A couple months ago I did a post about how bills were being proposed in the U.S. that would require closed-captioning for certain online videos. These bills have recently passed through the U.S. House and Senate. There are differences between the House and Senate versions that still must be hashed out, but once they are, everything will just need the president’s signature to become law.
Once a law, any online video content…that was also produced for television…must included closed-captioning. That means if you watch your favorite TV show online, it must have captions. User-generated videos or videos produced solely for the web will not require closed-captioning.
The current bills don’t specific any deadlines for when closed-captioning must start occurring, rather they only call for a special commission that will set the timetable. In other words, closed-captioning…under law…may still be a year or two or three away.