Nationwide Captioning Advocacy Organization Launched

December 2009

Editor: Regular readers are familiar with the outstanding work being done by John Waldo in Washington State. We're thrilled to see the results of his efforts, and his success has encouraged others to undertake related endeavors. Lauren Storck has just announced the launch of a national captioning advocacy organization based at least in part on John's model. Here's her press release.

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There is a new space to share timely information and action (advocacy) focused on captioning needs and resources. This new "work in progress" is called, provisionally, the CCAC, the "Collaborative for Communication Access via Captioning" for people with hearing loss who require captioning, most of whom need CART and good quality speech-to-text systems.

The mission is focused - one theme that is multi-layered. Advocacy for captioning is needed on many levels - in cities, states, regions, and nationally. It is also required in multiple varied situations - at work, school, training, entertainment, transportation, health care, and more places.

No other existing national organization or group has this one focus, while other groups are doing great work related to this, yet within other or larger missions and goals. There is surely room for more energies and more collaborations devoted to this one important theme and goal.

The new project offers these benefits:

(1) An central interactive, online, collaborative, and open exchange of timely information about any and all captioning advocacy projects going on, locally (city), state-wide, regionally, or nationally, by individuals, organizations, government departments and agencies, and others. One goal here is to create useful organized data about "who is doing what and where, methods and approaches, technologies suggested and used, etc."

(2) A place to initiate new national advocacy projects, and work collaboratively with national organizations for people with hearing loss, to add energies and support ongoing activities on this focus.

(3) A place to encourage state by state projects for communication access using the group model (or similar) used in WA (the Waldo model). A place to support city and individual advocacy actions also.

(4) To offer a needed place for collaborations among individuals in the many hearing loss groups (ALDA, HLAA, NAD, TDI, CSD and others) to work together on this one theme of importance - real time captioning (or a good substitute) for full equal access in all areas.

Participation from concerned and energetic individuals and groups is invited now - from people with hearing loss, professional providers, attorneys, and interested others. Please join us. There is room for new ideas, new energies, and new actions to push this agenda along for millions of people who need it and deserve it for full equal communication access.