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>Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:42:24 -0500
>From: Mary Watkins <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: [UACCESS-L] Captioned Radio Closer to Reality
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>November 12, 2008
>
>Press Contact:
>Mary Watkins
>617.300.3700
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>
>Deaf and hard of hearing users vote yes on new radio technology during
>live captioned broadcast of presidential election
>
>WGBH's Media Access Group provides technology and hosts private demonstration
>
>
>While millions of U.S. citizens voted in national and local elections last
>week, some of the nation's deaf and hard-of-hearing citizens were casting
>important votes on the future of captioned radio broadcasts—new technology
>designed to enable them to experience live radio coverage for the first
>time. The results—more than three-quarters of people who are deaf and hard
>of hearing indicated that they would be interested in purchasing captioned
>radio displays after watching live demonstrations of the technology last
>week at seven locations around the United States. The election night
>broadcast demonstrations were made possible by WGBH's Media Access Group,
>NPR, Harris Corporation and Towson University.
>
>The telecast leveraged cutting-edge digital HD Radio™ technology to enable
>people who are deaf to experience NPR's election coverage by viewing live
>radio content on specially equipped receivers. WGBH's "stenocaptioners"
>monitored NPR's live coverage and fed instantaneous speech-to-text
>transcriptions to the participating NPR stations and to NPR's web site.
>
>The broadcast, part of an initiative to make radio more accessible to the
>millions of consumers with sensory disabilities around the world, was
>demonstrated at NPR's international headquarters and Towson University in
>Towson, Maryland, WGBH, and four additional NPR member stations around the
>United States. During the broadcast, 150 people who are deaf or hard of
>hearing filled out surveys in person or online to provide feedback on the
>technology.
>
>"WGBH was thrilled to welcome members of the deaf and hard of hearing
>community to experience live captioned radio of NPR's election night
>coverage," said Larry Goldberg, director of Media Access at WGBH. "Our
>captioning staff and our colleagues at WGBH-FM made magic happen ... and
>the reaction for users was strong and clear... 'Finally!' and 'When will
>this be available all the time?' Very soon, we hope!"
>
>Responses to surveys indicated that captioned radio will be a popular
>broadcast format for deaf and hard-of-hearing users.
>
>• 95 percent were happy with the level of captioning accuracy, a crucial
>aspect for readability and comprehension
>
>• 77 percent said they would be interested in purchasing a captioned radio
>display unit when it becomes available
>
>• 86 percent indicated they would be interested in purchasing a
>'dual-view' screen display for a car (which would enable a deaf passenger
>to see the captioned radio text while the driver listens to the radio).
>
>"Being able to read the captions enabled me to stay current on the
>election results. I usually tune out the radio when it's on because it is
>difficult to understand the dialogue with my hearing loss," said Betsy
>McCarthy, who participated in the demonstration at WGBH. "This technology
>would allow me instant access to a broadcast as opposed to taking the
>extra time to obtain a transcript when one is available."
>
>Demonstration participants also showed a strong desire to rely upon
>captioned radio in emergency situations - on a scale of 1-10, with 10
>being extremely important, they ranked emergency notifications at 9.6 when
>asked what types of information would be important to receive through
>captioned radio broadcasts. General news came in second at 8.0.
>
>The survey also included a number of questions regarding format
>preferences, such as the speed of the scrolling text and the size of the
>text. The information will be used to improve future captioned broadcasts.
>
> "WGBH did it again! The first to provide TV captioning in 1972 has once
> again become the first to caption the election results on HD Radio," said
> Karen Keefe, past president of Association of Late-Deafened Adults, Inc.
> and president of ALDA of Boston. "An amazing, innovative idea!"
>
>The event was coordinated by the International Center for Accessible Radio
>Technology (ICART), which is headquartered at Towson University in Towson,
>Maryland. Founding members also include NPR and Harris Corporation. Towson
>houses the primary administrative and academic research office for the
>initiative, NPR Labs in Washington, DC, provides the technology R&D and
>software development, and Harris Corporation supplies the transmission and
>research support at its radio broadcast technology center in Cincinnati,
>Ohio. WGBH served as a technology partner in the initiative.
