Volume 27 Issue 5

Our advertisers make it possible for us to provide HOH-LD-News as a free service. Please let them know you appreciate their support, and please mention that you saw their message in HOH-LD-News.

- Advertisers in this Issue
First Premium Placement:
Williams Sound TV Listening System from Sound Clarity
Second Premium Placement:
Big Sonic Alert Sale Continues at Harris Communications
Third Premium Placement:
IHHD Online Educational Opportunities
Classified Section:
Three online stores, one captioning company, one cue/sign summer camp and two employment opportunities

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Contact information and disclaimers are at the end of this newsletter.
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- Article 1: Captioned Radio Report - Part 1
By Cheryl Heppner
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Editor: Here's a great report from Cheryl Heppner on the topic of Captioned Radio. I admit to being a bit skeptical when I first started thinking about captioned radio; but now I'm a real believer! Read Cheryl's compelling case for the technology and her report on how we'll get there.

If you'd like to share this report, please be sure to credit NVRC. (See credit at the end of the article.

This is part one of two parts.

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A Trip to Las Vegas

You might be wondering about the dearth of NVRC News recently. I've been on the road and in the air a lot during the past week. The biggest chunk of time was spent on a trip to Las Vegas, where I spoke to the Public Radio Engineering Conference, "Digital Age Made Easy." I suspect that I took a bit of the "easy" out of the title, because my whole purpose for going there was to make the case for captioned radio. With captioned radio, we'd have the ability to read captions of what is being said on a radio's display screen.

I have a lot of new travel sagas to share. There was the encounter with the seat Nazi on one flight, a woman who objected to any animals being allowed on planes, hearing dog Galaxy's unexpected but blissful encounter with a masseuse at the Denver airport, and another fuss with a hotel room TV that didn't want to give me captions. But those are just sidebars to the main event.

National Public Radio - A Champion

The sixth annual Public Radio Engineering Conference was a fitting celebration during the year of the 100th anniversary of the first radio broadcast by Professor Reginald Aubrey Fessenden at Brant's Rock in Massachusetts, which took place on Christmas Eve 1906. More than 230 engineers from all over the country were in attendance.

National Public Radio has become so supportive of better serving people who are deaf and hard of hearing that it paid my travel expenses for the trip. This gave me the opportunity to carry the message about need for captioned radio to public radio engineers on the state and local level. Mike Starling, NPR's VP for Technology, has been the driving force for captioned radio, along with his team at NPR Labs: Jan Andrews, John Kean, Kyle Evans and Barbara Freeman.

Mike believes that if all the pieces come together, we will see captioned radio in two to three years, and he has a plan to make it happen. He and the NPR Labs team are so committed that they have made it a top priority. NPR has applied for a grant to further develop captioned radio, and they are working in partnership with WGBH's Center for Accessible Media. WGBH first developed closed captioning for television, and Project Director Gerry Field also spoke at the conference.

Many of the engineers involved in public radio earn salaries less than those made by their other industry counterparts. They choose this work for the opportunity to make a real difference in people's lives. This makes them a great group to work with on developing captioned radio. New digital technology is also working in our favor. Mike says the older technology could probably provide captions, but that it would probably have to scroll so fast that captions would be unreadable.

The Key: HD Radio

What will make captioned radio possible is the advanced features available with HD (high definition) radio. Just like HD television, HD radio is catching on. So far 1,238 HD radio licenses have been granted in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Of those, 764 broadcasts are on the air, including 17 in our Washington, DC area, 7 in Baltimore, and 4 in Norfolk.

A number of the stations with these licenses also have multicasting, which permits a digital broadcast to be divided and offers choices in listening such as news updates, sports, etc. HD radio plans and testing are also underway in Canada, Switzerland, France, New Zealand and Mexico, and HD radio broadcasts are already being made in Brazil, Phillippines and Thailand. HD radios are being developed by major manufacturers, with 15 models introduced in 2005. The second generation of HD radio receivers, which supports multicasting, is now shipping.

