US committee for captions and audio description on the Internet appointed

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Thursday, 9 December 2010 12:41pm

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced the membership of its new Video Programming and Emergency Access Advisory Committee (VPEAAC). The committee, which will include representatives from the TV industry, new media companies and disability advocacy groups, will help guide FCC policy regarding captions and audio description for video programming and emergency announcements delivered over the Internet.

The creation of the committee follows President Obama’s signing of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act on October 8. The provisions of the act include a requirement that television content made available via the Internet must have captions and some audio description.

Organisations represented on the committee include TV networks like NBC, cable television companies like Comcast, the telecommunications company AT&T, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the Coalition for Accessible Technology (COAT).

The committee’s first meeting will take place on 10 January 2011, at the FCC’s headquarters in Washington DC. This meeting will be open to the public.

The abled body website has published an article detailing the announcement.


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