>
>HD Radio enables station operators to split their broadcasts up into
>multiple channels, providing several CD-quality channels for their
>audiences. Through this accessible radio initiative, a small amount of the
>total data capacity will be used to carry textual data that will be shown
>live on a screen on new versions of HD Radio receivers, essentially
>providing a closed-caption transcript of live broadcasts for people who
>are deaf or hard of hearing.
>
>More information on the initiative can be found at www.i-cart.net. In
>addition to NPR, Harris Corporation, and Towson University, ICART member
>organizations include iBiquity Digital Corporation, Delphi, NDS,
>Radiosophy, Helen Keller Institute, Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National
>Center for Accessible Media at WGBH (NCAM), Northern Virginia Resource
>Center for Deaf and Hard-of-hearing Persons, and the G3ict, an Advocacy
>Initiative of the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development.
>NPR's Accessible Radio project is funded by a grant from the National
>Institute on Disability Rehabilitation and Research (NIDRR).
>
>About NCAM
>The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media at
>WGBH is a research, development and advocacy entity that works to make
>existing and emerging technologies accessible to all audiences. NCAM is
>part of the Media Access Group at WGBH, which also includes The Caption
>Center (est. 1972), and Descriptive Video Service® (est. 1990). For more
>information, visit access.wgbh.org.
>
>About WGBH
>WGBH Boston is America's preeminent public broadcaster, producing such
>celebrated national PBS series as Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow,
>Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Arthur, Curious George and more than
>a dozen other award-winning primetime, lifestyle and children's series.
>Boston's last remaining independent TV station, WGBH produces local TV
>productions (among them, Greater Boston, Basic Black and María Hinojosa:
>One-on-One) that focus on the region's diverse community, while WGBH 89.7
>FM is Boston's NPR Arts & Culture station, offering a rich menu of
>classical, jazz, blues, news programming and more. WGBH is the leading
>producer of online content for pbs.org-one of the most-visited dot-org
>sites on the Internet-a major producer for public radio and a pioneer in
>developing educational multimedia and new technologies that make media
>accessible for people with disabilities. For its efforts, WGBH has been
>recognized with hundreds of honors, including Oscars, Emmys, P!
>eabodys and duPont-Columbia Journalism Awards. Visit WGBH on the Web at
>www.wgbh.org.
>
>About NPR
>Since its launch in 1970, NPR has evolved into a leading multimedia
>company, award-winning primary news provider and dominant force in
>American life. NPR produces and/or distributes 1,500 hours of programming
>weekly, including more than 150 hours of news, information, talk,
>entertainment and cultural shows for the 800-plus NPR Member stations
>around the country, attracting 26.5 million listeners weekly. NPR also
>programs two 24/7 channels for Sirius satellite radio and five 24/7 music
>multicast channels for digital HD Radio, having served as an industry
>leader in HD research and development; additionally it produces nearly 90
>podcasts, making it the biggest podcaster among American media companies.
>NPR.org offers extensive original video and audio content, hourly
>newscasts, concerts and free audio streaming of current and archived NPR
>programs.
>
>About Harris Corporation
>Harris is an international communications and information technology
>company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150
>countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual
>revenue of $5.3 billion and 16,500 employees-including nearly 7,000
>engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class
>assured communications™ products, systems, and services. Additional
>information about Harris Corporation is available at www.harris.com.
>
>About Towson University
>Founded in 1866, Towson University is recognized among the nation's best
>regional public universities, offering more than 100 bachelor's, master's
>and doctoral degree programs in the liberal arts and sciences, and applied
>professional fields. Located in suburban Towson, eight miles north of
>Baltimore, the university's beautifully landscaped, 328-acre setting
>offers a pleasant environment for study and a diverse campus life, as well
>as easy access to a wealth of university and community resources. With
>more than 20,000 students, Towson University is the second-largest public
>university in Maryland. As a metropolitan university, Towson combines
>research-based learning with practical application. Its many
>interdisciplinary partnerships with public and private organizations
>throughout Maryland provide opportunities for research, internships and
>jobs. The university's radio station, WTMD, will soon convert to digital
>format and will serve as the initial testing ground for the ini!
>tiative. Towson University is a founding member of the Coalition of Urban
>and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU); TU President Robert Caret holds the
>office of president. Additional information can be found at www.towson.edu.
>
>
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