Oct. 8 marked the five-year anniversary of the Communications and Video Accessibility Act being signed into law. The CVAA mandated that any program that was captioned on air would also need to be captioned when it was placed online. The Act also required that smartphones have accessibility technology built in that would allow for captions. NCRA was a key part of the coalition, which was made up of dozens of organizations, that helped push the CVAA into law.
“The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act has been instrumental in making captions an expected part of the Internet experience,” says NCRA President Steve Zinone, RPR of Canandaigua, N.Y. “There are still steps to be done to ensure that all online programming is accessible, but the CVAA has laid the framework for captioning more content that is both broadcast via traditional means and only made available online. Thanks to our members who make this access available to those that require this important service, which is their fundamental right.”
