HLAA Supports a Delay in the Deadline for Transition to DTV - with Conditions

Editor: With less than a month to go before the transition to DTV, there seems to be a lot of concern that we may not really be ready to take the leap. Of particular concern to people with hearing loss, of course, is the ability of the new technology to deliver clear and readable captions.

Here's a note from HLAA expressing their support for a postponement - and some suggestions for additional procedures that the FCC should implement.

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January 2009

The Hearing Loss Association of America applauds president-elect Barak Obama for urging Congress to delay the deadline for television to go digital. The president-elect clearly understands the potential for huge problems with this complex transition. However, simply moving the deadline for the transition will not help unless it is coupled with a well thought out plan, a timeline and the resources to carry it out.

"HLAA has watched as the FCC with the help of broadcasters has worked to educate Americans about the DTV transition and have in fact gotten the word out to many Americans," noted executive director Brenda Battat. "We don't need a delay to push out the same message over and over. We need the FCC to pull together a transparent plan and a timeline to ensure vulnerable people get the support they need once the transition becomes a reality."

Seniors with hearing loss are a particularly vulnerable population: they are often unsure about new technology, yet many are dependant on captioned television as their main source of information, especially in emergencies. HLAA expressed concern that broadcasters, manufacturers and service providers may not be ready to deliver signals and equipment that are capable of decoding captions for the 31 million Americans with hearing loss. HLAA noted that those people who have already installed digital TV's or converter boxes have found that receiving their captions has been a hit or miss affair, with the misses frustratingly frequent.

"We need to be sure that whatever money Congress decides to pour into this project will be used for the benefit of those who most need it: seniors, people with disabilities and people in rural areas." said Lise Hamlin, HLAA director of public policy. "That calls for a well thought out, comprehensive plan and time line with very specific goals. We see the need for:
• call centers with staff trained to understand the needs of seniors with hearing loss
• installation, testing and monitoring of equipment by broadcasters to ensure they are sending out signals with captions that can be decoded by the equipment the consumers are using
• education of satellite and cable company staff to ensure not only that the signal they send contains the captions that are decodable, but have technicians who install their own systems to also know how to set up captions on digital televisions
• manufacturers who build equipment that not only allows decoding of captions on their television, but will also work with older equipment like DVD players or VCR's and provide manuals that explain how captions can be set up on their own equipment"