Improving Media Accessibility: Closed Captioning & Audio Descriptions
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The implementation of Closed Captioning in in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems continues to be a major focus of APEX. Bryan Rusenko, APEX Technical Director, provided an update on the Association’s efforts at APEX TECH in Universal City, CA.
With the US Department of Transportation (DOT) having experienced a delay in developing the relevant rules, it is now expected that the DOT will provide its recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation by July 25 of this year. APEX can expect to receive additional questions from the DOT before this submission. The rulemaking is now planned for announcement in December, followed by a 90-day comment period, closing in February 2016.
While the APEX TECH Closed Captioning Working Group (CCWG) continues its important work on this issue, Rusenko reminded the audience that closed captioning wasn’t the only IFE component of serving people with disabilities. “When the DOT’s notice of proposed rulemaking came out, most recently, in 2014, it did include provisions for audio descriptions. So we are getting out ahead of this. They’re interested in knowing how we’re going to do it,” said Rusenko.
Joining Rusenko was Diane Johnson, CEO of Descriptive Video Works, a leading producer of audio descriptions for movies and television programs. Johnson was recently featured in a Q&A and she expanded on her efforts to improve inclusivity and accessibility for blind and low-vision content consumers.
“Our technology-driven world creates isolation for those who cannot see,” said Johnson. To make her point, she showed a clip from a classic I Love Lucy episode, featuring a scene between Lucy and actor William Holden. With only a few lines of dialogue during the physically-comedic scene, it was clear that the audio descriptions of the scene would “complete the scene” for those viewers who could only hear the dialog and audience laughter.
Airlines are beginning to introduce DV programming for blind passengers. Johnson said that in July 2014, Emirates Airlines was the first to introduce movies with both audio descriptions and closed captions. She also noted that the embedded DV’d show Four Senses, which features blind Master Chef Christine Ha, is included in Air Canada’s IFE content.
Described video began in the United Kingdom in 2000, and along with the UK, countries including Canada and Australia have mandated the number of broadcast hours of DV programming for broadcasters. After a false start in 2002 when the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) tried to introduce DV, in 2010 President Obama signed the 21st Century Communications Act, which included DV mandates for US broadcasters. And although the FCC has no responsibility over IFE, it’s expected that the DOT’s rules will reflect the Act’s provisions. At the signing of the Act, musical icon Stevie Wonder said, “This is a group that have been information deprived. Today is the time to change this, not tomorrow, but today.”