Department of Education and NAD Renew Captioned Media
Program
Editor: The Captioned Media Program (now called the Described and
Captioned Media Program) has a huge variety of captioned videos that you
can borrow at NO COST. They even pay the postage both ways!
The Department of Education and the National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
have just signed an agreement renewing the program for another five years.
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Accessible Media for Educational Use and First Guidelines for Creating
Educational Video Description
Silver Spring, MD - The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) announced
it has entered into a new five-year $7.5 million cooperative agreement
with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for management of the Described
and Captioned Media Program (DCMP). The DCMP will provide free-loan
accessible educational media to students who are deaf or hard of hearing
and also to those who are blind or visually impaired. Most educational
media does not contain necessary accommodations for students with a
sensory loss.
The NAD has selected, captioned and distributed open-captioned
educational media in video and DVD format through a nationwide library
system and through Internet streaming under an agreement with the ED since
1991. This program of over 4,000 free-loan educational media items has
reached an annual audience of over three million educators, families, and
other registered users. "We are deeply honored to have been selected
once again as administrator of this vitally important program, which
provides captioned access by deaf and hard of hearing students to
educational media, and we are pleased to enter into partnership with the
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) to expand the program to include
described educational media for blind and visually impaired students.
AFB will be the lead on an activity to develop and validate guidelines
for creating educational video description. Video description refers to an
additional narration track for blind and visually impaired viewers of
educational media, including television programs and movies. The
description narrator talks through the presentation, describing what is
happening on the screen during the natural pauses in the audio (and
sometimes during dialogue if deemed necessary). "While general
guidelines for entertainment video description exist, there is a need to
validate them and apply them to a wide range of digital media now
available in today's classrooms," said Carl Augusto, AFB President
and Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased to join the NAD in this
effort to expand accessible educational media."
Similar guidelines have been created by the NAD for captioning
educational media. These guidelines, titled Captioning Key, have been
distributed internationally and receive over a thousand visits monthly on
the DCMP Web site. "Both captioning and video description are
essential for children with special needs," added Ms. Bloch. "As
educators across the nation hone their instruction ever more finely to
produce the desired end-of-year outcomes-every in-class minute
counts."
While most television networks and many cable channels provide closed
captioning and some video description, very little educational media is
described or captioned. "Only 15% of educational videos, 5% of
educational CD-ROMs, and 1% of Internet content is captioned," said
Bill Stark, NAD Director of the DCMP. "Even fewer educational media
contain video description," he added.
In addition, the DCMP will provide a database of accessible media
available for purchase by schools from educational media producers. A
further service will include the provision of a clearinghouse of
information and materials on the subject of accessible media for
consumers, agencies, corporations, businesses, and schools. The
Web-accessible clearinghouse will also allow users to search informational
offerings on the Web sites of major educational and consumer organizations
serving blind and deaf individuals.
For more information call toll-free 800-237-6213 (V) or 800-237-6819
(TTY). You can also visit the DCMP Web site at www.dcmp.org, or e-mail the
DCMP at info@dcmp.org.
About the NAD
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD), founded in 1880, safeguards
the civil rights of deaf and hard of hearing Americans. As a national
federation of individual members, state associations, organizational and
corporate affiliates, the advocacy work of the NAD encompasses a broad
spectrum of areas including, but not limited to, accessibility, education,
employment, health care, mental health, rehabilitation, technology,
telecommunications, and transportation. The NAD is the administrator of
the new DCMP federally funded project. The NAD website (http://www.nad.org
) has a wealth of advocacy information and resources.
About the AFB
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is a national nonprofit
that expands possibilities for people with vision loss. AFB's priorities
include broadening access to technology; elevating the quality of
information and tools for the professionals who serve people with vision
loss; and promoting independent and healthy living for people with vision
loss by providing them and their families with relevant and timely
resources. AFB's work in these areas is supported by the strong presence
the organization maintains in Washington, DC, ensuring the rights and
interests of people with vision loss are represented in our nation's
public policies. (1-800-AFB-LINE (232-5463) afbinfo@afb.net www.afb.org)
About the DCMP
The DCMP (http://www.dcmp.org), administered by the National
Association of the Deaf, is funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
Educators, students, families, and others who work with individuals who
are blind or deaf are the target audience for the DCMP free-loan media
program. Schools, consumers, media producers/distributors, captioning
agencies, businesses, government agencies, and others are the target
groups for DCMP information, training, and evaluation activities related
to educational media access.
