Emergency Captioning Information From the FCC - Part 1

Editor: Since last August, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has required that television emergency broadcasts be accessible to everyone; yet there are still many stations that don't comply with this requirement. K. Dane Snowden, Chief of the FCC's Consumer Information Bureau (CIB) explained how this law applies to people with hearing loss in a speech at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety on January 9. Here are excerpts from his remarks.
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In my remarks about the FCC's emergency information rule, the three topics I will discuss are:
* What the rules say
* The FCC's informal consumer complaint process, and finally,
* The emergency access rule and homeland security

In a nutshell, our rules -- known as "emergency access rules" -- require that all emergency information presented on television must be accessible to people with disabilities. There is one rule that pertains to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, which I will discuss today, and another that pertains to people who are sight impaired.

The FCC rule requires that emergency information that is provided orally on television must also be provided in a visual format so that people who are deaf or hard of hearing receive the same information.

The emergency access rule that pertains to people who are deaf or hard of hearing became effective in August 2000. The rule applies to all television broadcasters, cable operators, and satellite television services like DirecTV. For the sake of simplicity, I'll refer generally to "broadcasters" in my remarks.

Let me begin by addressing who is responsible for making sure the emergency information is presented in an accessible format.

With respect to broadcast television, the local broadcast station -- let's call it KAAA-TV -- ordinarily provides programming about emergencies, as opposed to a broadcast network like ABC, NBC or CBS. KAAA-TV would be providing the accessible information. The local station is also considered a distributor of programming, so the local broadcast station would be responsible for compliance.

The analysis is different for non-broadcast providers like cable and satellite services. The programmer ordinarily provides programming about emergencies. The programming might be provided by a local or regional cable network, for example, NewsChannel 8, New York One, Florida News Channel, or Bay News 9. It is this entity that would likely make the programming accessible. However, it is the cable television operator, like ACME Cable of Maplewood, or the satellite distributor, like DirecTV, that, as the programming distributor, is responsible for ensuring compliance with the emergency access rule. We expect that these distributors will incorporate the accessibility requirement into their contracts with producers, programmers, or owners.

The rule applies any time emergency information is provided. That could mean during a regularly scheduled newscast, during an unscheduled break in regular programming, or as part of continuing coverage of a situation. There may be rare cases, however, where an emergency affects the broadcast station, and it may be impossible to provide accessible emergency information.

Emergency information can be made accessible through closed or open captioning, through crawls or scrolls that appear on the screen, or through any other method that provides the information visually. Let me emphasize here that we grant broadcasters a great deal of discretion in deciding the form in which the visual information appears. We do not mandate captioning, crawls, scrolls or any other specific method. We encourage broadcasters to use whatever technologies they have at hand, so long as they provide the emergency information visually. The emergency access rule is a floor and not a ceiling. Therefore, it sets the minimum of what is required, but broadcasters may, of course, exceed those minimum requirements if they choose.

The rule also addresses what qualifies as an emergency and what type of information must be provided about the emergency.

Emergency information is information that helps to protect life, health, safety, or property. This can include:

* immediate weather situations like tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, tidal waves, earthquakes, icing conditions, heavy snows, widespread fires, warnings and watches of impending changes in weather.

It can also include:

* community situations like the discharge of toxic gases, widespread power failures, industrial explosions, civil disorders, school closings and changes in school bus schedules resulting from those conditions.

This list is provided for illustrative purposes only; it is not exhaustive. As we learned on September 11, emergencies can also include terrorist attacks.

Accessible emergency information must include what are referred to as "critical details" about the emergency itself and how to respond to the emergency. Critical details can include, among other things:

* specific details about the geographic areas that will be affected by the emergency
* evacuation orders, detailed descriptions of areas to be evacuated, specific evacuation routes
* approved shelters or ways to take shelter in one's home, instructions on how to secure personal property, road closures, and how to obtain relief assistance.

Again, this list provides only a few examples of critical details. In determining whether particular details need to be presented visually, broadcasters may rely on their own good faith judgments.

The rule applies only where a broadcaster is already providing emergency information to its viewers. It does not require a broadcaster to provide emergency information if it is not already doing so. The rule simply requires that when emergency information is provided, it is made accessible to people who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Note also that the emergency access rule requires that emergency captions and regular closed captions must not block each other on the screen. We also encourage that broadcasters use the emergency alert tone to announce that emergency information is about to be presented visually. The tone is recognizable by many and may be of help to some people who are hearing-impaired.

To sum up, we are seeking voluntary compliance with the emergency access rule. However, if we find that broadcasters do not comply voluntarily, we may have to revisit the rule and mandate the use of certain technologies. But for now, broadcasters have a great deal of discretion. Again, we don't require all the information about an emergency to be made accessible, just the critical details about the emergency and how to respond. It is, of course, a benefit to have all of the information accessible for all consumers whenever possible.

Here's part 2.