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Let’s first see what ENT is. It is a technique that can convert the dialogue included on a teleprompter script into captions. Often local stations rely on ENT to provide captions for their live news programs, and they have to adhere to the following FCC’s procedures to ensure programming is made accessible to viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing:

• In-studio produced news, sports, weather, and entertainment programming will be scripted.
• For weather interstitials where there may be multiple segments within a news program, weather information explaining the visual information on the screen and conveying forecast information will be scripted, although the scripts may not precisely track the words used on air.
• Pre-produced programming shall be scripted (to the extent technically feasible).
• If live interviews, live on-the-scene, or breaking news segments are not scripted, stations will supplement them with crawls, textual information, or other means (to the extent technically feasible).
• The station will provide training to all news staff on scripting for improving ENT.
• The station will appoint an “ENT Coordinator” accountable for compliance.

The objective of the toolkit is to help captioning coordinators at the TV stations to better understand the user’s needs and the importance of providing captions.

TV studio. Image of a woman news anchor. She has brown hair and eyes and wears an orange top. Superimposed over her chest, a caption reads: You learned why captioning is important

The following are the topics of some of the videos that are part of the toolkit:

• Accuracy and Spelling.
• Accuracy and Proper Case.
• Accuracy and Punctuation.
• Accuracy and Sound Effects and Music.
• Caption Speed.
• Speaker Changes.
• Weather and Unscripted Programming.

Even though this kit is directed toward TV stations, it can be useful for anybody delivering captions. It is also useful for caption users because learning how ENT should be used can help them identify non-compliance. If that happens, users can complain to the TV station, and the TV station is under the obligation to respond to the complaint within 30 days after receiving it.

Sources:

- "Closed Captioning of Live Programming on Television: Enhanced Electronic Newsroom Technique (ENT) Procedures." Federal Communications Commission, February 15, 2015, https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-15-208A1.pdf

- Federal Communications Commission's Disability Advisory Committee. "ENT Coordinator Toolkit." Federal Communications Commission, October 14, 2020, https://www.fcc.gov/file/19825/download