Sec. 103. Audio description
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Subsection
(g)of section 713 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 613 ), as redesignated by section 102, is amended— in the heading, by striking and inserting Video ; and Audio by striking paragraphs (2), (3), and
(4)and inserting the following: Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act of 2022 , the Commission shall revise section 79.3 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (relating to audio description of video programming) in accordance with subparagraph (B). The regulations revised under subparagraph (A)— shall apply to all video programming published or exhibited on television after the effective date of the revised regulations; shall include an appropriate schedule of deadlines, the latest of which shall be not later than 5 years after the effective date of the revised regulations, for the provision, receipt, and performance of audio described programming published or exhibited on television, taking into account whether the programming— is prerecorded, live, or near-live; has been published or exhibited prior to the effective date of the revised regulations; and was live or near-live at the time it was initially published or exhibited; shall provide that audio described programming published or exhibited on television shall— be labeled and searchable or otherwise easily discoverable through navigation devices, apparatuses, applications, and other methods by which the programming is published or exhibited; and include a recognizable tone, on all audio channels in the same languages as the audio description streams, at the beginning of the programming to indicate that audio description is available; shall provide that audio description of video programming published or exhibited on television shall be made available to the public on an audio channel solely dedicated to audio description, so long as it is achievable (as defined in section 716); shall require any entity involved in the publishing or exhibiting of audio described programming published or exhibited on television to provide contact information, consistent with sections 79.1(i) and 79.4(c)(2)(iii) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations, for users to report problems related to audio description; and for the purposes of determining audio description obligations under this paragraph and assessing compliance with regulations adopted to assess the quality of audio description under paragraph (4), shall treat any programming that was live or near-live programming at the time of its initial airing as prerecorded programming if it is re-exhibited more than 24 hours after its initial airing. Not later than 2 years after the date of submission of the report to the Commission required under subsection 106(f)(2) of the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act of 2022 , the Commission shall revise its regulations to require the provision, receipt, and performance of audio description on video programming made available using Internet protocol or any successor protocol published or exhibited after the effective date of the revised regulations. The regulations revised under subparagraph (A)— shall ensure that all video programming made available using Internet protocol or any successor protocol is fully accessible through the provision of audio description; shall include an appropriate schedule of deadlines, the latest of which shall be not later than 5 years after the effective date of the revised regulations, for the provision, receipt, and performance of audio described programming made available using Internet protocol or any successor protocol, taking into account whether the programming— is prerecorded, live, or near-live; has been made available to users prior to the effective date of the revised regulations; and was live or near-live at the time it was initially made available; shall— define categories of entities engaged in making available video programming using Internet protocol or any successor protocol; and apportion the responsibilities for the provision, quality, pass-through, and performance of audio description among the entities identified by the Commission under subclause (I)— to ensure full access by viewers; and to ensure that the regulations can be enforced effectively against responsible parties; shall require that an entity engaged in making available user-generated video, whether or not the entity is also engaged in making available video that is not user-generated video, provides easy-to-use authoring tools that— permit users of the entity to add audio description; and conspicuously prompt users of the entity to use the tools; shall provide that audio described programming made available using Internet protocol or any successor protocol shall— be labeled and searchable or otherwise easily discoverable through navigation devices, apparatuses, applications, and other methods on which the programming is made available; and include a recognizable tone, on all audio channels in the same languages as the audio description streams, at the beginning of the programming to indicate that audio description is available; shall provide that audio description of video programming made available using Internet protocol or any successor protocol shall be provided on an audio track solely dedicated to audio description, so long as it is achievable (as defined in section 716); shall require entities engaged in making available audio described programming using Internet protocol or any successor protocol to provide contact information, consistent with sections 79.1(i) and 79.4(c)(2)(iii) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations, for users to report problems related to audio description; and for the purposes of determining audio description obligations under this paragraph and assessing compliance with regulations adopted to assess the quality of audio description under paragraph (4), shall treat any programming that was live or near-live programming at the time it was initially made available as prerecorded programming if it is made available more than 24 hours after it was initially made available. Not later than 3 years after the date of submission of the report to the Commission required under subsection 106(f)(2) of the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act of 2022 , the Commission shall adopt regulations to ensure the quality of audio description on video programming, including video programming published or exhibited on television or made available via Internet protocol or any successor protocol, as necessary to afford access to video programming that is functionally equivalent to the access provided by the visual components of the programming. The regulations adopted under subparagraph
(A)shall require that audio description— sufficiently convey key elements of the visual component; be appropriately voiced, considering whether the use of synthetic voices is permissible and if so, under what circumstances; and be appropriately edited and encoded to ensure consistency with the editing and encoding of the non-description audio track of the programming. Notwithstanding paragraphs
(2)and (3)— the Commission may exempt by regulation from the requirements under paragraphs
(2)and
(3)programs, classes of programs, or services for which the Commission has determined that the provision of audio description would be economically burdensome to an entity responsible for publishing or exhibiting or making available such programming; and an entity responsible for publishing or exhibiting or making available video programming may petition the Commission for an exemption from the requirements under paragraphs
(2)and (3), and the Commission may grant the exemption upon a showing that the requirement to include audio description would be economically burdensome. The Commission shall act to grant or deny any such petition, in whole or in part, not later than 6 months after the Commission receives the petition, unless the Commission finds that an extension of the 6-month period is necessary to determine whether the requirements are economically burdensome. . Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 301 et seq. ) is amended— in section 303 ( 47 U.S.C. 303 )— in subsection (u)— in paragraph (1)(B)— by striking video description and inserting audio description ; and by striking section 713(f) and inserting section 713(g) ; and by moving the left margin of that subsection and each paragraph, subparagraph, and clause therein 2 ems to the left; and in subsection (z)(1), by striking video description each place the term appears and inserting audio description ; and in section 330(b) ( 47 U.S.C. 330(b) ), by striking video description each place the term appears and inserting audio description .
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