Cool Things About HD Radio

HD radio systems have the capability to deliver a lot of exciting features:
- Surround sound
- Album art, an artist, logo or other visuals
- Realtime traffic information delivered to your vehicle's navigation system
- The ability to rewind or store 45 seconds of audio broadcast

Enhancements being planned for HD radio include:
- Encryption to offer certain audio and data by subscription
- An electronic program guide and program reminders
- Time shifting to be able to listen to broadcasts when you want
- Automatic storage and update of critical audio services such as traffic, weather, news and sports

*************** (c)2006 by Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC), 3951 Pender Drive, Suite 130, Fairfax, VA 22030; www.nvrc.org. Items in this newsletter are provided for information purposes only; NVRC does not endorse products or services. You do not need permission to share this information, but please be sure to credit NVRC

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Big Sonic Alert Sale Continues at Harris Communications
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Due to popular demand, we are continuing our big Sonic Alert Sale. Receive a 15% discount when you purchase any Sonic Alert product. Products include the popular Sonic Shaker Travel Clock, the Sonic Ring TR75VR Videophone Signaler and the DB200 Wireless Doorbell and Telephone Signaler. Sonic Alert products are great gift ideas and come in many price ranges. Buy for graduations or upcoming Mother's Day celebrations. This sale ends May 7, 2006.

For more information, go to http://www.harriscomm.com/link/?www.harriscomm.com?sr=hlw or contact us at mailto:info@harriscomm.com

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- Article 2: WGBH Working to Make Airline Travel More Accessible
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Editor: WGBH has long been an active advocate of accessibility for people with disabilities. Their most recent effort is to improve air travel accessibility for people with hearing loss.

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Access to In-Flight Entertainment and Information for Passengers with Disabilities Focus of Latest WGBH/NCAM R&D Effort

Project Begins as U.S. Department of Transportation Proposes Improvements for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Travelers

WGBH's National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) has been awarded a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability Research and Rehabilitation (NIDRR) to make airline travel more accessible to passengers with sensory disabilities.

The project, "Making In-Flight Communications and Entertainment Accessible," will examine the technical barriers and develop solutions for making the range of airline entertainment, communications and information accessible to flyers with sensory disabilities. Solutions and resulting recommendations will include the integration of captioning for video and audio, descriptive narration for visual images and audio navigation for system menus and interface design.

Partners for this project are the World Airline Entertainment Association, Panasonic Avionics Corporation, and the National Center on Accessible Transportation at Oregon State University. Caesar Eghtesadi, president of Tech For All and an expert in accessible technologies, is acting as project manager for NCAM.

The genesis of the project occurred in early 2004, when a representative of Panasonic Avionics visited NCAM to ask for its assistance in making the company's products accessible to people with disabilities, especially motivated by his son who is blind. His interest was backed by years of complaints by people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing who also desired access to in-flight entertainment through captions. A proposal was submitted to NIDRR to take on the challenge and was granted in late 2005.

Project activities began at a fortuitous time. The U.S. Department of Transportation has recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), available now for public comment (through June 24, 2006), to address the barriers passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing experience during air travel, from departure lounge, at the gate, in flight and through to arrival lounge. The NPRM is a result of many years of negotiation between Department of Transportation officials, representatives of major national organizations of deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers, and airline industry stakeholders. Information about the proposed rule and instructions for commenting can be found at: http://dms.dot.gov (search for Docket no. OST-2006-23999).

Each new project NCAM undertakes is guided by consumer concerns and is built on its history of successful media access R&D efforts. Activities of the following NCAM projects in particular will inform the Access to In-Flight Entertainment project:
* Speech Solutions for Next Generation Media Centers
* Access to Convergent Media
* Access to Rich Media
* Motion Picture Access(r)/MoPix(r)
* Access to Digital Cinema

About WGBH's National Center for Accessible Media
WGBH developed captioning for television in the early '70s and brought video description (description of on-screen action, settings, costumes and character expressions inserted during pauses in dialogue) to television and videos in the late '80s. Throughout the '90s, these services were applied and integrated into other forms of mass media and for a range of venues, including movie theaters, Web sites, and classrooms. Today, all of WGBH's access initiatives are gathered in one division, the Media Access Group at WGBH.

About WGBH
WGBH Boston is America's preeminent public broadcasting producer, the source of fully one-third of PBS's prime-time lineup, along with some of public television's best-known lifestyle shows and children's programs and many public radio favorites. WGBH is the number one producer of Web sites on pbs.org, the most-visited dot-org on the Internet. WGBH is a pioneer in educational multimedia and in technologies and services that make media accessible to the 36 million Americans who rely on captioning or video descriptions. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards... even two Oscars. In 2002, WGBH was honored with a special institutional Peabody Award for 50 years of excellence. For more information visit the WGBH Web site.

