United StatesTwenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act rule, closed captioning of video programming delivered using Internet protocol
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding private bodies.
- Private right of action
- No
As of .
What it requires
- If you make video programming available directly to end users over Internet protocol, as on a website, app or streaming service, provide closed captions for all nonexempt full-length programming that was published or exhibited on television in the United States with captions, and caption programming already in your library within 15 days after it is shown on television with captions (47 CFR 79.4(b)(1)).
- Caption the video clips of captioned television programming that you post on your website or application; clips of live programming within 12 hours and clips of near-live programming within eight hours after the end of the television exhibition (47 CFR 79.4(b)(2)).
- Enable the rendering or pass through of all required captions to the end user at the quality the owner provided, and if you provide applications, plug-ins or devices to deliver video programming, meet 47 CFR 79.103(c) and (d) (47 CFR 79.4(c)(2)(i)).
- Agree with each video programming owner on a mechanism that tells you on an ongoing basis whether programming must be captioned, and make a good faith effort to identify it; you may rely on an owner's certification that captioning is not required if it explains why and you can produce it to the Commission (47 CFR 79.4(c)(2)(ii)).
- Make contact information for written captioning complaints available to end users, including the name of the person responsible for Internet protocol captioning, and update it within 10 business days of any change (47 CFR 79.4(c)(2)(iii)); answer a captioning complaint in writing within 30 days (47 CFR 79.4(e)(3) and (4)).
- If you own video programming that you license for Internet protocol distribution, send program files with captions of at least the quality of the television captions, and agree with each distributor on how you will tell it which programming must be captioned (47 CFR 79.4(c)(1)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Federal Communications Commission, which receives captioning complaints and may employ the full range of sanctions and remedies available under the Communications Act
What this law does
All nonexempt full-length video programming delivered using Internet protocol must be provided with closed captions if the programming is published or exhibited on television in the United States with captions on or after the rule's dates. Video programming means programming provided by, or generally considered comparable to programming provided by, a television broadcast station, and does not include consumer-generated media.
The dates were for prerecorded programming not edited for Internet distribution, for live and near-live programming, and for prerecorded programming edited for Internet distribution. Programming already in a distributor's library before it is shown on television with captions must now be captioned within 15 days after it is shown.
Video clips of captioned television programming that a distributor or provider posts on its website or application must also be captioned, from for single excerpts, for files of several excerpts, and for clips of live and near-live programming.
A distributor or provider must enable the rendering or pass through of all required captions to the end user at the quality the owner provided, and one that provides applications, plug-ins, or devices to deliver video programming must meet the Commission's apparatus rules for them. A video programming owner must send program files to distributors and providers with captions of at least the same quality as the television captions.
A distributor or provider must make contact information available to end users for written closed captioning complaints and keep it current. A de minimis failure to comply is not a violation. The Commission may grant a full or partial exemption where captioning would be economically burdensome. If the Commission finds a violation, it may employ the full range of sanctions and remedies available under the Communications Act. The section authorizes no private right of action, and the Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over complaints.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface.