Welcome to ClosedCaptioning.net

Closed Captioning Blog Many people take their hearing for granted, but for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, closed-captioning is a vital resource. Our focus is to get the word out about the changing laws, tricks, techniques and technologies that are shaping captions. [learn more]

10 January 2012 ~ Comments

Closed Captions from 30,000 Feet

Technology is taking accessibility to new heights.  Tens of thousands of feet in the air, that is.  For the first time in inflight entertainment, LiveTV has announced that closed captioning will be available for live television content viewed by passengers onboard an airplane.
For many years, LiveTV has provided connectivity systems and entertainment options aboard aircraft [...]

12 December 2011 ~ Comments

5 Tips for Stress-Free Delivery of Holiday Programs

“It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year. It’s the hap -happiest season of all,” …unless a re-run replaces your holiday programming because of a missed deadline!
It seems that television production is always finished at the very last minute.  No matter how many times goodhearted producers attempt to get ahead of schedule, something unexpected happens [...]

14 November 2011 ~ Comments

FCC Revokes Nearly 300 Captioning Exemptions

Nearly 300 churches recently received a letter from the FCC revealing that their closed captioning exemptions had been revoked.  As sudden as this notice may seemed to its recipients, the action was actually years in the making.
In 1996, Congress created closed captioning requirements for television content.  Between that point and 2005, very few exemptions were [...]

01 November 2011 ~ Comments

Adding Captions in DVD Studio Pro

Many people are aware that a DVD can contain subtitles, but few realize that closed captions can also be included.  In fact, authoring a DVD with captions may seem like a daunting task, but it is actually a much easier process than you might think.  Using DVD Studio Pro, all you need once you’ve completed [...]

25 October 2011 ~ Comments

Video Description Services

While many legislative changes and technological improvements have recently improvement media accessibility for the hard of hearing community in the United States, a current mandate is also providing a similar victory for the visually impaired.  As part of the 21st CVAA, rules that were originally established in 2000 have been reinstated concerning video description services [...]

28 September 2011 ~ Comments

Proposed Rules for Internet Captions

Much progress has been made in recent months regarding accessibility and closed captioning of television content on the Internet.  In July, the FCC’s Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committee released a report that established a six month timeframe for the new rules that require captions on the Internet.
In short, the FCC must release advanced rules for [...]

12 July 2011 ~ Comments

Live Event Captioning

The conversation surrounding closed captions has traditionally focused on the television set and, more recently, even around Internet based video services.  What is often overlooked, though, is the great need for accessibility at live entertainment events.
A great example of the importance of closed captions is evident in the athletic stadium experience.  In addition to the [...]

20 June 2011 ~ Comments

Lawsuits for Media Giants

Last week, both Netflix and CNN felt the impact of their lack of captioning, when activist groups brought lawsuits claiming discrimination. It’s a lesson all content providers, both large and small, could learn from.
On June 15, a class-action suit was brought against Time Warner in Alameda, CA. The next day, the National Association of the [...]

24 May 2011 ~ Comments

New Standard for Online Captions

Earlier this month, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)  announced that it is making its closed captioning standard for online video content available absolutely free of charge.   While SMPTE typically sells its standards, the organization has notably released this standard for free in an effort to “accelerate the availability of online video [...]

11 May 2011 ~ Comments

Phone Call Captioning

Technological advances are continually changing the way we do things in our everyday lives. From enhancements to education and entertainment to improvements in how we regularly communicate, new technologies have created a tremendous amount of access that is available right from our fingertips.
Perhaps what is even more exciting, though, is the use of new [...]