NAB Petition to Modify Television Aural Description Rules

On November 25, 2024, the FCC’s Media Bureau released a Public Notice seeking comment on the National Association of Broadcasters’ (NAB) Petition for Rulemaking regarding the requirement that TV broadcasters make certain emergency information available on audible crawls. Comments are due December 26, 2024 and Reply Comments are due January 9, 2025.

FCC rules which went into effect on November 26, 2024 require television stations and other distributors of video programming to make visual, non-textual emergency information displayed outside of newscasts audibly accessible on a secondary audio programming stream (SAP) to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The deadline to comply with these rules had been extended to November 26, 2024 because of the unavailability of workable technology to automate the audio description of visual information.

On November 15, 2024, however, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) filed its Petition for Rulemaking requesting that the Commission modify the rules such that the requirement is met by providing textual crawls that convey emergency information duplicative of or equivalent to the visual, non-textual information, and grant an 18-month extension of the current waiver. Attached to the Petition, NAB provided draft best practices to help ensure text crawls provide access to emergency information equivalent to a visual image.

Because the FCC requested comment, but did not act, on the waiver extension the waiver has expired and the rules are now effective. As of this writing the Media Bureau FCC has not provided guidance on the approach TV stations should take with respect to compliance with the rules. On November 27, 2024, the NAB filed a Request for Expedited Retroactive Extension of the Waiver pending action on the Petition for Rulemaking.

There is language in previous Bureau orders indicating that a station which provides textual crawls that convey information duplicative of what the audible crawls would contain need not provide the audible crawls; essentially the same exception that the NAB requested be codified in the rules. While some stations, many of which already provide textual crawls, may choose to rely on those previous Bureau statements, the rule as currently written does not include the exception and other stations may elect to suspend non-newscast emergency information until the FCC provides guidance, extends the waiver or amends the rules.

If you have questions about the FCC's aural description rules, contact an attorney in our Media practice group.