Congress's biggest telecom disability rights advocate has introduced new legislation that would, among other provisions, extend close captioning to some Internet video. Edward Markey's (D-MA) "21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2008" (H.R. 6320) covers about a dozen areas. The proposed law requires hearing-aid compatibility of all broadband telephone products and mandates a certain level of ease in accessing captions on TV with remote control devices.

But perhaps the most interesting and debated section of the bill will be its Internet video captioning requirements. The law says that 18 months after its enactment, the Federal Communications Commission must set up regulations that include "an appropriate schedule of deadlines for the provision of closed captioning of video programming distributed to the public over the Internet."

Three kinds of video would be affected by the law: preproduced material that has already been captioned for TV viewing, live programming, and video that is "generally considered to be comparable to programming provided by multichannel programming distributors." The legislation also includes a waiver provision. The FCC could grant waivers to companies that petition "showing that the requirements contained in this section would result in an undue burden."

User interface upgrades

Markey's bill also requires manufacturers to boost the accessibility of remote video devices for people with disabilities. In particular, future apps that project menus on TV screens will have to include audio input, "so that such menus or indicators are accessible to and usable by individuals who are blind or visually impaired." Remotes will also have to include a specific button that accesses closed captioning—rather than, as often happens now, bury the function in an options menu. Whenever "closed captioning" or "video description" functions do appear in menus, they must appear on the top tier of the menu list.

These new functionalities must also be prescribed by the FCC within 18 months of the passage of the law. Doubtless the agency will issue proceedings to solicit public comment on these changes.

Markey's bill has strong support from practically all of the major disability-rights groups. "As more and more TV programs embrace the Internet, people who are deaf or hard of hearing must not be left behind," declared Rosaline Crawford, of the National Association of the Deaf. "Captioning TV programs and video clips shown on the Internet is needed for the same reasons it is needed when shown on TV.” But Internet industry players wary of extending the authority of the FCC into cyberspace will probably view this legislation with suspicion.

The proposed law is cosponsored by Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), and Heather Wilson (R-NM). The Massachusetts rep introduced it into the House Energy and Commerce Committee on June 19th. So far neither Govtrack nor Thomas mention parallel legislation in the Senate.