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Background
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules require broadcasters
and cable operators to make local emergency information
accessible to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, and to
persons who are blind or have visual disabilities. This rule
means that emergency information must be provided both aurally
and in a visual format.
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What Qualifies as an Emergency?
Emergency information is information that is intended to further the protection of life, health, safety, or property. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
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Immediate weather situations: tornadoes,
hurricanes, floods, tidal waves, earthquakes, icing conditions,
heavy snows, widespread fires, warnings, and watches of impending
changes in weather.
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Community situations such as: discharge of
toxic gases, widespread power failures, industrial explosions,
civil disorders, school closings, and changes in school bus
schedules resulting from such conditions.
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How Does the Emergency Information Need to Be Made Accessible?
In the case of persons who are deaf
or hard of hearing, emergency information that is
provided in the audio portion of programming must be
provided either using closed captioning or other methods
of visual presentation, such as open captioning, crawls,
or scrolls that appear on the screen. Emergency
information provided by means other than closed
captioning should not block any closed captioning, and
closed captioning should not block any emergency
information provided by means other than closed
captioning. Closed captions are visual text displays
that are hidden in the video signal. You can access
closed captions through your remote control or on-screen
menu (all TVs with a 13” or larger diameter screen
manufactured after 1993 have caption decoder circuitry)
or through a special decoder. Open captions are an
integral part of the television picture, like subtitles
in a movie. In other words, open captions cannot be
turned off. Text that advances very slowly across the
bottom of the screen is referred to as a crawl;
displayed text or graphics that move up and down the
screen are said to scroll.
In the case of persons with vision difficulties, emergency
information that is provided in the video portion of a
regularly scheduled newscast or a newscast that
interrupts regular programming must be made accessible.
This requires the aural description of emergency
information in the main audio. If the emergency
information is being provided in the video portion of
programming that is not a regularly scheduled newscast
or a newscast that interrupts regular programming (e.g.,
the programmer provides the emergency information
through “crawling” or “scrolling” during regular
programming), this information must be accompanied by an
aural tone. This tone is to alert persons with vision
disabilities that the broadcaster is providing emergency
information, and alert such persons to tune to another
source, such as a radio, for more information. What Information about the Emergency Must Be Provided?
The information provided visually and aurally must include critical details regarding the emergency and how to respond. Critical details could include, among other things:
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specific details regarding the areas that will be affected by the emergency;
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evacuation orders, detailed descriptions of areas to be evacuated, and specific evacuation routes; and
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approved shelters or the way to take shelter in one's home, instructions on how to secure personal property, road closures, and how to obtain relief assistance.
In determining whether particular details need to be presented visually and aurally, programmers may rely on their own good faith judgments.
There could be a limited number of instances when an emergency affects the broadcast station or non-broadcast network or distributor and it may be impossible to provide accessible emergency information.
Filing a Complaint with the FCC
If you have a complaint about failure to
provide emergency information in accessible format, you can
first try to resolve it with the video programming distributor,
although you are not required to do so. You can also complain to
the FCC. There is no charge for filing a complaint. The FCC may
take enforcement action where it determines that a violation of
the rules has occurred. You can file your complaint using the
on-line complaint Form 2000C found at
www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html.
You can also file your complaint with the FCC’s Consumer Center
by e-mailing fccinfo@fcc.gov;
calling 1-888-CALL-FCC(1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC
(1-888-835-5322) TTY; faxing 1-866-418-0232; or writing to:
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
What to Include in Your Complaint
The best way to provide all the information
the FCC needs to process your complaint is to complete fully the
on-line complaint Form 2000C. If you do not use the on-line
complaint Form 2000C, your complaint, at a minimum, should
indicate:
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your name, address, e-mail address, and
phone number where you can be reached;
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whether you are filing a complaint on
behalf of another party, and, if so, the party’s name,
address, email address, day time phone number, and your
relationship to the party;
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preferred format or method of response
(letter, fax, voice phone call, email, TRS, TTY, ASCII text,
audio recording, or Braille);
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that your complaint is about
accessibility of emergency information on television;
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the name, address, and telephone number
(if known) of the company or companies involved in your
complaint;
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the date and time or other details
about timing of the lack of access to emergency information
on television;
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television station call sign (WZUE), TV
channel (13), location (city and state), date, time, and
detailed description of emergency; and
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a brief description of your complaint
and the resolution you are seeking, and a full description
of the equipment or service you are complaining about,
including date of purchase, use, or attempt to use.
What Happens After I File a Complaint?
The FCC will notify the video programming
distributor of the complaint, and the distributor will reply to
the complaint within 30 days. Based on the information in the
complaint and the response, and any other information the FCC
may request from either party, the FCC will make its decision
and take the appropriate action.
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For More Information
To learn more about the FCC’s
requirements for access to televised emergency
programming, or to learn more about FCC programs to
promote access to telecommunications services for people
with disabilities, visit the FCC’s Disability Rights
Office Web site at
www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro. For information about other
telecommunications issues, visit the FCC’s Consumer &
Governmental Affairs Bureau Web site at
www.fcc.gov/cgb, or contact the FCC’s Consumer
Center using the information provided for filing a
complaint. |
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Federal Communications Commission
