Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act of 2026
Sen. Markey Introduces Bill to Require Captions and Audio Descriptions for All Streaming Video
This bill was recently introduced in the Senate and is currently being reviewed by the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. It is in the early stages of the lawmaking process and has no upcoming votes scheduled at this time. The bill is considered active as it waits for the committee to decide on its next steps.
Legislative Progress
While accessibility is often a bipartisan issue, this bill imposes significant new costs and rules on tech companies and social media platforms, which may face pushback.
Key Points
Impact Analysis
Personal Impact
Life & Work
Small businesses that produce online video content or operate video platforms may face new compliance costs to add captions and audio descriptions. The bill does include an economic burden exemption process that allows entities to petition the FCC if meeting the requirements would be too costly. But for many small content creators and platforms, the new obligations represent real added expense, even if large platforms can absorb the costs more easily.
“an entity responsible for publishing, exhibiting, or making available video programming or consumer generated media may petition the Commission for an exemption from the requirements under paragraphs (2) and (3), and the Commission may grant the exemption upon a showing that the requirement to include audio description would be economically burdensome”
Disabilities
Milestones
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
News
No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act of 2026
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
(1)Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.