Editing Closed captioning (section)

=== Legislative development in the U.S. ===
Until the passage of the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990, television captioning was performed by a set-top box manufactured by Sanyo Electric and marketed by the National Captioning Institute (NCI). (At that time a set-top decoder cost about as much as a TV set itself, approximately $200.) Through discussions with the manufacturer it was established that the appropriate circuitry integrated into the television set would be less expensive than the stand-alone box, and Ronald May, then a Sanyo employee, provided the expert witness testimony on behalf of Sanyo and Gallaudet University in support of the passage of the bill. On January 23, 1991, the [[Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990]] was passed by Congress.<ref name="caphist"/> This Act gave the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) power to enact rules on the implementation of closed captioning. This Act required all analog television receivers with screens of at least 13&nbsp;inches or greater, either sold or manufactured, to have the ability to display closed captioning by July 1, 1993.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/1194.24-decoderact.htm|title=Crossing at Roundabouts - United States Access Board|website=www.access-board.gov|access-date=2019-07-20|archive-date=2020-11-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105232853/https://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/1194.24-decoderact.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Also, in 1990, the [[Americans with Disabilities Act]] (ADA) was passed to ensure equal opportunity for persons with disabilities.<ref name="caphist" /> The ADA prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in public accommodations or commercial facilities. Title III of the ADA requires that public facilities—such as hospitals, bars, shopping centers and museums (but not movie theaters)—provide access to verbal information on televisions, films and slide shows.

The Federal Communications Commission requires all providers of programs to caption material which has audio in English or Spanish, with certain exceptions specified in Section 79.1(d) of the commission's rules. These exceptions apply to new networks; programs in languages other than English or Spanish; networks having to spend over 2% of income on captioning; networks having less than US$3,000,000 in revenue; and certain local programs; among other exceptions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fcc.gov/general/self-implementing-exemptions-closed-captioning-rules|title=Self Implementing Exemptions From Closed Captioning Rules|date=July 8, 2011|website=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref> Those who are not covered by the exceptions may apply for a hardship waiver.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fcc.gov/economically-burdensome-exemption-closed-captioning-requirements|title=Economically Burdensome Exemption from Closed Captioning Requirements|date=May 30, 2017|website=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref>

The [[Telecommunications Act of 1996]] expanded on the Decoder Circuitry Act to place the same requirements on [[digital television]] receivers by July 1, 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/closed-captioning-television|title=Closed Captioning on Television|date=May 6, 2011|website=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref> All TV programming distributors in the U.S. are required to provide closed captions for Spanish-language video programming as of January 1, 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-79/subpart-A/section-79.1|title=§ 79.1 Closed captioning of televised video programming.|work=[[Code of Federal Regulations]]}}</ref>

A bill, H.R. 3101, the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, was passed by the United States House of Representatives in July 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010|year=2010|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/hr3101|access-date=2013-03-28|archive-date=2023-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326024400/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/hr3101|url-status=dead}}</ref> A similar bill, S. 3304, with the same name, was passed by the United States Senate on August 5, 2010 and by the House of Representatives on September 28, 2010, and was signed by President [[Barack Obama]] on October 8, 2010. The Act requires, in part, any [[Advanced Television Systems Committee standards|ATSC]]-decoding set-top box remote to have a button to turn the closed captioning in the output signal on or off. It also requires broadcasters to provide captioning for television programs redistributed on the Internet.<ref>{{cite web|title=Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010|year=2010|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/s3304|access-date=2013-03-28|archive-date=2023-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326024406/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/s3304|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On February 20, 2014, the FCC unanimously approved the implementation of quality standards for closed captioning,<ref>{{cite web|title=FCC Moves to Upgrade TV Closed Captioning Quality|year=2014|url=https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-moves-upgrade-tv-closed-captioning-quality}}</ref> addressing accuracy, timing, completeness, and placement. This is the first time the FCC has addressed quality issues in captions.

In 2015, a law was passed in Hawaii requiring two screenings a week of each movie with captions on the screen. In 2022 a law took effect in New York City requiring movie theaters to offer captions on the screen for up to four showtimes per movie each week, including weekends and Friday nights.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/technology-health-95d57b9ad5d17246d50d84c84c3127d5|title=Why captions are suddenly everywhere and how they got there|date=June 27, 2022|website=AP NEWS}}</ref>

Some state and local governments (including [[Boston, Massachusetts]]; [[Portland, Oregon]]; [[Rochester, New York]]; and [[Washington (state)|the State of Washington]]) require closed captioning to be activated on TVs in public places at all times, even if no one has requested it.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/22/boston-closed-captioning-tvs/ |title=More cities are requiring captions on public TVs. Here's why that matters. |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>