Media Access - Spring 1993

	The Media Access Research and Development Office is dedicated to 
improving access to media for disabled persons, non-English speakers and 
other under-served audiences.

	Media Access is a publication of the Media Access Research and 
Development Office at the WGBH Educational Foundation.


Brainstorm-y Weather

When the "blizzard of 1992" paid a visit to the East Coast, key 
representatives in the fields of disability, minority language, technology, 
media, and education were caught in the middle of two storms:  the blizzard 
that was tearing through the eastern seaboard and a brainstorm at the 
Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Washington, D.C., headquarters.
On December 11, 1992, WGBH's Media Access Research and Development 
Office (MARDO) convened a panel of talented individuals for a day-long 
Strategic Planning Session.  The purpose of the session was to assess the needs 
of MARDO's target populations and generate ideas for future media access 
projects.

MARDO's mission is to research the needs of people that are denied access 
to media and to develop appropriate technologies that could eliminate 
barriers.  In order to fulfill this mission, we have been identifying what those 
needs are.  Although we have gained extensive experience in our first 18 
months, we will continue to take our cues from our constituents.  These 
include disabled persons, non-English speakers, people with low literacy 
skills, rural populations, and those whose access to media is limited by 
financial constraints.

Support From CPB

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting provided MARDO with start-up 
funds in September 1991 and has been an enthusiastic supporter ever since.  
Several CPB staff attended the session including new president Richard 
Carlson, who welcomed the participants and reaffirmed CPB's commitment 
to making media accessible.

Mr. Carlson declared, "The goal is inclusion; the goal is not exclusion.  We 
want more voices; we do not want fewer voices. That's why the Corporation 
has funded MARDO and that's why you have come here today."

Following Mr. Carlson's address, MARDO director Larry Goldberg took the 
podium to clarify the day's objectives.  He presented demonstrations on 
existing access technologies (captioning, descriptive video, and Spanish 
translations) and invited the group to think about their "blue sky" ideas for 
the future:  "It's the holiday season.  What's on your wish list?"
The participants were assigned to small groups to examine the needs of 
particular populations.  Each group generated a list of five major problems or 
suggestions for MARDO to address.  After an informal lunch, the participants 
presented their ideas to the larger group and had the opportunity to bounce 
ideas off each other in a plenary discussion.  Among the suggestions were 
captioning and description of movies and live entertainment, accessible 
alternatives to printed daily news, and personalized media and  technologies.
A high level of excitement and interest was maintained throughout the 
day.  Engrossed in their task, the participants remained oblivious to the 
stormy weather outside.  As the session came to a close, news began to spread 
of airport closures and train cancellations.  Although the storm outside 
caused no small inconvenience to many of the participants, it was apparently 
no match for the "storm" inside.  The participants were unanimous in their 
praise of the session and their desire to be included in MARDO's future 
activities.
MARDO will shape future projects based on their suggestions and will rely 
on these and other supporters to further the goals of accessible media.


DVS Depends on Consumer Feedback

Descriptive Video Service(R) (DVS(R)) was launched on PBS in 1990 to make 
televisprograms accessible to blind and visually impaired people.  In 1992, 
DVS also began describing popular Hollywood movies on home video.  
Developed by the WGBH Educational Foundation, DVS inserts narrated 
descriptions of the key visual elements of a program or movie during natural 
pauses in the dialogue-without interfering with the program audio.  These 
descriptions-of actions, settings, facial expressions, and graphics-can be 
heard on broadcast television programs simply by selecting the Separate 
Audio Program (SAP) channel on a stereo TV or VCR.   To hear the 
descriptions on a DVS home video, only a standard VCR and television are 
needed.

Collaborating for Quality Control

Since Descriptive Video Service began, DVS writers (describers) have 
sought and received feedback on description issues from blind and visually 
impaired people nationwide.  As a result, DVS has developed standards for 
effective descriptive writing.  Input from local and national DVS Consumer 
Advisory Councils, along with feedback from DVS consumers across the 
country, continues to shape and refine DVS description, providing essential 
quality control for DVS writing.
The DVS Consumer Advisory Councils consist of blind and visually 
impaired people representing a cross section of age, sex, ethnicity, occupation, 
and degree of visual impairment.  The members monitor DVS programs and 
movies at home and call or write DVS with their critiques and comments.  
They also meet regularly with the describers, in person or by telephone 
conference call, to discuss a wide range of description issues.  

From Feedback to Results

The results of this feedback are many and varied.  One general rule DVS 
has developed is to add description only during pauses, to avoid "stepping 
on" the dialogue or important sound effects.   Another standard is to let 
sound effects speak for themselves-without description-whenever 
possible.  The closing of a door or the sipping of a drink, for instance, may be 
easy to identify by sound and context, while a sizzling wok that opens a scene 
may need description.  

Descriptions are specific and detailed whenever possible. Proper names are 
used for animals, furniture, cars, and architecture and are usually supported 
with simpler, descriptive terminology, for example "The scene changes to a 
golden eagle soaring..."

Describers make an effort not to be judgmental in their descriptions. Rather 
than saying a character is angry, describers might write, "She purses her lips 
and narrows her eyes," letting the viewer decide that she is angry.
Finally, it is DVS policy to tailor the writing to the style and diction of the 
program itself.  When describing Sherlock Holmes on a Mystery! program, 
"meticulous" would be used rather than "careful."  For the teenage-oriented 
program Degrassi High, an appropriate description might read "They bonk 
heads as they bend to open their lockers."