For additional information about all of NCAM's activities and the projects mentioned, please visit http://access.wgbh.org.

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You're Career Oriented... Career Driven...and Hard of Hearing or Deaf
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The Institute for Persons Who Are Hard of Hearing or Deaf (IHHD) is a nonprofit Congressionally-funded agency dedicated to facilitating workplace and career advancement for aspiring professionals like you.

IHHD provides important online educational opportunities to share experiences, access top professional leaders, and develop crucial communication and business skills. Choose from a number of programs that cover all aspects of career growth - from starting a business to leadership and advocacy development.

These month-long courses are delivered online using National University's acclaimed state-of-the-art interactive learning system to provide optimal accessibility. Visit: http://cha.nu.edu/ec/formihhd-careerdev.html?ypd002

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- Article 3: Deaf Student Makes History on College Campus
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Editor: You may know that the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is on of the colleges that comprise the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). NTID prides itself on having its students integrated into the RIT community. What better demonstration of that could there be than the student body electing a deaf NTID student to be president of the RIT student body?

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Elizabeth "Lizzie" Sorkin, 24, a film/video and animation major at Rochester Institute of Technology, became the first deaf student government president of a U.S. college comprising of mostly hearing students.

Sorkin, of Elk Grove, Calif., was recently elected to serve a one-year term at RIT, where 1,100 deaf and hard-of-hearing students are mainstreamed with 14,400 hearing students.

RIT is the home to the renowned National Technical Institute for the Deaf, where students with varying levels of hearing loss have unparalleled access to technology, interpreters, note takers, tutors and other services that promote individual success in the classroom and workplace.

"We don't just talk about diversity on this campus, we live it every day in so many ways," said Sorkin, who prefers to use American Sign Language and will generally use interpreters to communicate with those who don't know sign language.

She and her vice president, Daniel Arscott, a Boston native who is hearing, have campaigned around their slogan 'Identify.'

"Dan and I want to ignite pride and honor, as well as loyalty for everyone who studies or works here. RIT already has a good community spirit emerging; Dan and I want to continue that momentum at full speed," Sorkin said. "When we started campaigning, people were already emailing us of their interest in being on the Student Government cabinet with us next year.

"Even though Dan doesn't know sign, we get by with one-on-one communication like any one else would," Sorkin said.

"Lizzie is an excellent communicator and a natural leader," said T. Alan Hurwitz, RIT vice president and NTID CEO/dean. "Through her hard work and dedication, she has earned the respect of students, faculty and staff alike."

Sorkin is finishing her term as NTID Student Congress president, where she led the effort to hold regular pep rallies, Spirit Fridays, social gatherings and more to create a new sense of community within NTID, one of eight colleges of RIT.

Born hearing to deaf parents, Sorkin became deaf at a very young age for reasons unknown, and attended mainstream schools her whole life. She chose RIT because, she said, of the mainstream environment as well as exemplary support services offered.

"My dad, who graduated from RIT, encouraged me to attend the Explore Your Future career exploration summer program, where I met other peers who I could relate with," Sorkin explained. "I lacked that kind of social stimulation growing up.

"I didn't know what I was going to study at first," Sorkin said, "but eventually I found my passion-film."

Sorkin earned a Davis Scholar Award given to student leaders who contribute to campus life, an Academic Achievement & Service Award, and has made the Dean's List several times. She also won awards from several film festivals for her short movie, "Don't Mind?" She spent spring break this year in the Philippines co-presenting a workshop to deaf students there and visiting elementary school children.

RIT is internationally recognized as a leader in computing, engineering, imaging technology, fine and applied arts. U.S. News and World Report has consistently ranked RIT among the nation's leading comprehensive universities. Web address is www.rit.edu/NTID. Visit www.rit.edu/NTID/newsroom for more NTID news.

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- Article 4: Short Takes
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Editor: Here are our picks of some additional stories that you may find interesting. For more, please point your browser to:
http://www.hearinglossweb.com/news/curr.htm

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Can air bag deployment damage auditory function?

