Candidate Campaign Ads: Captioning is the Law

The Minnesota legislature passed the Campaign Ad Captioning Law in 2008. All state candidates who accept a public subsidy are required to:

caption their online and televised ads and
post transcripts of their radio ads

This law provides equal access to voters who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing. Deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing people make up 20% of the population. Voters need access to their candidates' platform in order to make a self-informed decision about their votes.

Are you a member of the public who has noticed that a candidate needs to make his or her ads accessible? Notify candidates of their responsibility and share this page with them. Additionally, you may contact the Commission at [email protected] and let us know of campaign ads that should be closed-captioned.

Minnesota Captioning Legislation Video

Senator Ann Rest is featured in a video that explains about the Campaign ad Captioning Law. This video was produced by Senate Media Services and is shared with permission.

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Minnesota Captioning Legislation Video Transcript

[Woman speaking with captions.]

Hello. I'm Senator Ann Rest.

You were able to read my introduction to this video, but not hear it. The captioning allowed you to see what I said. Captioning closes the communication gap between voters who can hear and voters who are deaf and hard of hearing. That s 10% of all voters in Minnesota.

We passed a new law in the 2008 legislative session. Candidates who accept public funding for their campaigns must now caption their ads on TV and online. They also need to post scripts of their radio ads on their web sites.

With captioning and script posting, all potential voters with access to televisions or computers will be able to hear, or see, campaign ads. It's easy and inexpensive. It's the law. But more importantly, it's also an opportunity for candidates to engage more voters in their campaigns for public office.

[Graphic: For information on vendors who provide this service and more, contact: Minnesota Campaign Finance Board & Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing]

Information for Candidates

Are you a candidate, or do you work for a candidate, who is running for public office? We encourage you to review the Closed Captioning Requirements for Candidates Who Sign a Public Subsidy Agreement (PDF) distributed by the Campaign Finance Board.

Do not worry. It is easy to be accessible by providing closed captioning and transcripts. We can guide you to the right path. There are two options.

You, or someone on your campaign team, can do it yourself (DIY) or
You can hire someone to add captions for you

DIY

Is your content posted on YouTube? YouTube has several excellent tutorials on how to add captions to your ads.
Digiterp Communications has the following post on their blog called, How to Caption ASL Videos Using YouTube. The instructions can also be followed for videos done in English.
Do you use Vimeo? Visit Vimeo's Captions and Subtitles page.

Hire Out

Vendors can add closed captioning to your videos for you. Their rates vary. The Described and Captioned Media Program, which is provided by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Association of the Deaf, has a list of captioning service vendors. You will have to contact the vendors to learn more about their services.