----- Original Message -----
From: "Justice For All Moderator" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 12:11 PM
Subject: Grant Announced for Captioned Radio
Grant Announced for Captioned Radio
National Public Radio (NPR) Receives Department of Education
Grant to Develop Accessible Radio Technology for Deaf, Hard of
Hearing, Blind and Visually Impaired Communities
NPR and WGBH's National Center for Accessible Media Partner
to Research and Create Services
Washington, D.C., October 11, 2006 The Department of
Education's National Institute of Disability Rehabilitation and
Research has awarded a grant to NPR and WGBH's National Center
for Accessible Media (NCAM) to develop accessible radio
technology for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or
visually impaired. The Accessible Digital Radio Broadcast
Services grant in the amount of $150,000 for the first year
will help fund an anticipated three-year research and development
project to prototype, field test and assess the cutting-edge
radio technologies to serve the needs of people with sensory
disabilities. NPR and NCAM are internationally recognized experts
in digital radio technologies and accessible media service
models.
"As radio moves into the digital transmission arena, public radio
is committed to providing people with sensory disabilities equal
access to news, entertainment and emergency services," said Mike
Starling, CTO and Executive Director of NPR Labs. "Thanks to the
Department of Education's support through this grant, NPR and our
WGBH partner will leverage our shared abilities to deliver on
this promise."
"The time to address the needs of people with sensory
disabilities is now," said Larry Goldberg, WGBH's Director of
Media Access. "Considering those who are deaf or blind at birth,
through trauma or illness, or baby boomers reaching retirement
age over the next few years, the numbers of Americans with
hearing or visual loss are expected to climb. It is crucial for
us to address the unique needs of this growing population as we
further develop HD radio services."
In creating radio technologies specifically geared to people with
sensory disabilities, NPR and NCAM will bring together experts
from broadcasting, academia and non-profit service organizations
to best serve the needs of people who are deaf, hard of hearing,
blind and visually impaired. The overall goal is to guide the
design of prototype digital radios for evaluation by consumers
with special needs. At the conclusion of the study period, the
design criteria to be developed with collective input from a
representative cross section of disabled consumers will be
turned over to receiver manufacturers as best operating practice.
NPR has teamed with Dr. Ellyn Sheffield of Salisbury University,
a widely recognized researcher of consumer adaptation to digital
radio services, to help design and test the technology in
development.
The project's total budget for the first year is $227,810. The
Department of Education grant will cover 65 percent of the
project costs for the first year, while NPR will fund the
remaining 35 percent. Additional federal funding after the first
year is dependent on congressional appropriations.
NPR and the NPR Member stations have a long history of pioneering
inclusive access for people with sensory disabilities. More than
100 radio reading services for the blind operating in the United
States are offered by NPR stations, providing the reading of text
from daily news, books and magazines.
In another effort to make radio programming accessible to the
deaf and hearing-impaired community, NPR has in recent years
tested Web-based real-time captioning of radio programs through
http://www.NPR.org.
For more info:
Emily Lenzner, NPR
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Mary Watkins, WGBH
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