STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN TOM WHEELER
Re: Video Description: Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video 
Accessibility Act of 2010, MB Docket No. 11-43.
This week has featured action on some of the Commission’s most high-profile items: the launch 
of the world’s first Incentive Auction, the adoption of a Lifeline Modernization Order, the kickoff of a 
privacy rulemaking. I would contend that the least noticed item on today’s Open Meeting agenda –
proposed rules to increase the availability of video-described programming -- is a piece of one of the 
Commission’s most significant – and most overlooked – achievements of the past several years: the 
implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 
(CVAA). 
The CVAA is the most significant accessibility legislation since the Americans with Disabilities 
Act. This landmark law has helped ensure that accessibility is a first thought, not an afterthought as new 
broadband-enabled technologies emerge.
I’m proud that the Commission met every single major deadline in implementing the Act, 
expanding access to television, the Internet, and new applications and services. 
Today’s proposal would increase the amount of video-described programming available to 
consumers, marking another step forward in helping to make video programming accessible to Americans 
with visual disabilities.  
Video description enables those who are blind or visually impaired to independently enjoy and 
follow popular television programs and better participate in the shared cultural experience that television 
offers. Popular television programs, such as Modern Family, NCIS, New Girl, Chicago Fire, Suits, and 
the live production of “The Wiz” have already utilized video description to rave reviews.
Many blind and visually impaired consumers have written the Commission calling for the 
expansion of video description. One consumer wrote, “It is so gratifying to be able to enjoy a movie with 
sighted family or friends without constantly asking questions.” Another wrote, “Many of us rely on 
description to equally enjoy the entertainment we are paying for.”
The proposals that we make today would expand these benefits to more programming and a 
greater audience, at what we project will be a very reasonable cost to programmers.
The NPRM tentatively concludes that the need for and benefits of providing additional video 
description would be greater than the costs.  As required under the CVAA, we will make a final a 
determination on this issue before adopting any new rules.
Again, these proposed rules are part of a much broader agenda to prioritize communications 
access issues for Americans with disabilities, some of which extend beyond the requirements of the 
CVAA.
Looking ahead, the Commission has also adopted rules to make emergency information in video 
programming and user interfaces on video devices accessible to individuals with disabilities. These rules 
go into effect on December 20 and will empower consumers to access talking guides and menus on a 
range of devices used to view video programming. Consumers will also have an easy-to-use mechanism 
to turn closed captioning on and off and to find audible emergency information on the secondary audio 
channel. The December 20 effective date is another deadline we intend to meet.
2Expanding access to communications technology for the more than 50 million Americans with 
disabilities is one of this agency’s most notable achievements and most pressing priorities going forward. 
Today’s proposal is a notable next step in this vitally important effort.
Thank you to the Media Bureau and the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau for their 
work on this item.