ANA Recommends Closed Captioned Television Commercials

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) commends the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) for its leadership and support of closed captioning television commercials. The NAD also thanks the Hearing Access Program for advocating and facilitating this effort with the ANA. 

"The NAD is pleased to have worked closely with the Hearing Access Program on this effort, providing expertise and support," said Bobbie Beth Scoggins, NAD President. "The NAD has long advocated for all television programming, including commercials, to be captioned. The NAD worked with the NFL and CBS in 2010 to ensure an unprecedented 81% of captioned commercials and promos [2]. The NAD will once again work with the NFL and this year’s broadcaster for the Super Bowl, FOX, to ensure yet another milestone."

The ANA document, "The Benefits of Closed Captioning Commercials [3]" provides background information about television captioning, makes the case for captioning television commercials, includes cost information, and recommends closed captioning requirements to ensure quality closed captioning.  The documents states, unequivocally:

The ANA Production Management Committee recommends that all television commercials be closed captioned. Commercials that are closed captioned maximize the impact of an advertising message and communicate to viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing that their business is valued.

ANA Production Management Committee members from the Target Corporation and Verizon Communications also state that the cost of captioning is reasonable, the process is simple, the benefits are substantial, and it is the right thing to do. The NAD looks forward to seeing more captioned commercials, every day, as a result of the ANA recommendation and guidance.