To the Editor:
This is an open letter to all of the current and future Florida candidates running for local, state and national offices – on behalf of the deaf and hard of hearing citizens of this state, as well as other constituents who might benefit, we plead with you to have all of your televised campaign messages, commercials and even debates include closed captions, subtitles or other open caption/text accommodations so that we, too, can clearly understand and benefit from your statements, thoughts, and messages.
The FCC’s closed captioning mandates explicitly describe how video programming would comply with their rules. It is my understanding that advertisements (commercials) that are less than five minutes long are not necessarily considered “video programming” per se and are, therefore, exempt from requiring accessible text or captions. Nonetheless, I know that there are many business and advertisers, however, that choose to caption their commercials voluntarily.
Providing captioning access allows you to reach millions of deaf and hard of hearing television viewers, as well as English language learners and many others. Captioning commercials make good business sense, and it is the right thing to do. This also applies to campaign and paid political messages – it might not be mandated, but it just makes good practical sense. One can only imagine that many of these political action committees and third-party entities that pay for these endless messages have deep pockets and the means to pay for it.
In Florida, there are many deaf, hard of hearing and seniors with a hearing loss who are registered voters and who very much want to know what your campaign messages are all about, before going to the polls. Not only are many of these constituents’ voters, but many also make monetary contributions/donations to the same parties and individuals running for office.
Once again and for the benefit of all Floridians, I would like to request that all political ads on our local networks be captioned for full accessibility. I appreciate you giving this plea your kind consideration, and I do wish all the current and future candidates the very best.
Louis Schwarz
Village of Largo
