>
> For immediate release
>
> Contact: Mary Watkins/Media Access Group at WGBH
> 617 300-3700 voice, 617 300-2489 TTY
> [log in to unmask]
>
> First DVD to "Talk" to Users Wins Industry Award
>
> WGBH Boston's "Abraham and Mary Lincoln - A House Divided" Lauded for
> Innovative Audio Navigation Feature
>
> Boston, MA, September 19, 2002. WGBH Boston, producer of such
> groundbreaking PBS programming as NOVA, ARTHUR, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, and
> FRONTLINE, and a pioneer in the field of access technologies for disabled
> audiences, was awarded a DVD AT ITS BEST GOLD RING AWARD during the recent
> DVD L.A. Fest in Los Angeles. The award was presented to WGBH for the menu
> design of the three-disc DVD package, "Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House
> Divided," an AMERICAN EXPERIENCE miniseries produced and directed by David
> Grubin. The DVD's innovative audio navigation, or "talking menu" feature, is
> the first of its kind, and a model to the industry.
>
> In addition to closed captioning and video description, services developed
> by WGBH for the benefit of viewers with hearing or vision loss, the DVD's
> talking menus enable users to access all the DVD's features through audible
> menus. The DVD was co-produced by AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and WGBH Interactive
> in collaboration with Planet Studio, a graphic communications firm based in
> Atlanta, Georgia. The audio navigation feature was developed by WGBH's
> Media Access Group. Funding was provided by the National Endowment for the
> Humanities (NEH).
>
> The six-hour miniseries on the Lincolns paints a vivid picture of the
> complicated relationship between Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd — people from
> drastically different backgrounds who loved each other passionately,
> quarreled intensely and shared many personal tragedies. Using historic
> dramatizations and reenactments, interviews with historians and experts, and
> historic documents and illustrations, the film weaves together the lives of
> the two Lincolns. It also shows how their troubled lives paralleled that of
> a nation at war and describes the impact of Lincoln’s brutal assassination
> on the country and the sanity of his wife.
>
> Originally broadcast on PBS stations nationwide on February 19-21, 2001, the
> three-part debut of Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided was very
> popular among television viewers - Nielsen estimated that 16,750,000 people
> watched some part of the broadcast.
>
> Television critics throughout the country praised the documentary as well.
> The New York Times wrote: "Mr. Grubin and Geoffrey C. Ward have successfully
> merged the broad sweep of history with the prickly nuances of individual
> relations…the series grows richer with every hour." The Los Angeles Times
> had this to say: "American Experience resumes being TV's preeminent U.S.
> history teacher when rolling out Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House
> Divided…[a] smart, moving, beautifully mounted three-parter…David Grubin's
> documentary stands head and stovepipe hat above the crowd." And the Chicago
> Tribune said: "Made under the glorious banner of American Experience, this
> ambitious and compelling six-hour joint biography ought to be required
> viewing… an example of a near-perfect realization."
>
> In addition to the complete documentary with audio description (narration of
> key visual elements such as facial expressions and settings), audible menus,
> closed captioning and Surround Sound, the three-disc set includes exclusive
> interviews with the film's creative team; original narratives drawn from
> letters and diaries of Civil War soldiers, 19th-century African Americans
> and women; and other special features – all of it accessible.
>
> With NEH support, free copies of the DVD were distributed to 1700 teachers
> and librarians in all 50 states. Many sent their thanks for the audio
> navigation, including Jim Allan of the Texas School for the Blind in Austin,
> who wrote, "I thought the effort put in to make this DVD accessible should
> be lauded. THANK YOU!! It is a special moment when students who are blind
> get to use the same materials and receive robust information
> independently!!!" The DVD may now be purchased by calling 1-800-PLAY-PBS
> (1-800-752-9727), logging on to shopPBS.com or visiting selected Borders,
> Barnes & Noble and Store of Knowledge bookstore locations.
>
> For more information on the DVD At Its Best Gold Ring Awards, and the DVD
> L.A. Fest, visit http://www.theladvshow.com/DVD%20Awards%20Release.htm.
>
> WGBH Boston is America's preeminent public broadcasting producer, the source
> of nearly one-third of PBS's prime-time lineup and companion online content
> as well as many public radio favorites. WGBH is a pioneer in educational
> multimedia (including the Web, broadband, and interactive television) and in
> technologies and services that make media accessible for people with
> disabilities. 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 www.wgbh.org.
>
> -end-
>
>
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Catherine Alfieri
7 Summer Tree
Pittsford, NY 14534
585-586-1682
Founder:
Monroe County Women's Disability Network
[log in to unmask]
http://www.mcwdn.org
VirtEd
http://www.mcwdn.org/VirtEd2.html
RochEd Online
http://www.mcwdn.org/Roch/RochEd.html
"See with your heart, Speak with your heart!"
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