The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) announced that its SMPTE Timed Text standard for the captioning of video content distributed via the Internet was honored by the FCC with a Chairman’s Award for Advancement in Accessibility. Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski presented the award to the society at a ceremony on Dec. 19, 2012, at the FCC headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The SMPTE Timed Text standard is designed to accelerate the transition of broadcast content to the Internet and make it more easily accessible to tens of millions of people with disabilities. In February, the FCC declared the SMPTE Timed Text standard a safe harbor interchange and delivery format. As a result, captioned video content distributed via the Internet that uses the standard will comply with the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, a landmark U.S. law designed to ensure the accessibility, usability and affordability of broadband, wireless and Internet technologies for people with disabilities.
The standard is available free of charge from SMPTE at www.smpte.org/standards.
