iTunes to remove content that isn’t captioned

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Wednesday, 1 July 2015 10:50am

1 July 2015 is the deadline in the United States for all online video content to have captions if it was previously captioned for broadcast on television. Following that date, iTunes will commence removing from its store movies and TV programs which fall into this category.

iTunes desktop application with playback controls visible. Image credit: maury.mccown via Flickr

The online video requirements are contained in the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA).  After its passage into law in 2010, the Federal Communications Commission set various deadlines for CVAA requirements. This week’s deadline covers full-length programs only, but from 1 January 2016, online video clips lifted from captioned TV programs will also need to be captioned.

It is estimated that up to 18 percent of the content available on iTunes still lacks captions. For more information, see this article on 3Play Media’s website.

Earlier this year, Media Access Australia launched Access on Demand, a comprehensive report on the accessibility of video-on-demand (VOD) services in Australia and other countries. This recommended that captioning be introduced on all catch-up TV services by the end of 2015, and all VOD services by the end of 2016. If this is not done voluntarily, the Federal Government should introduce legislation similar to the CVAA to make captioning compulsory.

You may also like to read:

  • Information on iOS accessibility, covering the iPhone and iPad
  • Accessibility features found in wearable technology, covering the Apple Watch, Android Wear and Google Glass
  • Useful vision, hearing and mobility access information for Mac OS X
  • Everything you need to know about TV & video accessibility

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