Wow! This is really something and you are right. It is extremely important.

Dick

On 10/11/06, Prof Norm Coombs <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>  Radio is changing.  Signals will become digital, and the digital radios
> will be able to display text besides carrying the audio broadcast in digital
> sound.  This work described below is really timely and important.
>
>  Norm
>
>
>
>
> Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 10:43:32 -0400
>  From: Mary Watkins <[log in to unmask]>
>  Subject: NPR, WGBH Collaborate on Accessible Radio Technology
>  Sender: [log in to unmask]
>  To: dvsconsumers <[log in to unmask]>
>  Reply-to: Mary Watkins <[log in to unmask]>
>  X-VMS-To: IN%"[log in to unmask]"  "dvsconsumers"
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>  X-OriginalArrivalTime: 11 Oct 2006 15:43:37.0537 (UTC)
> FILETIME=[047F0B10:01C6ED4C]
>
>  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 www.NPR.org. For a two-hour
> special on deaf culture and education airing this Thursday October 12, NPR's
> Talk of the Nation has collaborated with WGBH's Media Access Group, the
> pioneer of captioning for television, to provide live captioning of the
> program.  The October 12 broadcast will feature an interview with Dr. I.
> King Jordan, retiring president of Gallaudet University, the world's only
> university dedicated to deaf and hard of hearing students and a look at the
> shifting debate over the cochlear implant. Details can be found at
> www.npr.org/deafculture.
>
>   -NPR-
>
>  NPR Media Relations:
>
>  Emily Lenzner, 202.513.2754, [log in to unmask]
>
>  Media Access Group at WGBH:
>
>  Mary Watkins, 617.300.3700 voice, 617.300.2489 TTY, [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>  ------------------------------------------
>  EASI Courses on Accessible Information Technology for November:
>  Barrier-free E-learning (expanded and enriched with more multimedia)
>  http://easi.cc/workshops/bfel.htm
>  EASI has 3 Podcast series: http://easi.cc/podcasts/
>  EASI Home http://easi.cc
>
>  Norman Coombs, Ph.D.
>  www.rit.edu/~nrcgsh
>  (949) 855-4852  ** Pacific time zone!
>


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