A United States rule that took effect on 17 August 2026 requires closed captioning display settings to be readily accessible. It does not add captions; it makes the controls for font, size, colour and background easier to find. The FCC ties compliance to operating systems deployed after that date.
If you use closed captions, you know the small daily friction of them: the captions are there, but the controls to make them readable, the font, the size, the colour, the background, are buried three or four menus deep, in a different place on every device. A United States rule that took effect on 17 August 2026 is aimed squarely at that friction. It does not add captions. It makes the settings that control how captions look easier to find.
What the rule actually requires
The rule comes out of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, the American law that pushed captioning onto internet video and onto the devices that play it. In July 2024 the Federal Communications Commission adopted an order requiring manufacturers of covered apparatus and multichannel video programming distributors to make closed captioning display settings “readily accessible to individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing.” The order was published in the Federal Register in August 2024 and the underlying rule took effect that September, with the compliance date set later.
“Readily accessible” is the whole point, so the FCC said how it will judge it. It will look at four things: proximity (how close the caption controls are to other common settings), discoverability (whether a viewer can actually find them), previewability (whether you can see the effect of a change as you make it), and consistency and persistence (whether the setting stays put and works the same way across the device). In plain terms, the caption controls should sit where you would look for them, be visible rather than hidden, show you what a change does, and not reset themselves.
The date, and a caveat worth reading
There has been some confusion about when this starts, with at least one trade outlet reporting 1 August. The FCC’s own compliance-date document settles it: the compliance date for the display-settings rule is 17 August 2026.
The caveat matters. The rule does not mean every television and streaming box in a home has to be retrofitted overnight. The regulation ties compliance to new equipment: in the FCC’s words, compliance “is required for devices that use next generation operating systems deployed after August 17, 2026.” So the change arrives gradually, in the operating systems of devices built and updated after the date, rather than as a switch flipped on hardware already sitting in living rooms. The covered category is broad, apparatus designed to receive, play back, or record video programming, with a longstanding allowance that very small screens (13 inches or under) and recording devices only have to comply where doing so is achievable.
Why a “findability” rule is worth caring about
Captions are only as useful as they are usable. A person with low vision who also relies on captions may need a large, high-contrast font to read them at all. Someone reading captions in a bright room needs a solid background. A viewer switching between a smart TV, a streaming stick and a phone should not have to relearn where the controls live on each one. When the settings are hard to find or reset themselves, people give up and watch with captions that are technically present but practically unreadable. A rule about where a menu lives sounds minor until it is the menu standing between you and the show.
How Canada compares
Canada regulates captions from a different direction, and it is worth understanding the difference. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) puts its requirements on broadcasters, not device makers. Canadian broadcasters must caption 100 per cent of programming across the broadcast day, along with advertising, sponsorship and promotional messages, and they must meet quality standards: a 100 per cent accuracy target for pre-recorded programs, and for live programming an accuracy rate of at least 98 per cent for English (measured by the Canadian NER guidelines) and 85 per cent for French. In May 2026 the CRTC issued Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2026-98, determining that online streaming services must provide closed captioning for new original programming, which extends captioning obligations beyond traditional broadcasters. That change is phased rather than immediate. The CRTC’s announcement of 25 May 2026 says that “within one year, Canadians will have access to captions on online streaming services for new original programs, whether live or pre-recorded”, and that “within five years, this feature will be available for all online programming.” The implementing orders were still open for comment through July 2026, and the dates on which they come into effect range from 25 June 2027 to 26 May 2031.
Those rules govern whether captions exist and how accurate they are. The American rule governs something else: how easily a viewer can find and adjust the caption settings on the device in front of them. They are two different layers of the same problem, supply and control. Because much of the video hardware sold in Canada is built for a shared North American market, Canadian viewers often use the very devices the US rule applies to, so in practice some of the settings improvements may show up here too, even though the rule itself is American.
If you are in Canada and captions on a service are missing or poor, that is a CRTC matter and the broadcaster or streamer is the party with the obligation. If the captions are fine but the controls to make them readable are impossible to find, that is the device, and the American rule is a sign of where the standard is heading.
This is general information about accessibility regulation, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
What does the new caption settings rule require?
The Federal Communications Commission order requires manufacturers of covered apparatus and multichannel video programming distributors to make closed captioning display settings readily accessible to individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. It does not add captions. It governs how easily a viewer can find and adjust the settings that control how captions look.
When does it take effect?
The FCC’s own compliance-date document sets the compliance date for the display-settings rule at 17 August 2026. At least one trade outlet reported 1 August, which is not the date in the FCC document.
Does it apply to devices already in people’s homes?
No. The regulation ties compliance to new equipment. In the FCC’s words, compliance is required for devices that use next generation operating systems deployed after 17 August 2026, so the change arrives gradually in devices built and updated after that date rather than as a retrofit of hardware already in use.
How will the FCC judge whether settings are readily accessible?
By four things: proximity, meaning how close the caption controls sit to other common settings; discoverability, whether a viewer can actually find them; previewability, whether you can see the effect of a change as you make it; and consistency and persistence, whether the setting stays put and works the same way across the device.
What applies in Canada?
The CRTC places its requirements on broadcasters rather than device makers. Canadian broadcasters must caption 100 per cent of programming across the broadcast day and meet accuracy standards. In May 2026 the CRTC determined that online streaming services must caption new original programming, with implementing orders coming into effect between 25 June 2027 and 26 May 2031. This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
- Federal Communications Commission, “Accessibility of User Interfaces, and Video Programming Guides and Menus” (Final rule; announcement of compliance date), FR Doc 2025-02816, published 21 February 2025: federalregister.gov
- Federal Communications Commission, “Media Bureau Announces Compliance Date for Closed Captioning Display Settings Requirements” (Public Notice DA 25-48): fcc.gov
- CRTC, “TV Access for People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Closed Captioning”: crtc.gc.ca
- CRTC, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2026-98, “Regulatory policy for closed captioning provided by online streaming undertakings”, 25 May 2026: crtc.gc.ca
- CRTC, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2026-98-1, “Regulatory policy for closed captioning provided by online streaming undertakings, Change to procedure”, 23 June 2026: crtc.gc.ca
- CRTC, news release, “CRTC improves accessibility of programming for Canadians who are Deaf, DeafBlind or hard of hearing”, 25 May 2026: canada.ca
