The SBE submitted comments to the FCC on April 9 in response to the Public Notice in MB Docket No. 12-107 and MB Docket No. 11-43. The Public Notice responds to a petition filed by the National Association of Broadcasters that requested a temporary partial exemption and limited waiver of Section 79.2(b)(2)(ii) of the Commission’s rules, requiring television broadcasters to provide an aural representation of visual emergency information on a secondary audio stream. Comments submitted by the SBE were in support of the NAB comments.
The purpose of the rule is to ensure that emergency information provided visually during non-newscast programming is made accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired through the use of a secondary audio stream. The rule sets a compliance deadline by all broadcasters of May 26, 2015. The NAB requested a six-month partial exemption, to Nov. 26, 2015, or limited waiver of the requirement because the hardware and software necessary for broadcasters to aurally transcribe emergency information crawls has not yet been released and delivered by the vendors in many cases, and additional time is needed for testing, ordering, shipment and installation of the solution developed by the vendors.
The NAB also asked that the FCC waive the requirement that visual but non-textual emergency information be included in the aural representation of emergency information on the secondary audio stream until technological solutions are available. At the present time, radar maps and similar moving graphics do not contain text files that can be converted to speech so the ability to comply with the requirement does not exist now. Third, the NAB requested a temporary waiver of the requirement that broadcasters aurally convey school closing information on the secondary audio stream while alternatives can be considered.
Read the SBE filing on the SBE website.
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