How are
closed captions incorporated into your program?
Closed captions are hidden in Line 21 of the Vertical Blanking
Interval (VBI). Although the VBI is not visible on the
television screen, it can contain video information which can
be read by a caption decoder, enabling the captions to appear
on your screen. Since July 1, 1993, all television sets with
13" screens or larger sold in America must have a built-in
caption decoder. Set-top decoders for older TV’s are also
readily available.
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How do you
know if a program is closed captioned?
The common symbols used to identify captioned programs are a
“CC”, a “CC” within a television shape or the image of a small
television screen with a small tail at the bottom.
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What is the
difference between open and closed captions?
Open captions are always visible, while closed captions
require a caption decoder to make them visible.
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What are the
different styles of captions?
There are two major styles of captions currently being used in
the industry: pop-on and roll-up. A third style, called
“paint-on”, also exists but this format is rarely used.
Pop-on captions do more than just “pop on” and off the screen
in sync with the program's audio. They allow deaf and
hard-of-hearing viewers to comfortably follow the storyline of
the program. Pop-on captions are carefully placed on the
screen to indicate the speaker, and include descriptions of
music and sound effects. Pop-on captions are the ideal choice
for entertainment programming and are preferred by deaf and
hard-of-hearing viewers.
Roll-up captions feature 2 to 4 lines of text that “roll up”
on to the screen one line at a time. As each new line rolls
up, the top line disappears. Roll-up captions are typically
used for documentaries and other informational programming.
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What are the current
laws regarding closed captioning?
The principal laws mandating closed captioning in America are
the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the Telecomm Act) and
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Following the Telecomm Act, the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) issued regulations requiring video program
distributors (broadcasters, cable operators and satellite
distributors) to gradually phase in closed captioning of their
television programs. The schedule set by the FCC distinguishes
between "new" programming (analog programming first shown
after January 1, 1998, and digital programming first shown
after July 1, 2002), and “pre-rule” programming (analog and
digital programming first shown prior to such dates). In
addition, there is a separate schedule for Spanish language
programming. Currently, 75% of all new, and 30% of all
pre-rule, English-language programming must be captioned. The
caption requirement for English-language programming increases
to 100% on January 1, 2006 for new programming, and to 75% on
January 1, 2008 for pre-rule programming. Spanish-language
programming is being phased in on a later schedule with 50% of
the new, and 30% of pre-rule, programming currently required
to be captioned. Captioning of new Spanish-language
programming increases to 75% in 2007, and to 100% in 2010,
while captioning of pre-rule programming increases to 75% in
2012. The FCC has exempted certain programming from their
captioning requirements entirely, including most programming
shown between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., advertisements under
five minutes in length, public service announcements shorter
than 10 minutes (unless they are federally-funded or
produced), and programming provided by distributors with less
than $3 million in annual gross revenues.
For more detailed information on the FCC’s regulations
governing captioning, please visit:
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/closedcaption.html
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, coupled with the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998, requires all electronic and
information technology provided by Federal agencies to be
accessible to people with disabilities, including employees
and the general public. This means that all informational and
training videos and other multimedia productions developed,
procured, maintained, or used by any Federal agency must be
open or closed captioned to provide access to the deaf and
hard-of-hearing.
For more detailed information on Section 508 please visit:
www.section508.gov.
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Why
does a program appear with captions on one channel but not on
another?
After a program is captioned, the captions will remain with
that program for each rebroadcast, regardless of the channel,
unless the captioned master videotape is altered. If a program
is re-edited or compressed to fit a specific time slot or
additional commercial breaks are added, it affects the
time-coded captions. In these cases the captioning is
typically garbled, and the distributor may have chosen to drop
the captions entirely rather than have them reformatted. It is
also possible that the latest program distributor was unaware
that a captioned version was available.
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Who benefits
from captioned programming?
The benefits of providing captioned programming are twofold:
it affords deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers greater access to
televised programming, while offering the producer a much
larger viewing audience. There are currently over one million
deaf people in the United States, and over 28 million people
affected by hearing loss. Captioning has also become a
valuable tool for people learning English as a second language
and those working to improve their literacy skills. The use of
captioning has also become common in gyms, airports, bars and
other public places where the audio cannot be heard or would
be intrusive.
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How are sound
effects and music identified in a captioned program?
Descriptions of non-verbal sound effects and music can greatly
enhance the narrative of a captioned program. Because these
are not words contained in the audio, they are generally
distinguished by brackets or parentheses. Sound-effect
captions can also indicate the source of a sound or describe
the way in which something is spoken by it’s placement above
regular captioned text.
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What
are the key differences between offline and real-time
captioning?
The difference is essentially live vs. pre-recorded. Real-time
captioning is performed at the same time the broadcast is
aired. A captioner is linked directly to the station and words
are captioned as they are spoken. Offline captioning is done
after the media is recorded, and meticulously edited before it
is used to create a new captioned master.
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How are closed
captions accessed on a TV?
Since July 1, 1993, all television sets with 13" screens or
larger sold in America must have a built-in caption decoder.
Currently, nearly every home in American has at least one
television with a built-in decoder. Set-top decoders for older
TV’s are also readily available. In most cases, a simple push
of a button on your remote will display captions on your
television screen.
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If a captioned
program is copied will the captions remain?
Yes, once captions have been incorporated into your video they
become a permanent part of that program. Even if the format of
the tape changes, as long as you do not interfere with Line 21
the captions will be copied.
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