Second CVAA Captioning Deadline Is Here!

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is thrilled to share that a new online closed captioning deadline is upon us -- March 30, 2013.  The NAD was a key leader along with other consumer organizations in the push to pass the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA) which requires access to online programming that has previously been shown on television with captions.  Following the passage of the CVAA, the NAD participated heavily in the FCC rulemaking process where the FCC established specific rules for the enforcement of the CVAA.  The FCC published its rules for Internet captioning last winter and in the spring released a schedule of deadlines.

Starting March 30, 2013, when live and near-live programs are shown on television with captions, these programs must be captioned when shown on the Internet.  A "near-live" program is a program that is performed and recorded less than 24 hours before being shown on television for the first time.  Examples include all live sports events that are shown on television and also shown on the Internet, such as all baseball, basketball, football, and soccer games.  We look forward to a fully accessible Internet with captioned World Series, Super Bowls, World Cups, and the Olympics!

March 30, 2013 is the second deadline in the CVAA requirements for Internet captioning, and the first deadline was on September 30, 2012, which marks the date after which the CVAA required that 100% of pre-recorded video programming shown on television with captions, must have captions when shown online, unedited for Internet distribution.  These rules only apply to full-length programming and not to video clips.