Today, President Obama signs into law the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. For the millions of Americans who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, the new law will require all videos first broadcast on television and then distributed on the internet to come with closed captioning. The people who will make closed captioning possible are court reporters, who transcribe conversations in real time.
We talk with Melanie Humphrey-Sonntag, president of the National Court Reporters Association about what this means for her profession, as well as the deaf and hard of hearing community.
The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!