and NAB Joint Petition:
https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/10902322223258/AudibleCrawlsJointExtensionPetition090216.pdf
Links to the Order that granted a waiver until November 26, 2016:
Word: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-632A1.docx
PDF: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-632A1.pdf
Text: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-632A1.txt
For more information, contact Maria Mullarkey in the Media Bureau at (202) 418-2120 or Maria.Mullarkey@fcc.gov.