Captions also encourage literacy among adults and children, and they offer everyone a way to watch television in places where the sound cannot be turned up.

As of January 1, 2006, everything on television is required to be captioned, with only a few exceptions.

What is post-production captioning?

In post-production captioning, also known as offline captioning, captions are added to pre-produced programs.

Using your video (and script, if available), we transcribe the audio and break the resulting text into individual captions. We also add timing reference points to each caption so they appear on the television screen at the correct time. Next, we proof the captions and then embed or encode them onto line 21 of the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of a new videotape or DVD, now called the caption master.

These captions can be viewed when a television's closed-caption decoder, usually located in the TV's menu, is turned on.

What is the difference between open and closed captions?

Open captions are captions that are burned into the video, meaning they are always present and cannot be turned on or off. Closed captions are just the opposite. They are embedded onto the videotape and can be turned on or off using your television's menu.

How long does it take to get something captioned?

This depends on the length of your production. Commercial spots, for example, can be turned around as quick as the same-day. For longer programs, 3-5 business days is the average. However, we are familiar with production and know that there may be times when you need a quicker turnaround than this. In these situations, please call us as soon as possible.

How do you measure/judge quality?

We have extremely high standards for our post-production captioning; nothing less than 100% accuracy is what we expect from ourselves and for your production.

What are the FCC requirements for television programming?

As directed by Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted rules requiring the closed captioning of most television programming.

Different captioning requirements apply to new and pre-rule programming. Certain exemptions from the captioning requirements apply to both of these categories of programming.

• New Programming:
As of January 1, 2006, all new English language programming, defined as analog programming first published or exhibited on or after January 1, 1998, and digital programming first aired on or after July 1, 2002, must be captioned, with some exceptions.

• Pre-rule Programming:
Analog programming first shown before January 1, 1998, and digital programming first shown before July 1, 2002, are called "Pre-Rule Programming." Pre-Rule Programming that is not exempt from the closed captioning rules must be captioned as follows:

• January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2011: 30 percent of programming per channel per quarter.
• January 1, 2008, and thereafter: 75 percent of programming per channel per quarter.

(Courtesy FCC website)

For more information visit the FCC's web site, http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/caption.html, or call the FCC toll-free at 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322), TTY 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322).

What does the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) say about captioning?

"SEC. 711. CLOSED-CAPTIONING OF PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS. Any television public service announcement that is produced or funded in whole or in part by any agency or instrumentality of Federal Government shall include closed captioning of the verbal content of such announcement. A television broadcast station licensee--

(1) shall not be required to supply closed captioning for any such announcement that fails to include it; and

(2) shall not be liable for broadcasting any such announcement without transmitting a closed caption unless the licensee intentionally fails to transmit the closed caption that was included with the announcement."

What is Section 508?

In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act with Section 508, requiring federal agencies to give disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others. The law applies to all federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain or use electronic and information technology.

In accordance with Section 508, all training and informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency's mission, that contain speech or other audio information necessary for the comprehension of the content, require open or closed captions and audio description. (courtesy Section508.gov)