On Monday, June 6, 2005, Lisa wrote the following on the Hearing Loss Web Forum under the topic of "Air Bags Ruined My Hearing:"

"Last week I was involved in what should have been a minor car accident. I wasn't paying attention and 'gently' hit the car in front of me stopped for a light. What happened next was terrifying. The inside of the car seemed to explode in a deafening roar. I had an unimaginable pain in both ears and considerable bleeding from my ear canals. I also had a very loud ringing and was virtually deaf."

http://audiology.advanceweb.com/common/Editorial/Editorial.aspx?CC=70419

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Waking Effectiveness of Various Alarms

Do you feel safe sleeping in a hotel room with only a standard audible smoke alarm? Would you feel better if the room had a low frequency alarm? How about a strobe light? If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, please read this great paper on the effectiveness of various types of alarms for people with hearing loss! Thanks to bhNEWS for the lead on this article!

http://tap.gallaudet.edu/EmergencyConf/Papers/Du%20Bois.htm

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I can't hear you; I've got cheese in my ear

"I'm going to put on the soup." "A Boy Scout troop at your age?" "No, soup. For supper." "You mean soup? Stop mumbling." "I NEVER mumble. Soup, pea soup." 'I don't need to pee." And so it went. My wife would not wear her hearing aids, and it was the only thing in 14 years of Parkinson's care that made me cross. But after my wife passed away, I stopped wearing mine. Why won't Grandma and Grandpa wear their hearing aids? That's the question about aging I hear the most. It comes before nursing homes, living wills, who's leaving what to whom, as children in the sandwich generation face the cost of sending their kids to college and their parents to the old folks' home.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?D2282570D

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Solar Powered Hearing Aids for Unreached People

[Editor: You won't believe the price!]

The world's established hearing aid industry produces hearing aids that are NOT suitable for most of the world's 250 million hearing impaired people. These hearing aids require a continual supply of disposable batteries, which are seldom available or affordable to poor people. Beyond batteries, conventional aids are not built for rugged service. In remote Asian, African and Latin American villages the lifetime of ordinary hearing aids is measured in months.

ComCare offers a solution, the Model GLW hearing aid. It is solar rechargeable. The user places the hearing aid in sunlight, about an hour every day. However, if the battery is kept near full charge, the GLW hearing aid can operate for at least a week without recharging. This allows for periods of cloudy weather, travel, etc.

http://www.comcareinternational.org/hearing.htm

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- Classifieds
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Three online stores, one captioning company, one cue/sign summer camp and two employment opportunities appear in this issue. (Ads appear after this brief table of contents.)

WCI - Your Single Source for Assistive Technology
Save 15% on Clarity Phones at WCI
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Potomac Technology - Everything You Need Under One Roof!
Save 15% on Alerting Systems plus Free Shipping!
http://www.potomactech.com

Sawyer Court Reporting
Closed Captioning Services for the hearing impaired
http://www.sawyercourtreporting.com/contact_info.cfm

hearingimpaired.net
Hearing Loss Accessories and Signage
http://www.hearingimpaired.net

CueSign Camp
Baltimore, MD
July 14 - 20
http://www.CueSignCamp.com

Employment Opportunity 1
Various Opportunities
GLAD
Various Southern California Locations

Employment Opportunity 2
Various Positions
Kansas School for the Deaf
Olathe, KS

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WCI. Providing Solutions for People with Hearing Loss.
Save 15% on Clarity Phones at WCI
http://www.weitbrecht.com
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Save 15% on Clarity Phones at WCI

All Clarity Phones are 15% off in May! Enjoy louder, clearer conversations with your loved ones on Mother's Day and every day. Mom will love the cordless CLS45i Clarity phone with speakerphone capabilities in the handset and on the phone base. Whatever your needs, we have a Clarity phone to fit your lifestyle. Plus get free shipping on all orders over $75.00.

Call us now at 1-800-233-9130 (V/TTY) or visit us online at http://www.weitbrecht.com

(Use code WCI506H for free shipping).

To receive a copy of our catalog, email sales@weitbrecht.com to request it.

WCI. Providing Solutions for People with Hearing Loss.

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Potomac Technology - Everything You Need Under One Roof!
Save 15% on Alerting Systems plus Free Shipping!
http://www.potomactech.com
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Save 15% on Alerting Systems plus Free Shipping!

For a safe and secure home or business environment Potomac Technology is offering 15% savings on alerting systems through May. Choose from the dependable Simplicity and Sonic Alert products including a variety of telephone, doorbell, and sound signalers. Check out the new Sonic Alert Video Phone Signaler designed to alert you to your videophone with a choice of three distinct flash patterns.

