Posted on: 06/18/2008
Updated March 31, 2009
The date for the Digital Television Transition has been moved to June 12, 2009. Please make note of this change. For more information, please visit http://www.dtv.gov/index.html
On June 9th, the FCC released a consumer advisory pertaining to video description for digital television. The notice provides some fast facts and focuses in particular on the availability and access to video description. The announcement provides specific information regarding testing of two digital-to-analog converter boxes which people will need after the transition to digital TV in Feb 2009 if they don’t have a digital TV or access to cable or satellite services. Every household can acquire two $40.00 coupons to offset the cost of buying a converter box.
The National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) in Boston has been doing some testing of converter boxes, but as yet there is not a comprehensive source identifying the functions and features and limitations of devices. Consumers should be made aware that if they need video description or closed captioning they should be smart shoppers. According to Larry Goldberg at NCAM despite some occasional glitches and crashes, all converter boxes will pass closed captioning data thru the decoder box and many will decode both analog and digital captions.
Below is the text from the FCC Announcement release on June 9th, 2008:
IF YOU CURRENTLY USE AVAILABLE VIDEO DESCRIPTIONS TO ACCESS TELEVISION PROGRAMMING, YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING REGARDING THE DIGITAL TELEVISION (DTV) TRANSITION:
Video descriptions are a way to inform people who are blind or have other vision disabilities of what is happening on the television screen. Video description is the insertion of verbal descriptions about the setting and/or action in a program when information about these visual elements is not contained in the audio portion of the program. These descriptions supplement the regular audio track of the program.
Some programming has contained video descriptions for a number of years. At present, video descriptions are available through the secondary audio programming (SAP) channel on an analog stereo TV set or VCR.
In July 2000, the FCC adopted rules to make television more accessible to people with vision disabilities by mandating that a certain amount of programming contain video description. These rules took effect in April 2002, but were vacated by a federal court in November 2002. As a result, video description is not required. Nevertheless, some programming providers voluntarily continue to provide video descriptions. Also, the requirement in Section 79.2 of the FCC's rules that emergency information provided on television be accessible to individuals who have vision disabilities is still in place. This means that broadcasters must orally describe any emergency information that is shown on the screen (e.g., weather map showing tornadoes) and must accompany any emergency information that is not orally described (i.e., information presented in a crawl or scroll) with an aural tone which instructs individuals with vision disabilities to turn to a radio or another source for more information.
With digital television, broadcasters have more audio channels on which to provide video description. Because digital television encodes audio in a different manner than the encoding used in analog television, digital television does not utilize a SAP channel to transmit video descriptions. The digital television standards provide for two types of main audio service and six types of associated services, including associated services for people with vision disabilities. The standards also permit the transmission of secondary language programming. So while there was one option under the old analog TV service (i.e., the SAP channel), broadcasters now have more audio channels to provide this voluntary service. However, we note that inserting video descriptions into digital programming that was not created by the distributor may involve additional expense for broadcasters; for this reason, consumers should contact their local broadcasters to determine whether video description is offered.
Televisions with digital tuners should be able to process the audio services associated with the digital TV signals through functions that are built into their systems. Consumers should confirm with the manufacturer, owner's manual or retailer prior to purchase to determine if this feature is included in the digital TV. For consumers who will be using a digital-to- analog converter box to receive digital over-the-air television signals on an analog television, we note that some of the digital-to-analog converter boxes that have been approved for NTIA coupon eligibility are capable of processing the associated audio services that are broadcast by a digital television station. In particular, the WGBH National Center for Accessible Media, located in Boston, Mass., has found that two specific coupon-eligible digital-to-analog converter boxes the Digital Stream DTX 9900 and Insignia NS-DXA1 have demonstrated the capability to pass through video description. (Federal law provides for two $40 coupons per household to defer the costs of the digital-to-analog converter boxes. Consumers may find out more information about this coupon program, administered by the NTIA, at www.dtv.gov or at www.dtv2009.gov, or by calling 1-888-DTV-2009.) However, because coupon-eligible digital-to-analog converter boxes are not required to have this feature, consumers are advised to check with the manufacturer, owner's manual or retailer prior to purchase to determine if a specific digital-to-analog converter box will serve their particular needs. Accessing additional audio program streams (including video description) typically occurs either though a designated button on the remote control or through an on-screen menu. Unfortunately, if the controls on the television or digital- to-analog converter box are not accessible to people with vision disabilities, it may be a challenge to obtain the descriptions. In such cases, the consumer must know which audio stream the video description is on in advance, as well as how to access this channel. We therefore urge consumers to ask the manufacturer or retailer how audio streams are accessed prior to purchasing a digital television or digital-to-analog converter box. In addition, the consumer should ask whether the on-screen menus as well as the remote controls that are used to access the on-screen menus are accessible to individuals who have vision disabilities. Finally, the consumer should contact local television stations to see if they are transmitting video descriptions, and if so, for which programs.
Consumers using cable or satellite services should ask for additional information about the availability of video description from their service providers. To the extent that cable systems, satellite systems or other multi-channel video programming distributors receive programming with video description, those video descriptions should be delivered to the consumer. As with broadcast television, subscription-based television consumers must ensure that their television is capable of displaying available video descriptions and that video description functionality may be accessed by people with vision disabilities.
To find out more about the digital television transition, visit our web site at www.dtv.gov. For more information about telecommunications issues, visit the FCC's Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau web site at www.fcc.gov/cgb, or contact 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, S.W.
Washington, DC 20554
For this or any other consumer publication in an accessible format (electronic ASCII text, Braille, large print, or audio) please write or call us at the address or phone number below, or send an e-mail to FCC504@fcc.gov.
To receive information on this and other FCC consumer topics through the Commission's electronic subscriber service, click on www.fcc.gov/cgb/contacts/.
This document is for consumer education purposes only and is not intended to affect any proceeding or cases involving this subject matter or related issues.
Additional Digital TV Transition fact sheets, available in both PDF and HTML can be found on the FCC's DTV.gov website.
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