Media Access, Spring/Summer 1996
The CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) is a research and development facility dedicated to making media accessible to disabled people in their homes, workplaces, schools, and communities.
NCAM, and its sister organizations, The Caption Center and Descriptive Video Service (DVS), make up the Media Access department of the WGBH Educational Foundation.
Washington Tackles Media Access
Recent activity in Washington has drawn increased attention to media access issues.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 (which became law on February 8) will reconfigure the regulations governing our telecommunications systems. The Act includes significant provisions for persons with disabilities, including requirements about video captioning and description. These technologies, which were pioneered at WGBH, are the principal means of access to television for deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, and visually impaired consumers.
In order to promulgate the rules mandated by Congress, the Federal Communications Commission needs extensive information about the availability, costs, demands, and technological requirements of these services. Anticipating the requirements of the Act, the FCC issued a historic Notice of Inquiry on December 1, 1995.
Hundreds of organizations, companies, and consumers responded with facts, figures, opinions, and suggestions. The diverse group of commenters included the major commercial and public broadcast and cable networks and their trade organizations; phone companies; captioning and description service providers; state and city governments; and disabled consumers and their advocacy organizations. The respondents contributed their views on how widespread captioning and description are today, how the services can be enhanced, and how to meet the challenges of the digital technologies and public and private budgets of tomorrow.
An 18-month discussion has now begun. The FCC must answer several questions: Are there sufficient market incentives for captioning and description? What should be mandated and what should be exempted? What constitutes an "undue burden"? How can a mixture of public and private partnerships help?
The FCC plans to issue their Notice of Proposed Rule Making in December 1996, with final rules and timetables to be announced in August 1997. Until then, the debate and discussion will continue. One thing is clear: the group who responded to the Notice of Inquiry must also work together to fulfill the intent of the Telecommunications Act.
Designing Access to the World Wide Web
For millions of Americans, the World Wide Web is an exciting new tool for learning and communicating. For millions of deaf or blind Internet users, however, the Web's enhanced graphics, audio, and video capabilities are out of reach.
NCAM has launched a new project that aims to change that. The Model Accessible World Wide Web Site Project will research and develop methods of integrating access technology into a web site, making it fully accessible to blind or deaf computer users. NCAM is using WGBH Online (http://main.wgbh.org), visited by more than 2,000 users a day, as its test-bed.
The project began with a contest to develop a universal "Web Access" symbol. The contest was judged by the public and a group of technology experts and disabled persons. The winning symbol will designate web sites that are accessible to disabled users. It will be made available free of charge to web sites that follow commonsense guidelines being developed by a consortium of organizations and individuals.
"The World Wide Web has rapidly evolved into a vital link, connecting people with information and with each other," says DVS staffer Tom Wlodkowski, who is himself blind. "Making the Web accessible is necessary to ensure that disabled people can participate fully in the new information age."
The project is made possible by support from the Telecommunications Funding Partnership for People with Disabilities.
Captioning the New Frontier
More than 70 representatives from the worlds of television, home video, multimedia, educational media and technology, special education, and consumer advocacy gathered at The Lighthouse in New York City last December to discuss the future of closed captioning. The landmark symposium--entitled "Captioning The New Frontier"--was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's Captioning and Adaptation Branch and hosted by NCAM.
The challenge: how to increase the amount of closed captioning on broadcast, cable, satellite, home video and emerging media. The participants also discussed how best to serve deaf and hard-of-hearing students in schools for the deaf and in mainstream classrooms, in light of the rapidly expanding media choices available to teachers.
"We have no higher responsibility than making sure that people with disabilities share in the communications revolution," remarked FCC Chairman and keynote speaker Reed Hundt.
For many, this meeting presented the first opportunity for producers and distributors to hear directly from consumers and educators about the importance of captioning as a means of access to vital information, improved quality of life, and personal empowerment.
