If you stream to US viewers and your content has ever aired on US television, you are subject to FCC closed captioning rules under the CVAA (21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act). The rules are clearer than most publishers think, and the enforcement is real. Here is what you actually have to do.
What the CVAA requires
Any video programming that was shown on US television with captions must be captioned when distributed over the internet, including in OTT apps. The captions must be of equivalent quality to the TV broadcast.
The rule covers VOD playback of previously-aired content. Pure-online originals (never aired on TV) are not covered by CVAA but are covered by ADA accessibility expectations in most modern interpretations.
Caption quality requirements
FCC defines four quality criteria, all of which apply:
- Accuracy - transcribed correctly, including punctuation, capitalization, and speaker identification.
- Synchronicity - captions appear at the same time as the spoken word, with a tolerance of ~250ms.
- Completeness - every spoken word is captioned from program start to end, including sponsorship messages.
- Placement - captions do not obscure on-screen text, faces, or critical visual information.
Technical formats by platform
- Roku - CEA-608 embedded in HLS TS segments, or sidecar WebVTT. Both are accepted; the channel must offer a CC toggle in the player.
- Fire TV (Android) - WebVTT or TTML sidecar files via ExoPlayer. Settings respect the user's system caption styling.
- Apple TV (tvOS) - WebVTT sidecar via AVPlayer. Honour user accessibility styling from Settings.
- Web - WebVTT via HTML5
For new content, WebVTT is the universal format. For broadcast-origin content with embedded 608/708, transcode and preserve both as a CEA-608 burn-in for legacy clients and a WebVTT sidecar for everything modern.
In-app requirements
Your player UI must let users:
- Turn captions on and off mid-playback with a single action.
- Adjust font size, colour, background opacity, and edge style - or honour the device's system caption settings.
- Select among available languages if you provide multiple caption tracks.
Roku requires the toggle visibly. Apple TV must honour the user's system caption styling automatically. Fire TV inherits from Android.
Audio description (DVS)
CVAA also requires Audio Description for the top 4 broadcast networks plus the top 5 cable networks for at least 87.5 hours of content per quarter. For streaming-only publishers this is currently not strictly enforced - but lead networks and prestige content are increasingly providing DVS as a quality differentiator.
Enforcement and complaints
The FCC receives complaints through a public web form. A single substantiated complaint can trigger a Letter of Inquiry. Penalties for non-compliance can reach $33,000 per violation per day. Most enforcement to date has been against major networks, but the legal exposure is real for any US-facing publisher.
The bottom line
Captioning is no longer optional. The technical lift to ship CC across Roku, Fire TV, and Apple TV is modest if you plan for it at content ingest. OTT Engine generates WebVTT, applies platform-specific caption rendering, and validates accuracy at upload. Book a demo to walk through your compliance posture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are closed captions legally required for streaming?
Yes, for any US-distributed video that previously aired on TV with captions. The CVAA requires equivalent-quality captions in OTT distribution.
What is the difference between CEA-608 and WebVTT?
CEA-608 is the legacy broadcast caption format embedded in MPEG-TS streams. WebVTT is the modern web/OTT sidecar format. Most new OTT content uses WebVTT.
Does CVAA apply to original streaming content?
Strictly, CVAA covers content previously shown on TV. ADA interpretations increasingly extend accessibility expectations to originals, and most publishers caption everything to avoid risk.
Can I auto-generate captions with AI?
Yes, but human review is necessary to meet FCC accuracy standards. Auto-captions alone routinely fall short on punctuation, speaker ID, and proper nouns.
How accurate must captions be to meet FCC rules?
FCC does not publish a percentage threshold but expects 'substantially the same' as the audio. Industry practice is 99%+ word accuracy with full speaker identification and music cues.