Federal Communications Commission	"FCC  XX-XXX"


STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER JESSICA ROSENWORCEL

Re: 	Video Description:  Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, MB Docket No. 11-43.

It was ten years ago this month that the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act became the law of the land.  I remember the day the bill was signed.  That’s because I was in the room, deep in the audience, present because I had the privilege of working on this legislation when I served as counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. 

The glory of that day stays with me even now.  That’s because this legislation was a big deal.  It built on the foundation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and helped pry open opportunity in the digital age, by expanding access to technology for millions with disabilities. 

There’s another reason that the glory of that moment lingers.  At the signing ceremony, I sat near Stevie Wonder, who had helped champion this legislation.  This was a good day.  

But what’s better still, is that the Federal Communications Commission is still at it.  A decade in, and we are still using this law to expand access and improve opportunities for those with disabilities.  Today, in fact, we are extending the agency’s audio description requirements to an additional 10 markets every year for the next four years.  What does this mean?  This technology makes video accessible to individuals who are blind and visually impaired by inserting narrative descriptions of key visual elements in television programming.  So with audio description, those with vision loss no longer miss facial expressions, visual jokes, or critical scene changes.  It makes more video content available to more of us and builds on the groundwork laid by the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.  As a result, it has my full support. 
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