The distinguished panel of speakers included: Vinton G. Cerf, Senior Vice President, Data and Information Architecture, MCI Telecommunications Corporation and Trustee, Internet Society; Robert Davila, Headmaster, New York School for the Deaf; Ervin Duggan, President, Public Broadcasting Service; Ernest Hairston, Chief, Captioning and Adaptation Branch, U.S. Department of Education; Judith Harkins, Director, Technology Assessment Program, Gallaudet Research Institute; Amos Hostetter, Chairman and CEO, Continental Cablevision; Katherine Seelman, Director, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education; and Brigid Sullivan, Vice President, Special Telecommunications Services, WGBH Educational Foundation.
"Many excellent ideas emerged but perhaps the best result of the Symposium was the beginning of a dialogue and the establishment of relationships between industry leaders, educators, and consumers," notes NCAM director Larry Goldberg. "NCAM is thrilled to have set the stage for such a frank and productive discussion and we're grateful to all the dedicated participants."
Recommendations and results of the symposium will be presented to the Department of Education in June 1996.
In Other Media Access News...
Since 1994, NCAM has been helping America's public television stations learn to closed caption their own local and instructional programming. Closed Captioning University held its third session from April 22-26, 1996. Ten representatives from seven PTV stations spent a week at WGBH in Boston, undergoing intensive hands-on training in establishing an in-house captioning unit. CC University's most recent graduates are: WIPR/Puerto Rico; Mississippi ETV; WILL/Champaign-Urbana, IL; Arkansas PTV; the New Jersey Network; WPSX/University Park, PA; and KWSU/Pullman, WA. Funding for CC University was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
As part of an American Foundation for the Blind study, NCAM explored alternative methods for delivering video description. Currently, closed descriptions for broadcast must first be recorded onto the third audio channel of a master videotape, and inserted into the Secondary Audio Program (SAP) channel of the broadcast signal prior to transmission. Networks have been hesitant to use the third channel and SAP technology because it would require large-scale retooling of their facilities and stations. The arrival of the digital age provides opportunities for alternative delivery methods. NCAM explored potential solutions such as Advanced Television, Direct Broadcast Satellite, digital versatile disc (DVD), and the Internet, and submitted a report to AFB in February 1996. The study was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Universal Learning Technologies of Peabody, MA, recently announced the release of ULTimate CaptionWorks (TM), a Mac-based captioning system which enables anyone to add open captions to video. CaptionWorks can create captions in any font or color and can include features such as word balloons and graphics. CaptionWorks was developed by CAST (the Center for Applied Special Technology) in partnership with NCAM under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. To order CaptionWorks, contact Universal Learning Technology at 508/538-0036 (voice) or 508/538-3110 (TTY).
Forums Urge Universal Design
Computer and information specialists gathered in Silicon Valley, Boston, and Washington, DC, last fall to participate in a series of forums about the possibilities and benefits of universal design. The forums were conducted as part of the Universal Access Project (UAP), a collaboration between NCAM, the World Institute on Disability, and the University of Wisconsin's Trace Research and Development Center. The forums featured demonstrations of exemplary software and hardware, panel discussions on integrating universal design into corporate culture, and keynote addresses from major industry figures.
Universal design refers to products and systems that are designed to accommodate the broadest possible range of users, regardless of physical or sensory limitations. The result is a product that is more user-friendly for everyone. Until recently, the theory of universal design has been applied mostly to architectural environments, such as ramps on stairs and curb cuts on sidewalks. The UAP is trying to extend the concept to a wide range of technology including computers, telephones, and the Internet.
The forums provided several examples of universal design such as the "Talking Fingertip," Trace's innovative software which allows blind and visually impaired people to use touch screen kiosks; and televisions with built-in closed-caption decoders, which provide a user-selectable access feature.
"This was an excellent presentation," proclaimed a participant at the Boston forum. "I am inspired to learn more to support universal accessibility for all individuals."
"It has given me a great deal to think about in terms of policy and access for all," remarked a DC participant.
