Subtitles and Caption FCC Caption Regulations and Compliance 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which U.S. federal agency is primarily responsible for enforcing closed captioning regulations on television?
- FCC (Correct answer)
- FTC
- FEC
- FDA
Correct answer: FCC
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) enforces closed captioning rules under the Communications Act.
Question 2: Under FCC rules, which type of programming was FIRST required to carry closed captions?
- New English-language programming (Correct answer)
- Live news broadcasts
- Spanish-language programming
- Children's programming
Correct answer: New English-language programming
FCC rules first mandated captions on new English-language programming before expanding to other categories.
Question 3: The Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 required all television sets with screens 13 inches or larger to include what?
- Built-in caption decoding circuitry (Correct answer)
- Stereo audio output
- Channel guide displays
- Remote control receivers
Correct answer: Built-in caption decoding circuitry
This Act mandated that TVs 13 inches and larger include built-in circuitry to decode and display closed captions.
Question 4: Which law extended closed captioning requirements to online video distributed by TV broadcasters and cable operators?
- Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) (Correct answer)
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Rehabilitation Act Section 508
- Telecommunications Act of 1996
Correct answer: Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA)
The CVAA of 2010 extended FCC captioning requirements to IP-delivered video that previously aired on TV with captions.
Question 5: FCC caption quality standards require captions to be 'accurate,' meaning they must:
- Match the spoken words as closely as possible (Correct answer)
- Use simplified vocabulary
- Be translated to plain English
- Appear only during dialogue
Correct answer: Match the spoken words as closely as possible
FCC accuracy rules require captions to reflect the spoken audio as closely as possible, including speaker identification.
Question 6: Under FCC rules, captions must be 'synchronous,' which means they must:
- Coincide with the corresponding spoken words and sounds (Correct answer)
- Be delivered at exactly 130 words per minute
- Match the video frame rate precisely
- Appear before the speaker begins talking
Correct answer: Coincide with the corresponding spoken words and sounds
FCC synchrony requirements mandate that captions appear at the same time as the corresponding audio they represent.
Subtitles and Caption FCC Caption Regulations and Compliance 1
Which U.S. federal agency is primarily responsible for enforcing closed captioning regulations on television?