Orders over $50.00 get free shipping! Visit us online at http://www.potomactech.com or call 1-800-433-2838 (V/TTY).

(Use code "PTEC506H" for free shipping.)

Potomac Technology. Everything You Need Under One Roof!

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Sawyer Court Reporting
Closed Captioning Services for the hearing impaired
http://www.sawyercourtreporting.com/contact_info.cfm
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news, weather, sports and meetings

eight years experience working in closed captioning in captioning broadcast news, sports (soccer), arts and entertainment, and history international shows live for several companies

for more information on rates and scheduling appointments, click on:
http://www.sawyercourtreporting.com/contact_info.cfm

to reach Sawyer Court Reporting via relay:
voice: 816.761.5536 cell: 816.916.8042

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hearingimpaired.net
Hearing Loss Accessories and Signage
http://www.hearingimpaired.net
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There is no time like the present to advise and inform others that you cannot hear with accessories and signage from hearingimpaired.net - try our interesting line of products that are made especially for YOU. You can't blame other people for not knowing you cannot hear them unless you help to let them know with our lapel pins, stickers, stand up signs, awareness bracelets,window decals, safety vests, service dog supplies, and more ~~ a little something for everyone no matter what your lifestyle.

http://www.hearingimpaired.net

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CueSign Camp
Baltimore, MD
July 14 - 20
http://www.CueSignCamp.com
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CueSign Camp, a truly dual-lingual summer camp for families and friends of deaf children!

Hosted at Towson University in Baltimore July 14-20 and generously sponsored by both Gallaudet University and NTID/RIT, CueSign Camp offers opportunities for campers of all ages to learn or refine BOTH cueing and ASL skills.

The mentality at camp is unique - Deaf culture is celebrated, but so is the world of our hearing families. No need to choose sides! What a way to blow open your horizons!

New this year:

1) a teen leadership camp for D/deaf teenagers who are already dual-lingual and seeking an enriching week in the company of true peers

2) Conference Day, where, instead of spending all your time studying the two languages, you get to hear about and discuss the cultural issues and linguistic implications of raising deaf children dual-lingually.

For more information, contact Camp Director Amy Crumrine at mailto:CueSign@aol.com or visit the website at: http://www.CueSignCamp.com

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Employment Opportunity 1
Various Opportunities
GLAD
Various Southern California Locations
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GLAD is an Affirmative Action Employer with equal opportunity for men, women and people with disabilities. For more information on the following positions, please go to: www.gladinc.org. The status of all positions is: Regular, Full-time, Non-Exempt, Full Fringe Benefits unless otherwise noted. All positions are open until filled.

* Community Advocate- Los Angeles
* Job Developer/Interpreter - Norwalk
* LIFESIGNS Director - Los Angeles
* LIFESIGNS Clerk- Los Angeles
* Network IT Administrator - Los Angeles

If interested for any of these positions then please submit resume and application to:

Jeff Fetterman
Human Resources Specialist
Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc.
2222 Laverna Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90041
V/TDD: (323) 550-4207
Fax #: (323)550-4204
E-mail: jfetterman@gladinc.org

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Employment Opportunity 2
Various Positions
Kansas School for the Deaf
Olathe, KS
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The Kansas School for the Deaf, 450 East Park St., Olathe, KS 66061, is currently seeking qualified individuals for the following positions for the 2006- 2007 school year:

Secondary Principal **Immediate Opening**
Elementary Teacher
Secondary Mathematics Teacher
Secondary English Teacher
Anticipating Full Time Dormitory Teachers
Substitute Teacher, Para and Dormitory

Placement made within agency guidelines on salary schedule depending upon professional background and experience. KSD offers excellent benefits. Applicants will be screened and the most highly qualified applicants will be invited for an interview session. Positions are open until filled. KSD is located in the Heartland of the USA, part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. For area info on excellent schools and affordable housing check out: www.kcmo.org/ and www.olatheks.org/.

For an application and a job announcement on each of these positions, please refer to our website at www.ksdeaf.org or contact Teresa Chandler, Human Resources Office, at (913) 791-0501 (V/TTY) for further details on the positions. E-mail: tchandler@ksd.state.ks.us Fax #: 913/780-6563

An Equal Employment/Educational Opportunities Agency
Tobacco Free Campus

"KSD Embraces Diversity"

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- Contact Information and Disclaimers
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