The UAP's long-range goal is to proliferate policies and standards for accessible source material, information pipelines, and end-user devices. The project is made possible by a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Media, Technology, and Deaf Students
The past ten years have brought enormous changes in the education of deaf students. The increasing abundance of visual media and communication technologies has created powerful new tools for helping students learn. At the same time, the placement of most deaf and hard-of-hearing students has shifted from special or center schools to public schools, where they are integrated with other students at least part of the day.
These changes raise several questions: Are deaf students' classrooms well equipped with technology and media? Are teachers well trained to use technology? Are educational media captioned? What innovations are educators introducing to the field?
The Gallaudet Research Institute and NCAM sought answers to these questions through a trio of national surveys conducted from 1993-96, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education. The first survey conducted an inventory of instructional technology in schools. The second collected information about teachers' use of video and captioned media in the classroom. The third gathered information about teaching and learning practices through in-depth interviews with educators.
The results present a mixed picture. While schools are well-equipped with some technology such as computers, basic video equipment, and closed-caption decoders, the average school has not acquired newer technology such as CD-ROMs or modems, which are necessary for access to the Internet. Respondents indicated a need for more equipment, more time for technology, and increased training for teachers.
Of the 212 teachers who responded to the second survey, 94% said they use video in the classroom. Yet only 26% said all the materials they used were captioned and more than half said they had difficulty obtaining captioned videos.
On a positive note, the project revealed that many educators are using technology and media in innovative ways which instruct and inspire deaf students. Fifteen of these exemplary practices are highlighted in a handbook entitled Success Stories: Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students Learning with Technology & Media. Gallaudet and NCAM selected activities that exploit the visual nature of media, encourage children to develop communication skills, let students ask their own questions and make decisions about their own learning, and provide children with opportunities to focus on problem solving. The handbook will be available in summer 1996.
For more information about the project, contact Mardi Loeterman at 617/300-3400.
From the Director
Anyone who is involved with media and telecommunications doesn't need to be told what exciting times these are. For those concerned with accessibility issues, it is a time rife with challenges and rich with potential. Digital technology makes virtually anything possible. For instance, the new DVD (digital versatile disc) format will allow up to 15 streams of text and eight audio channels. Imagine the captioning and description possibilities!DVS Makes a DifferenceOur enthusiasm rises from all the media access activity we're seeing and the new relationships we're forming: The Turner Classic Movies cable channel has begun providing Descriptive Video Service (R) on great movies like Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon; Blockbuster, the country's largest video rental chain, recently launched a pilot project to carry DVS (R) home videos at ten test sites nationwide; actions in Washington promise to shake up the field of media access completely in the next year-and-a-half (see cover story).
The recent symposium on captioning demonstrates new frontiers and new partnerships in the field of media access. The symposium provided a tremendous educational opportunity for all concerned and pointed to the need for sincere collaboration if we are to succeed in making media accessible in the home, school, and workplace.
In this same spirit of partnership and interdependence, NCAM recently launched our Business Partners program. The insert in this newsletter welcomes our first charter members, who themselves demonstrate an understanding and dedication to the principles of media access. We thank them for supporting our work and helping us to stay at the center of the technological action in these exciting times.
Since its inception in 1990, Descriptive Video Service (DVS) has earned high praise from blind and visually impaired persons. While anecdotal evidence has demonstrated the value of DVS, there was little hard data about the specific types of impact that it has on these audiences. However, a recent study conducted by the American Foundation for the Blind proves what DVS viewers have always known-- DVS makes a difference!
DVS makes television and home videos accessible by providing audio description of crucial information such as facial expressions, settings, graphics, and scene changes.
The AFB study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, tested described and undescribed versions of two science programs with blind and visually impaired viewers. The study explored two types of impact: social and psychological impact (measured by interest in and satisfaction with described programs); and cognitive impact (measured by comprehension and recall of the factual information presented). For both programs, the participants who saw the described version were more likely to benefit than those who watched without description.
Participants reported that having description makes a difference in their ability to discuss programs and enables them to use programs more in social settings. The study also revealed that participants who watched described versions of a program learned additional information supplied by the descriptions, and that they retained the information over several weeks. Furthermore, an overwhelming majority said they would seek out described programs.
