Closed caption law IRR to be finalized this yearThe deaf and the hearing-impaired will soon gain equal access to information on television as the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Closed Caption Law will be finalized this year. Sen. Grace Poe, the principal sponsor of Republic Act 10905, said that she looks forward to the “timely” and “meaningful” implementation of the law. The law will compel television operators to include closed captions in presenting their programs to benefit the deaf and the hearing-impaired sector. Closed captioning is the method of subtitling TV programs by coding statements as vertical interval data signals that are decoded at the receiver and superimposed at the bottom of the TV screen. The measure lapsed into law last July 21 and took effect 15 days after publication on August 16, while the 120-day period within which to craft the IRR culminates on December 14.

Source: Manila Bulletin October 11, 2016 11:15 UTC