Seeing that the Federal Communications Commission Ensures Accessible Broadcasting for the Blind

by Everette Bacon

From the Editor: Everette Bacon is a member of the board of directors of the National Federation of the Blind and the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Utah. He serves as our representative before the Federal Communications Commission, and here is a report he offers to Monitor readers about his work for descriptive audio services:

Audio Description (AD) has been a passion of mine for many years. My first exposure to AD came in 1997 when I was running my first Blockbuster Video store in Irving, Texas. VHS tapes were still very popular, and Blockbuster Video thought it would be a novel idea to increase its public awareness regarding accessibility, resulting in an audio description category for select stores. When I heard about this opportunity, I petitioned to have my store be one of the chosen locations to offer AD videos. I still have some of the VHS tapes with AD in my movie collection.
Upon moving to Salt Lake City, I became involved in the Salt Lake City Chapter of the NFB of Utah. AD was not offered anywhere in Utah, and so myself, David Sarle, and Nick Schmittroth met with the leadership of the largest movie theater chain in Utah, Megaplex Theaters. Megaplex is a local Utah company owned by the Larry H. Miller Group that also own the Utah Jazz. In spring 2006, Megaplex Theaters held a viewing of its first movie with AD, and over fifty members of the NFB of Utah attended.

In 2015 President Riccobono recommended me to represent the NFB on the newly formed Disability Advisory Committee for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC oversees all audio description regulations for all television and movie theaters. Other areas the FCC oversees include accessible set-top boxes, the I Can Connect Program, and everything related to the Twenty-First Century Communications Act passed in 2011. The committee has over thirty members representing industry and consumers. Some industry representation includes Apple, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Comcast, and many more. On the consumer side, besides NFB, the American Council of the Blind and many more advocates are represented.
Serving on this committee, I have the opportunity to work on many challenging policy items. One I am very proud of is a negotiation with the USA Network on how AD is being offered and monitored on its network. USA is a subsidiary of NBC Universal, and the network is among the top five in viewership according to the FCC. Because of this, it is required to meet standards concerning how much AD is broadcast on its network. USA has original programming such as Suits, where all episodes are described, and it offers numerous syndicated programs such as Law & Order, which are also offered with AD. Due to the numerous hours of syndicated programming available on USA, it is difficult for it to meet the strict FCC guidelines for being a top five network. The NFB and USA Network were able to come up with a suitable alternative that the FCC allowed. USA would guarantee, at a minimum, one-thousand hours of audio-described television between the primetime hours of six p.m. and midnight each quarter and that 75 percent of all new programs would require AD. To have a network television agree to make AD a priority for its blind viewers is a testament to how much value it places on blind viewership.

It is an absolute honor to serve and represent the NFB on this important committee. I appreciate the trust President Riccobono has in me, and I update him regularly. I am also grateful to John Paré and Kyle Walls from the Government Affairs team for their assistance with policy review. Below, I am adding some additional links if you should want to review some of the rulings regarding AD from the FCC. Please feel free to reach out to me with any comments or questions.

Ruling regarding the USA Network: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-19-1019A1.docx.

Ruling regarding a waiver granted to Google Fiber. The NFB provided public comment on this waiver: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-19-916A1.docx

2019 FCC report to Congress regarding video description: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-19-1023A1.docx