"The AFB study has important implications for the future of described video, both in the home and the classroom," says DVS Project Director Laurie Everett.
We are grateful to the following organizations for supporting NCAM and its vital projects:
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting
U.S. Department of Education
U.S. Department of Commerce
NEC Foundation of America
The Telecommunications Funding Partnership for People with Disabilities
The Boston Globe Foundation
NCAM Business Partners
For more information on NCAM's projects or activities, please call 617/300-3400 (voice/TTY) or write to us at: CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media, WGBH Educational Foundation, 125 Western Avenue, Boston, MA 02134. Send e-mail to us at NCAM@wgbh.org. NCAM info is also on the World Wide Web (http://ncam.wgbh.org).
Media Access is made possible by funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Priority Access -- The NCAM Business Partners, Spring 1996
Technology--the Internet, World Wide Web, multimedia CD-ROMs and videodiscs, Advanced Television--is hurtling us into a 21st century of limitless information resources and incredible new opportunities. But the same technologies that open a world of information for most Americans also create new barriers for people with disabilities and language and literacy limitations.
Building bridges to universal media access is NCAM's mission, but it cannot be accomplished without the resources and support of corporate America. Therefore, NCAM has launched an ambitious Business Partner Program to form productive relationships with companies that manufacture the products, provide the telecommunications systems, and create the content of the new media.
NCAM is pleased to report that, in the first several weeks of this corporate support and involvement campaign, Apple Computer, Continental Cablevision, NEC, NYNEX Information Resources Company and others have made financial contributions to NCAM in return for what we believe is an impressive and highly useful array of member benefits.
Each issue of the member section of Priority Access will feature important information to help your company make its product line available to the millions of Americans who have vision or hearing disabilities, or language and literacy limitations.
This first Priority Access member section profiles NCAM's Communicator and Innovator level Business Partners and their access initiatives. We appreciate their support of NCAM.
Apple Computer
Apple Computer, Inc. develops, manufactures, licenses and markets products, technologies and services for business, education, consumer, scientific, engineering and government customers. A recognized pioneer in the information industry, Apple does business in more than 40 countries.
For more than a decade, Apple's Worldwide Disability Solutions Group has been developing innovative products and programs designed to help individuals with disabilities lead more independent lives. One of these initiatives is the Mac Access Passport (MAP), a tool that helps consumers and professionals discover assistive technology solutions for Macintosh computers. NCAM Business Partners and others with an interest in disability access to Macintosh computers will want to download the MAP database and other information about Apple's disability resources at a special Apple web site: http://www.apple.com/disability/. To order a copy of the Mac Access Passport, you can call 800/600-7808 (voice), 800/755-0601 (TTY) or fax: 408/862-5260.
Apple's disability solutions include a wide variety of alternative input devices, such as expanded keyboards and voice input, that can help someone with a physical disability access a personal computer. Apple products are also available to help those with visual disabilities navigate a graphical user interface. In addition, Apple has systems and programs to help users with learning and speaking disabilities. There are more than 1,300 educational software programs available for the Macintosh, some of which are specifically designed to develop language and writing skills. Many people with learning disabilities prefer Macintosh because its programs share similar features, making it easier to use educational software products.
Continental Cablevision
Continental Cablevision is the third-largest multiple system operator (MSO) in the United States, serving more than four million customers in more than 750 communities nationwide. Continental recently announced plans to merge with US West, Inc.
Continental Cablevision is currently testing special cable modems in Greater Boston for high-speed Internet access. Continental also has been a leader in providing closed-captioning decoder equipment for its deaf and hard-of-hearing subscribers.
Continental Cablevision was a founding member of Cable in the Classroom, a cable industry initiative providing commercial-free educational programming at no charge to schools in every community it serves. Continental Cablevision also played a major role in establishing the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN).
