Inquiries and reports to Congress

Section 713 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613) is amended by adding at the end the following: (k) Inquiries and reports to Congress (1) Inquiries and reports on further video programming accessibility requirements (A) Closed captioning Not later than 4 years after the effective date of the regulations prescribed under subsection (c)(2)(D) of this section to implement, as appropriate, the recommendations described in subparagraphs (J) and (K) of section 106(d)(1) of the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act of 2026, the Commission shall commence inquiries on, and not later than 1 year thereafter, the Commission shall submit to Congress a report on, each of the matters described in paragraph (2) of this subsection. (B) Audio description Not later than 4 years after the effective date of the regulations prescribed under subsection (g)(3)(D) of this section to implement, as appropriate, the recommendations described in subparagraphs (J) and (K) of section 106(d)(1) of the Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act of 2026, the Commission shall commence inquiries on, and not later than 1 year thereafter, the Commission shall submit to Congress a report on, each of the matters described in paragraph (2) of this subsection. (2) Content of inquiries and reports The matters described in this paragraph are the following: (A) The availability, use, and benefits of providing closed captioning or audio description (as applicable) on consumer generated media. (B) The availability, use, and benefits of providing closed captioning or audio description (as applicable) on online video programming that was first made available before the effective date of the revised regulations under subsection (c)(2)(A) or (g)(3)(A), respectively. (C) The technical and operational issues and costs of providing closed captioning or audio description (as applicable) on— (i) consumer generated media; and (ii) video programming described in subparagraph (B). (D) The extent to which the measures, thresholds, scope, intervals, and associated deadlines used by the Commission to determine the closed captioning or audio description (as applicable) obligations for consumer generated media and video programming described in subparagraph (B) have been effective in providing video programming access to individuals with disabilities. (3) Continuing Commission authority The Commission may, as necessary, update its regulations and associated deadlines for the provision of closed captioning or audio description on consumer generated media and video programming described in paragraph (2)(B) if the Commission determines, based on the findings in the applicable report under paragraph (1), that updated regulations are necessary to— (A) effectively meet the accessibility needs of individuals with disabilities; and (B) reflect technological and methodological advances..