VITAC's REACT Provides Emergency Television Captioning

Editor: Regular readers know that the FCC recently adopted regulations requiring that all televised emergency information be accessible to people with hearing loss. As far as I know, the only way to currently fulfill this requirement is through closed captioning. VITAC, one of the leading captioning companies, has announced a new service that satisfies these regulations. So if your local television company is not in compliance with the law, you might want to contact them and DEMAND access - and you can even tell them whom to contact to provide the service.

Here's the VITAC press release.

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WordWave, Inc.'s VITAC division, the industry leader in broadcast captioning announces REACT, a Realtime Emergency Announcement Captioning Team to help broadcast stations meet the new FCC Regulations adopted on April 13, 2000, that mandate captioning for emergency broadcasts.

The new FCC rules now require broadcasters, cable operators, and other multi-channel video programming distributors to make local emergency information--information about current emergencies that is intended to further the protection of life, health, safety and property--accessible to persons with hearing disabilities. REACT gives local broadcasters an easy and effective way to ensure that all viewers have access to realtime captioning during emergency announcements and news coverage.

In 1986, a deaf man lip-read a TV weatherman's report and got one word--CLOSET. This word saved his life as he sought shelter when a tornado was about to hit his home. "Realtime captioning can save lives, and currently many broadcast stations don't provide this kind of access for severe weather conditions or other civil emergencies," said VITAC's President Joe Karlovits. "REACT's services help local broadcasters comply with the FCC's mandatory emergency captioning to protect people's lives."

VITAC, the leading broadcast captioner in the U.S., is extending its expertise to offer this essential service to help save lives in emergencies. REACT covers the entire United States, but concentrates on areas most prone to weather disasters, including Texas, Florida, Illinois, Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina and South Carolina.

REACT provides:

- Coverage of all natural disasters nationwide - Customized information for a broadcast station in a specific area - A dial-up number for live captioner availability within minutes of the emergency at 1-877-NEWS-911

WordWave's VITAC division was founded in 1986 and is the industry leader in broadcast captioning. VITAC offers complete captioning services to television network, syndication, cable, video, industrial, government and educational program suppliers. VITAC captions programming for ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS, UPN, the WB Network, and numerous cable television networks including CNN, Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, USA Network, Lifetime and Showtime. Each day, VITAC captions more than 75 hours of programming, including news, daytime dramas, special news reports, daytime talk and entertainment programs, sports, primetime and late-night programming. VITAC is responsible for captioning some of the most watched syndicated programming on television, including Wheel of Fortune and Entertainment Tonight. Other customers include major studios such as DreamWorks and Disney as well as sporting associations like NASCAR, NBA, NHL, NFL and the PGA.

About WordWave, Inc.

WordWave, Inc. is a leading solutions provider for making online digital media searchable. WordWave was founded in 1997 as LegaLink and through a series of 19 acquisitions, quickly became the leader in court reporting, transcriptioning and videography. WordWave acquired VITAC in January 2000, becoming the global leader in broadcast captioning. Through its 20 acquisitions, WordWave has become an international conglomerate with 19 domestic offices and 6 international offices in Europe, Asia and Australia. WordWave is privately held with venture backing from Highland Capital Partners and Berkshire Partners. WordWave is available on the Web at www.wordwave.com. For information call 1-800-662-1466.