YouTube asks users to report lack of captions

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Wednesday, 10 October 2012 09:09am

YouTube has posted a notification on its site asking users to report videos that lack captions. The online video streaming website is asking users to fill out a form if they believe a video posted on YouTube should have captions. This follows the mandate set by the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act 2010 (CVAA)that makes it compulsory for TV networks to make closed captions available on their content online.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US recently set a September 30 deadline for all TV networks and web video sites to caption videos it posts online. The mandate ensures captions are provided for content, to keep up with the increasing number of videos that are posted on websites, particularly by commercial networks and broadcasters.

According to the notification posted by YouTube, users are encouraged to fill out a form to report a video that lacks captions, if they believe the distributor of the video should also be providing captions. YouTube will then notify the provider about reports and complaints regarding their videos.

Under the mandate, video streaming websites such as YouTube, Hulu and Amazon must ensure videos that have previously been broadcast on TV with captions are also captioned once they are posted on their site. The only videos that are exempt from this mandate are videos that have been made for online-only distribution.

Last week the world's largest retailer, Amazon, began adding closed captions on its Instant Video streaming service in compliance with a requirement of the CVAA.

YouTube users in the US can make complaints via the online form on YouTube.


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