| What is Closed Captioning? |
| Closed captioning is an assistive
technology in which captions, transcriptions of the spoken word into
a written format, permit deaf and hard of hearing people to see what
they cannot hear. Unlike subtitles, closed captioning is hidden as
encoded data transmitted within the television signal. Also, unlike
subtitles, captioning provides descriptions of background noise, music
and sound effects. |
| |
| What’s the difference
between closed and open captioning? |
| Open captions always appear on the
screen while closed captioning is hidden as encoded data transmitted
within the television signal. |
| |
| How do I access closed captioning
on my TV? |
| You need a television with a built-in
caption decoder chip or a set-top encoder. All TV sets with screen
sizes of 13 inches or larger manufactured since July 1993 have built-in
decoder circuitry. You may invoke the closed captioning function through
the menu selection options on your TV. |
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| What is the difference between
real-time and off-line captions? |
| Real-time captioning is the process
of captioning live programming. Specially trained court reporters,
or real-time captioners, caption the audio portion of a TV program
or other live event. |
| |
| Off-line captioning is the process
of adding captions to prerecorded video. A caption editor listens
to the videotape and transcribes the dialogue, creating a script file.
The file is broken into captions, which are then timed and positioned
on the screen. The final part of the process entails encoding the
captioning onto a duplicate videotape of the program, which then becomes
the captioned master. |
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| What programming is required
to be captioned by the FCC? |
| The FCC has issued regulations regarding
the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that requires all broadcast and
cablecast television programs to be captioned, except as exempted
by the FCC. Under the regulations, very few programs are exempted.
The exemptions include advertisements – under five minutes in
length – certain late-night programs aired between 2:00 and
6:00 a.m. local time, and programs on new cable networks. There are
a few other exemptions in the FCC rules. According to the FCC phase-in
schedule, non-exempt new and old programming must have captions by
the beginning of 2006, which will result in nearly all programs being
captioned. |
| |
| Is captioning mandatory
under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? |
| Public service announcements funded
with federal government monies must be captioned. In many cases, other
video programming must be made accessible. Although methods such as
sign language might be used to make a program accessible to deaf and
hard of hearing viewers, captioning is the only method which is always
acceptable under ADA guidelines. |
| |
| Who do I contact about a
TV program that I would like to see captioned? |
| Contact the program’s producer
or the TV station the program is aired on. |
