Accessibility of User Interfaces, and Video Programming Guides and Menus

<RULE> FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION <CFR>47 CFR Part 79</CFR> <DEPDOC>[MB Docket No. 12-108; FCC 24-79; FR ID 235228]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Accessibility of User Interfaces, and Video Programming Guides and Menus</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Communications Commission. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) requires manufacturers of covered apparatus and multichannel video programming distributors to make closed captioning display settings readily accessible to individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. This action will further the Commission's efforts to enable individuals with disabilities to access video programming through closed captioning. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> <E T="03">Effective date:</E> Effective September 16, 2024. <E T="03">Compliance date:</E> Compliance with 47 CFR 79.103(e) is not required until the Commission has published a document in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> announcing the compliance date. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For additional information on this proceeding, contact Diana Sokolow, <E T="03">Diana.Sokolow@fcc.gov</E> , of the Policy Division, Media Bureau, (202) 418-2120. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> This is a summary of the Commission's Third Report and Order (Order), in MB Docket No. 12-108; FCC 24-79, adopted on July 18, 2024 and released on July 19, 2024. The full text of this document will be available at <E T="03">https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-24-79A1.pdf</E> and via ECFS at <E T="03">https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/</E> . Documents will be available electronically in ASCII, Microsoft Word, and/or Adobe Acrobat. Alternative formats are available for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), by sending an email to <E T="03">fcc504@fcc.gov</E> or calling the Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), 1-844-4-FCC-ASL (1-844-432-2275) (videophone). <HD SOURCE="HD1">Synopsis</HD> This Order furthers our efforts to enable individuals with disabilities to access video programming through closed captioning. Closed captioning displays the audio portion of a television program as text on the screen, providing access to news, entertainment, and information for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. The Federal Communications Commission requires the provision of closed captioning on nearly all television programming, as well as on a large portion of internet protocol (IP)-delivered programming. Through the Commission's implementation of the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 (TDCA) and the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA), it has made significant progress in enabling video programming to be accessible to persons who are deaf and hard of hearing. Pursuant to the TDCA, the Commission adopted standards for the display of closed captions on digital television receivers, and those standards enable users to customize caption display by changing the font, size, color, and other features of captions. Subsequently, pursuant to the CVAA, the Commission adopted display standards for other video devices, specifically for apparatus designed to receive or play back video programming transmitted simultaneously with sound. However, many consumers continue to have difficulty accessing the closed captioning display settings on televisions and other video devices—a technical barrier that prevents the use and enjoyment of captioning. Today we take steps to alleviate this problem and thereby ensure meaningful access to captioning. Specifically, the rule we adopt requires manufacturers of covered apparatus  <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to make closed captioning display settings readily accessible to individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. We afford covered entities flexibility in how they meet this obligation, and the Commission will determine whether settings are readily accessible to consumers by evaluating the following factors: proximity, discoverability, previewability, and consistency and persistence. We adopt a compliance deadline of two years after publication of this Order in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  As discussed below, the requirements adopted herein apply to devices covered by section 303(u) of the Act, in other words, apparatus designed to receive or play back video programming transmitted simultaneously with sound, if such apparatus is manufactured in the United States or imported for use in the United States and uses a picture screen of any size, except that the requirements do not apply to third-party, pre-installed applications that are otherwise covered by section 303(u). </FTNT> Prior to adoption of the TDCA, consumers needed to purchase a separate TeleCaption decoder device and connect it to a television set in order to display closed captions. The TDCA amended section 303 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act), to require that television receivers contain built-in decoder circuitry designed to display closed captioning. It also amended section 330 of the Act to require that the Commission's rules provide performance and display standards for such built-in decoder circuitry. In the TDCA, Congress observed that the availability of televisions with built-in decoders “will significantly increase the audience that can be served by closed-captioned television” and outlined the significant benefits of closed captioning for people who are deaf and hard of hearing as well as other segments of the population, including children and older Americans who have some loss of hearing. Congress also mandated in section 330(b) of the Act that the Commission take appropriate action to ensure that closed captioning service continues to be available to consumers as new video technology is developed. In 1991, the Commission adopted rules that codified standards for the display of closed captioned text on analog television receivers. Following the transition to digital broadcasting, the Commission in 2000 adopted technical standards for the display of closed captions on digital television receivers “to ensure that closed captioning service continues to be available to consumers.” In particular, the Commission adopted with some modifications section 9 of EIA-708, an industry standard addressing closed captioning for digital television, which allows the caption display to be customized for a particular viewer by enabling the viewer to change the appearance of the captions to suit his or her needs. When the Commission adopted the technical standards, it explained that the “capability to alter fonts, sizes, colors, backgrounds and more, can enable a greater number of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing to take advantage of closed captioning.” In 2010, Congress enacted the CVAA to “update the communications laws to help ensure that individuals with disabilities are able to fully utilize communications services and equipment and better access video programming.” Section 203 of the CVAA broadened section 303(u) of the Act, which previously applied to “apparatus designed to receive television pictures broadcast simultaneously with sound,” to cover “apparatus designed to receive or play back video programming transmitted simultaneously with sound, if such apparatus is manufactured in the United States or imported for use in the United States and uses a picture screen of any size.” Such apparatus must “be equipped with built-in closed caption decoder circuitry or capability designed to display closed-captioned video programming.” In 2012, the Commission adopted performance and display standards for such built-in decoder circuitry in accordance with section 330(b) of the Act, and in particular it adopted functional requirements to ensure that consumers can modify caption display features for IP-delivered programming on covered apparatus. These rules require that apparatus provide functionality that allows users to change the presentation, color, opacity, size, and font of captions, caption background color and opacity, character edge attributes, and caption window color. But the rules do not mandate how users access such features on the device. In the Commission's subsequent proceedings on implementing the accessibility requirements of sections 204 and 205 of the CVAA, Consumer Groups described the difficulties consumers who are deaf and hard of hearing face in accessing closed captioning display features on apparatus used to view video programming. In November 2015, in a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ( <E T="03">Second FNPRM</E> ) in the above-captioned docket, the Commission proposed to adopt rules that would require manufacturers and MVPDs to ensure that consumers are able to readily access user display settings for closed captioning, and on the Commission's authority to do so under the TDCA. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> Among other things, the <E T="03">Second FNPRM</E> asked whether the Commission should require the inclusion of closed captioning display settings no lower than the first level of a menu, whether such an approach would provide industry with sufficient flexibility, and whether there are “alternative ways to implement this requirement.” In January 2022, the Media Bureau released a Public Notice seeking to refresh the record on the proposals contained in the <E T="03">Second FNPRM.</E> <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> While some comments in the refreshed record assert that caption display settings are accessible, others explain that problems with the accessibility of such settings continue to persist. <F ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 123k characters. 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