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FCC
Holds Inaugural Meeting of the Video Programming Accessibility
Advisory Committee (VPAAC)
On Thursday
January 13, the Federal Communications Commission held the first
meeting of the Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committee
(VPAAC). The committee was established by the 21st Century Communications
and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (see TV
TechCheck from 10/11/2010). Its primary responsibility
is to study and make recommendations on technical, operational
and regulatory matters pertaining to:
- Closed
Captioning of Internet programming previously captioned on television;
- Video Description;
- Making
emergency Information accessible to blind and visually impaired
persons;
- User interface
accessibility for video programming consumer devices and accessible
program guides and menus
There are forty-five
members on the VPAAC with representatives of persons with disabilities,
closed captioning and video description providers, device manufacturers,
Internet and software companies, video programming distributors
and providers, and the broadcast industry including the NAB. The
committee is co-chaired by Larry Goldberg, WGBH National Center
for Accessible Media and Wayne Luplow, LG/Zenith Electronics.
The first
meeting was largely organizational. At that meeting, the Committee
was divided into four working groups, each of which will focus
on specific tasks related to the Accessibility Act and the Committee's
overall purposes. The working groups are listed below:
- Working
Group 1: Internet Protocol-based Closed Captioning: Co-chairs:
Larry Goldberg, WGBH National Center for Accessible Media and
Vince Roberts, Disney. Identify protocols, technical capabilities,
and technical procedures needed to encode, transport, receive,
and render closed captioning of video programming, except for
consumer generated media, delivered using Internet protocol.
- Working
Group 2: Pass through of Closed Captioning and Video Description:
Co-chairs: Cheryl Heppner, Northern Virginia Resource Center
for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons and Charlie Kennamer, Comcast
Cable. Develop recommendations to ensure compatibility between
video programming delivered using Internet protocol and devices
capable of receiving and displaying such programming in order
to facilitate access to closed captions and video description;
- Working
Group 3: Emergency information: Co-chairs: Melanie Brunson,
American Council of the Blind, and Kelly Williams, National
Association of Broadcasters. Identify methods to encode, transport,
receive, render and convey emergency information provided on
video programming in a manner that is accessible to persons
who are blind or visually impaired; and
- Working
Group 4: Accessibility of User Interfaces, Apparatus Functions,
On-screen Text Menus, and Video Programming Guides and Menus
Provided on Navigational Devices: Co-chairs: Pratik Patel,
American Council of the Blind and Jeff Newdeck, Motorola. Identify
and recommend standards, protocols, and procedures to enable
access to these various features and functions.
Within 6 months
of its first meeting, the VPAAC is required submit to the FCC recommendations
concerning the provision of closed captions for Internet-delivered
video programming and the ability of video devices to pass through
closed captions contained on Internet-based video programming. By
April 8, 2012, the VPAAC must submit recommendations on the remaining
issues listed above.
For more information
visit the VPAAC Web page at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/VPEAAC/.
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