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a TV showing a woman reading the news Televised Emergency Programming Complaint Procedure


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"How can I be sure that televised emergency broadcasts will be accessible to me?"

During a civil emergency it is particularly important that information be provided to all citizens in a timely manner. The FCC requires that all emergency programming be accessible to people with visual and/or hearing disabilities.


When to use this procedure: You are a consumer who has encountered a television program about an emergency that is not accessible to people with visual or hearing disabilities.

Products and services that are covered by the Televised Emergency Programming rules:
  • Video program distributors, i.e., companies that distribute television programs to home viewers, including local broadcast television stations, local cable television operators, and satellite television services


  • Video program providers, including television program networks (e.g., ABC, NBC, Lifetime, A&E) and other companies that provide television programs
Other "fine print":
  • Anyone can file a Televised Emergency Programming complaint, i.e., you do not have to have a disability; you just need to have information about a televised emergency that was not accessible to people with visual or hearing disabilities.


  • FCC rules require television-programming distributors to make televised emergency programming accessible to people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or have vision disabilities. Emergency programming includes any programming intended to further the protection of life, health, safety, or property.


  • For individuals with hearing disabilities, information may be provided through captions, scrolls across the screen or another method of visual presentation. For people with vision disabilities, the information must include video descriptions so long as the emergency information is being provided during a regularly scheduled newscast or a newscast that interrupts regular programming.


  • FCC rules requiring emergency access on televised programming cover a variety of emergency situations, including those involving hazardous weather conditions, dangerous community occurrences, civil disorders, and school closings.


  • Accessible information must include critical details about the emergency and how to respond to that emergency, e.g., evacuation routes and shelter locations.


  • If the emergency information is provided by a means other than closed captioning, that other means cannot block the captions; in addition, closed captions may not block emergency information if the latter is not provided through captions.


  • Unlike the closed captioning rules for general television programming, there are no exceptions for certain programs or networks or a phase in period for these televised emergency rules. The rules are fully effective at all times.


How to proceed with the complaint process:
Build and document your case
  • Your name, address, telephone/TTY number and email address
  • Name and address of the programmer (e.g., News Channel 10) as well as the name and address of the distributor (e.g., ABC Cable Company) who showed the program
  • The date and time that the emergency information was not accessible
  • The type of emergency
  • If you know it, the type of information not provided in an accessible format
  • If possible, a videotape of the televised emergency
Contact the customer service department or relevant senior management at the TV program distributor or TV station and try to resolve the problem Google Search Engine (to look for the company)
Document your interactions with the business
  • Dates of conversations, emails, letters or faxes
  • Person(s) with whom you interacted, including their contact information
  • Details of your conversations
  • Copies of emails, letters, or faxes
If you cannot resolve the problem by working directly with the television programming distributor or television station...
File an informal complaint with the FCC Forward documentation of your case - including your interactions with the programming distributor - to the FCC using one of the following methods:
Online: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html
Email: fccinfo@fcc.gov
Mail: Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Complaints
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Fax: 1-866-418-0232
The FCC will notify the video programming distributor of the complaint, and the distributor must respond to the complaint within 30 days.



If you are interested in learning more about the FCC's televised emergency access rules and other captioning matters, check out these resources:



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Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center
Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access
Georgia Institute of Technology
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