You asked whether any other states have (1) developed protocols for emergency broadcast captioning for deaf and hearing impaired people or (2) used their own or federal funds to provide grants to broadcasters to improve their captioning systems. OLR Report 2004-R-0102 discusses the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations on captioning.

PROTOCOLS

During 2003 and 2004, the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing worked with broadcasters, deaf consumers, and FCC staff to address how best to visually display critical information during an emergency. The group developed a “best practices manual” (attached) that addresses such things as (1) standardization of placement of captions and crawls (captions that move at the top or bottom of the TV screen), (2) the types of information to provide in an emergency, and (3) how to communicate that there is an emergency by using a unique and understandable marker for crawls and broadcasts. The manual is advisory and does not carry the force of law. The department has encouraged organizations serving deaf people in specific regions of the state and local broadcasters to develop regional voluntary standards.

There have also been initiatives in Florida and Minnesota to increase the usefulness of emergency broadcasts for deaf and hearing impaired people, but it does not appear that these initiatives have led to captioning protocols.

FCC and National Association of Broadcasters staff believe that mandatory state captioning protocols might be preempted by federal law. In addition, Connecticut Broadcasters Association staff note that a large part of the Connecticut television market is served by out of state stations.

FUNDING

None of the entities we contacted (organizations serving deaf and hearing impaired people, the FCC, and broadcaster organizations) were aware of any cases where states have used their own or federal funds to provide grants to broadcasters to improve their captioning systems.

KM: ro