Rep. Dingell Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Require Captions and Audio Descriptions for Online Video
This bill is in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce where it has been since April 15, 2026. The committee must review the bill before it can move forward, but no action has taken place since its introduction. A companion bill in the Senate is also not moving forward.
Part of: story →Companion bill: Sen. Markey Introduces Bill to Require Captions and Audio Descriptions for All Streaming Video →The bill has support from both parties and updates a law that many people already like. However, tech companies might worry about the cost of adding these features to every video.
This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.
Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works
Small businesses that produce online video content or operate customer call centers would face new costs to add closed captions, audio descriptions, and sign language video calling to their customer service operations. The bill does include economic burden exemptions that could shield the smallest businesses, but many mid-size content creators and service providers would need to invest in compliance.
“the Commission may exempt by regulation from the requirements under paragraphs (2) and (3) programs or media, classes of programs or media, or services for which the Commission has determined that the provision of audio description would be economically burdensome”
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
No votes or news coverage recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act of 2026
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