An Audio Description Rules Reminder For Certain DMAs

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — As set forth in the FCC’s 2020 Audio Description Order, adopted in October 2020, an expansion of the audio description rules is taking shape.


The availability of audio description is being phased in, with 10 designated market areas (DMAs) required to add it each year up to four years.

As of January 1, DMAs No. 81-90 will be required to have their TV stations comply with the Order.

 

As such, the following markets must have audio description services in place by the start of the new year:

  • Madison, Wisc.
  • Waco-Temple-Bryan, Tex.
  • Rio Grande Valley
  • Paducah, Ky.-Cape Girardeau, Mo.
  • Colorado Springs-Pueblo
  • Shreveport-Bossier City
  • Syracuse
  • Champaign-Springfield, Ill.
  • Savannah, Ga.
  • Cedar Rapids-Iowa City-Waterloo, Iowa

Audio description makes video programming more accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired through “[t]he insertion of audio narrated descriptions of a television program’s key visual elements into natural pauses between the program’s dialogue.”

The Commission’s audio description rules require certain television broadcast stations and
multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to provide audio description for a portion of the video programming they televise to consumers. The 2020 Audio Description Order expanded the availability of audio description by phasing the requirements in.

DMAs No. 61-70 had until Jan. 1, 2021; DMAs No. 71-80 had until Jan. 1, 2022.