During this election year, Continental Cablevision is conducting a participatory democracy project called "View Smart to Vote Smart." As part of the project, public school students, with the supervision of their teachers, will monitor the 1996 election campaign coverage. These Continental Cub Reporters will track the amount spent on and the impact of political advertising. They will also examine quality of media coverage of the elections in terms of how much time is spent on polling results as opposed to substantive information on the issues.
You may learn more about Continental Cablevision at their web site: http://continental.com.
NEC Foundation of America
NEC is a global leader in computers, communications and semiconductor technologies. The company is committed to developing innovative products and technologies that improve the quality of life for people around the world. For example, NEC's MultiSync (R) monitors offer optimal performance including sharp, highly accurate images that improve readability for people with low vision. NEC telephones are hearing-aid compatible and include universal design features, such as enlarged key pads and a central point number 5 key, helping blind people and those with low vision to recognize the keypad layout and dial numbers correctly.
Using NEC's advanced codec (coder/decoder) technology, the Teledoc (TM) portable communications unit makes distance learning and telemedicine applications accessible to people in remote areas as well as those with limited mobility.
Through the NEC Foundation of America, the company supports the advancement of assistive technology for people with disabilities, and funds pro-grams with national reach and impact in public high school science and technology education. Also, NEC is a national underwriter of the PBS series, People in Motion, which raises the awareness of the impact of technology on the lives of people with disabilities.
As the company approaches a century full of promise and pending new breakthroughs, NEC continues to pursue empowering technologies with universal reach. Learn more about NEC at http://www.nec.com.
NYNEX Information Resources Company
NYNEX Information Resources Company recently launched BigYellow, a national comprehensive Internet yellow pages service with more than 16.5 million business listings nationwide. Web users are currently visiting the BigYellow site more than 200,000 times a day and NYNEX has contracted with more than 4,000 national and local businesses to advertise on BigYellow.
When you visit BigYellow's web site, http://www.bigyellow.com, you will see several examples of how NCAM has partnered with NYNEX Information Resources to produce a truly accessible web service.
The multimedia nature of the World Wide Web raises difficulties for people with disabilities. Therefore, when NYNEX moved the Interactive Yellow Pages to the web, they built redundancy into the web site design of their new product, BigYellow. Graphics are accompanied by text descriptions formatted in a way that is readable by the latest text-screen readers. Simultaneously, a text-only version of the service is maintained to address the needs of customers using older text-screen readers. When sound begins to be used at their web site, closed captioning and/or text descriptions will be incorporated. NYNEX Information Resources also is urging its advertisers to employ accessible advertising by providing them with collateral materials and standards documentation.
In addition, NYNEX Information Resources has partnered with providers of technology to test products that improve Internet accessibility. These products include an Internet browser for blind people which uses a text-to-speech synthesizer, and a software-based screen enlarger for low-vision users. Future applications of this technology may include touch-tone access to the Internet.
NCAM would like to welcome Boston Technology as a new Business Partner. Boston Technology develops, manufactures, markets and supports systems that provide enhanced voice and information processing services with multi-media capabilities. For more information, visit their web site: http://www.bostontechnology.com.
NCAM is also grateful to Network General Corporation, another new NCAM Business Partner. Running on industry-standard PCs, Network General's family of Sniffer Network Analyzer (TM) products provides customers with comprehensive tools to perform cost-effective network monitoring and analysis. Learn more about Network General at their web site: http://www.ngc.com.
Membership in the NCAM Business Partners Program will place your company on the cutting edge of access technology, give you the latest information on access system developments and regulatory requirements and provide you with free and discounted consulting services to make your product line accessible. You will find NCAM Business Partner membership a valuable investment for your company and a great way to do good as well!
Visit the new NCAM web site at http://ncam.wgbh.org to learn more about NCAM's projects and to find out how NCAM Business Partner membership can benefit your organization.
For further information, please contact Jennifer Gormley 617/492-2777, ext. 2454, or e-mail Jennifer_Gormley@wgbh.org.
Copyright © 1999 WGBH Educational Foundation