FYI: CC on Cable and Netflix.
There seems to be a lack of information in this thread that I hope my own experience can shed some light on. Keep in mind the year was 2009. I don't know if the promises made to me were kept or not because I'm still using the same hardware. I apologize for the length of this post. It is necessary for me to convey my findings.
My hearing loss is new, within the last four years or so. I simply can not understand a broadcast without CC. When I got cable for my cabin (Comcast) I was stunned to find that it did not have CC or any options to activate it. I did some research and learned that broadcast companies that use the airwaves, are required by federal law to provide CC within four years of beginning their broadcasts. That's why most TV stations, if not all, offer CC. So what gives Comcast? As it happens, Comcast is playing games by claiming it's HD TV is a "New business" so they don't have to provide CC for at least four years. It's a sneaky way to avoid costs associated with CC, though I don't know what those figures are. In order to activate CC on my Motorola Comcast DDR / Cable box, I had to find a convoluted set of instructions on the Internet to even acres the menu (in this case, powering OFF the box, holding the menu key to access the dev menu for the device and access CC from there. There is no way via the user interface to activate it). So if the box is CC capable, why the clandestine, reluctant method to activate it? I am still aggravated by Comcast's attitude toward CC in this instance. Once activated, all programs I watch have CC.
I have many methods of accessing content. XBOX movie rentals, Netflix via XBOX and my TV, ITunes, and online like Hulu and so forth. Out of all those resources, only Cable allows me to rent a movie with CC. I assume because the FCC forces broadcast to provide it and cable falls into that category. When the law was written, there was no Internet.
From a purely profitable standpoint, this means I only rent movies via Comcast. I would much prefer Netflix or XBOX because the controls and response times are far better. However, there may not be enough profit from CC business to cover costs associated with providing it. You can bet if there is a profit to be made, we would have CC on our toilets by now. These businesses are woefully incapable of coming up with a new business model until forced. Think VHS. When VHS came out, they fought it tooth and nail, the same way they are online digital media and for the same reasons. Content piracy. Then tape rental was provided by small venders which the big guys eventually adopted. Suddenly the resistance to VHS went away.
Netflix was my next target to get CC activated. Being a young company, I felt I had a better chance of getting honest answers. I learned that Netflix claimed (2009) that streaming software was not yet able to stream CC data. A year later I noticed a feeble trickle of CC with Netflix. Assuming that they have the software fixed ( some shows have CC) I'm guessing, like Comcast, it's reluctance is due to costs and the amount of business they gain being unbalanced.
So all this sounds to me like the broadcast companies pulled much the same begrudging foot dragging on CC until forced by the FCC to provide it. I would think the Americans with Disabilities act would have some weight on this issue even in the online streaming realm, It is going to take, literally, an act of congress to get these companies to provide CC online as they do via broadcast. It may take someone with the resources to file a lawsuit based on the disabilities act to force their hand.
I don't have the energy or resources. Like most disabled, it takes all I make to get just enough medication to keep myself alive and eat. I've been looking for a sympathetic ear among my friends in the corporate world but sadly, as is always the case, they aren't motivated until it happens to them,
