Closed Captioning

A while back there were exemptions to the captioning requirements that were granted by the FCC.

What does this mean? Changes in closed captioning (CC)? That if movie makers don’t get a profit from CC, then they don’t have to put it in the movies? What? Is there a loophole?

I have watched recently released movies on DVD. I was very disappointed with the captioning. I am so glad that the regular TV shows still have the little black stripe behind the letters. It’s so much easier to read the captioning with the black background.

In the recent videos I have watched, the captions have the white lettering with nothing in the background except for the movie itself. It can blend in with the scenery or the movement of the actors affect the captioning and the colors are always changed in the background. Without that black background, it’s very distracting and makes it harder to read.

I don’t like it. I can be open to some changes, but not this one.

Don't we, the deaf/Deaf*, hard-of-hearing, and/or visually impaired, count as consumers? What's a few dollars in the multi-million dollar market of videos? Think about how many people there are out there that have hearing and/or vision problems-we may not buy or rent the videos because we can't enjoy the movies anymore. How much of the percentage of potential profit is lost because we won't watch movies anymore?

Closed captioning? It's more like "open" captioning.

Please bring back the old closed captioning in the DVDs and videos. Why mess with a good thing?

*When "Deaf " is used as a capitalized proper noun, it means those who are culturally Deaf. When "deaf" is used as a regular noun, it means that the person is deaf, but not culturally
deaf.

Deaf, proper noun: People who use primarily American Sign Language and consider themselves members of the Deaf Culture are Deaf. This differentiates them from hearing-impaired people and from those who rely on speech. Though half a million Americans are "deaf," (they neither hear nor understand speech), no one knows how many people's first language is sign. -Source: Holmes, Hannah, The Skinny on...Deaf People's Inner Voice. <http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon971128/skinnyon.html> . Discovery Communicateions, Inc., 1997.

deaf:
A medical/audiological term referring to those people who have little or no functional hearing. May also be used as a collective noun ("the deaf") to refer to people who are medically deaf but who do not necessarily identify with the Deaf community.
Deaf (with capital D):
A sociological term referring to those individuals who are medically deaf or hard of hearing who identify with and participate in the culture, society, and language of Deaf people, which is based on Sign language. Their preferred mode of communication is Sign. -Source: Terminology. <http://www.cad.ca/en/resources/terminology.asp> Canadian Association of the Deaf.