DA 20-1415
Released: November 30, 2020

Notice of Effective Date of Revised Audio Description Rules
MB Docket No. 11-43

On October 27, 2020, the Commission adopted the 2020 Audio Description Order, which expanded the Commission’s audio description rules by phasing them in for an additional 10 designated market areas (DMAs) each year for the next four years. Video Description:  Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, FCC 20-155 (2020) (2020 Audio Description Order).  In the 2020 Audio Description Order, the Commission also modernized the terminology in its rules to use the more common and widely understood term “audio description” rather than “video description,” and it deleted from the rules outdated references to compliance deadlines that have passed. 
  Those rules become effective 30 days after publication of the order in the Federal Register. See id. at para. 22.
  The Federal Register published a summary of the 2020 Audio Description Order on November 30, 2020. Federal Communications Commission, Video Description:  Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, 85 Fed. Reg. 76480 (November 30, 2020).
  Accordingly, the rules adopted in 2020 Audio Description Order will take effect on December 30, 2020.  The Commission’s audio description rules will extend to DMAs 61 through 70 as of January 1, 2021, to DMAs 71 through 80 as of January 1, 2022, to DMAs 81 through 90 on January 1, 2023, and to DMAs 91 through 100 as of January 1, 2024.
People with Disabilities:  To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (tty).

For further information regarding this proceeding, contact Diana Sokolow, Policy Division, Media Bureau, 202-418-2120.
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