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
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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!