-->
Save your FREE seat for Streaming Media Connect in February. Register Now!

3Play Media: Captions Aren't Just a Good Idea, They're the Law

Article Featured Image

For companies concerned about online video captioning requirements, Josh Miller, co-founder of 3Play Media, gave a quick and helpful outline at the recent Streaming Media East conference in New York City. While moderating a panel on deploying video captions, Miller explained the regulations that content providers need to know.

"The first that some people might hear a lot about is Section 508, which is a fairly broad law that requires all federal electronic and information technology to be accessible [to those] with disabilities, including employees and the public," Miller said. "For video this means that captions really do have to be added to that content when it goes up online. If you've got audio content, a transcript is really all you need."

Going hand-in-hand with Section 508 is Section 504:

"Section 504 entitles people with disabilities to equal access to any program or activity that receives federal subsidy," Miller explained. "Web-based communications for educational institutions and government agencies are both covered by this. Section 504 and 508 are originally from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973."

Jump forward 17 years to get to the landmark ADA:

"The American's with Disabilities Act of 1990 covers federal, state, and local jurisdictions. It applies to a range of domains including employment, public entities, telecommunications, and places of public accommodation. The Americans with Disabilities Act was actually broadened in 2008 to match -- in terms of the definition of disability -- to match with Section 504," Miller said.

To hear more about captioning requirements, including 2010's 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, as well as how Netflix was successfully sued for not offering enough captioned content, watch the video below and download Miller's presentation.

 

Strategies For Deploying Accessible Video Captioning

This session will discuss captioning and transcription solutions implemented by consumer content services and enterprise corporations. Learn the costs and benefits derived from captioning, as well as best practices and tips for implementing accessibility technologies. The panel will also discuss strategies for meeting upcoming accessibility regulations and emerging standards that impact online video captioning.

Moderator: Josh Miller, Co-Founder, 3Play Media
Speaker: Thomas Aquilone, Enterprise Technology Programs Manager, Lockheed Martin
Speaker: Wendy Collins, VP, Digital Strategy, Infobase Learning
Speaker: Piyush Patel, CEO, Digital Tutors
Speaker: Ben Labrum, Senior Product Manager, Training On Demand, Oracle

 

Streaming Covers
Free
for qualified subscribers
Subscribe Now Current Issue Past Issues
Related Articles

5 Low-Cost Ways to Provide Closed Captions for VOD Streams

Attaching captions to on-demand videos can be simple and low-cost, but doing the same for live video is a little more involved. Here are the options.

How to Deploy Closed Captions

Whether it's to make your videos accessible to hearing-impaired viewers or to increase SEO, you should be captioning your videos. Here's a look at the tools and services you can use to get started.

How to Choose a Captioning Service

Few content publishers have the know-how or resources to do their own captioning. Here are the issues to explore when selecting a service provider.

Online Video Captioning Is Critical, Offers Multiple Benefits

Reaching the hearing impaired is only the beginning: A Streaming Media West panel showed that online video captions deliver a variety of tangible benefits. Captions cost, but they also pay.

How to Deliver Low-Cost Captions on Live Webcasts

Lockheed Martin explains how it webcasts to all employees at once, even the hearing impaired.

SXSW Report: The Future of Online Video Captioning

A government act will soon require much broadcast video streamed online to contain captioning. Adobe and MTV are looking for solutions.

YouTube Leads the Way on Video Captioning

YouTube introduced automatic video captioning last week, and an industry expert says that it's one of the few companies with the resources to do it right