A New Challenge

Recently, DVS has begun conducting focus groups of visually impaired 
children, their parents and teachers, to determine how to make description 
most enjoyable and effective for youngsters.  Children's programs, including 
animation, present an entirely new set of challenges.  To describe these shows 
well and to meet the needs of new audiences, Descriptive Video Service will 
continue to rely on feedback from focus groups of blind and visually impaired 
people.

Project Update


-- The Adapted Interactive Media (AIM) Project is investigating how to 
make interactive media accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing students.  The 
project's advisory panel met for the final time in early January to assess the 
success of an adapted videodisc that was prepared as part of this project. 
Adaptations included sign language, information organizers, and 
supplementary print materials.  Project staff are finalizing a set of guidelines* 
that will be disseminated to producers of multimedia products.

-- CC School is the name of a captioning workstation and a research 
project that is investigating how personal captioning can improve the writing 
skills of deaf students.  Project staff at the National Technical Institute for the 
Deaf are analyzing data obtained from field-testing the workstation with 
students at the TRIPOD School in Burbank, California.  MARDO will 
demonstrate the workstation and present project results at the Convention of 
American Instructors of the Deaf in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 27.

In response to demands from educators, we have created a public 
version of the CC School software.  QuickCaption School* is a stand-alone 
child-friendly text editor with built-in captioning capability.
As part of our efforts to extend the application of CC School, we have 
designed research projects that will investigate potential benefits for learning-
disabled students and for non-native English speakers.  We are also working 
on creating a Macintosh version of the CC School workstation.

-- The Motion Picture Access Project is investigating access to motion 
pictures for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.  MARDO staff have been 
working with several manufacturers to develop prototype devices that can 
provide discreet caption display.  A Task Force meeting will be held in May.

*Ordering information appears later in this newsletter.

Call us at 617 492-9258 for more detailed information!


Practice Makes Perfect

Last fall, MARDO became involved in an exciting new project funded by 
the U.S. Department of Education.  WGBH and the Education Development 
Center-- a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality, 
effectiveness, and equity of education-- joined forces to create the National 
Center to Improve Practice (NCIP).  The center is charged with promoting 
change in special education and providing up-to-date information about the 
most effective instructional practices that integrate the use of technology, 
media, and materials.
Technology, media, and materials (TMM) can help students with 
disabilities increase their ability to communicate, exert independent control 
over their lives, contribute as productive workers and informed citizens, and 
experience fundamental human satisfaction.  While increasingly more 
disabled students are integrated in regular education settings, special 
education is not an integral part of the national agenda on school reform or 
the discussion of national education goals.  

NCIP will gather information about state-of-the-art educational practices 
that integrate TMM; synthesize that information into a knowledge base; 
translate the knowledge base into tangible products that can be used to 
promote change (such as videotapes, monographs, and multimedia); and 
identify appropriate channels of distribution.  EDC and WGBH will provide 
NCIP's vision, develop and modify its strategic plan, and facilitate its 
activities.  MARDO will play a special role in contributing expertise about the 
needs of people who are blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing.

Literacy Is First Priority

At a planning meeting earlier this year, the project staff selected literacy as 
the first priority area to address.  "NCIP employs a broad definition of literacy 
that encompasses a variety of communication skills," says principal 
investigator Judith Zorfass.  "Communication is the key to education and is, 
therefore, a logical starting place for us."

NCIP has recruited leading practitioners, researchers, policymakers, 
advocates, and consumers to become members of the Literacy Priority Group.  
This group will convene for a three-day summit at WGBH in May and 
continue to work together via an electronic network.  The knowledge 
generated by the group will provide the substantive content for the family of 
products to be developed and published by NCIP.  "It is important to note that 
NCIP is not only about products," asserts Barry Cronin, co-principal 
investigator.  "It is about developing an effective implementation plan that 
ensures that NCIP's work will continue beyond its five years of funding."

For more information about NCIP, contact Judith Zorfass at EDC at 617 969-
7100, ext. 426 or Barry Cronin at WGBH at 617 492-2777, ext 2455.  TTY callers 
should call 617 492-9258.


Captioning:  The Next Generation

A milestone in media access is upon us.  As of July 1, all TV receivers 13 
inches and larger manufactured or imported for sale in the U.S. will be 
equipped with caption-decoder circuitry.  This is the climax of a fast-moving 
sequence of events set in motion by the Television Decoder Circuitry Act.
President Bush signed the Act in October of 1990, whereupon the FCC, with 
the assistance of the Electronic Industries Association (EIA), embarked on a 
six-month process to develop a comprehensive specification for the new 
built-in decoders.  That done, the EIA drafted more than a hundred pages of 
recommended practices to help manufacturers and service providers 
implement the new FCC rules in a consistent way.  The EIA document 
(known as EIA-608, available in draft form from MARDO) also paves the way 
for innovative new uses of decoder circuitry known as Extended Data 
Services (EDS).

Very soon the FCC is expected to approve the use of more of the video 
signal for captioning and EDS.  At present, only one of the two fields of line 21 
(part of the vertical blanking interval above the top of the active TV picture) 
has been available for captioning.  The FCC ruling will set aside both fields, 
effectively doubling the amount of information which broadcasters can pack 
into the signal.  Besides more captioning (such as an additional language or 
reading level), the added bandwidth will accommodate such EDS features as 
the name of the program, its length, and how much of it has already gone 
by-all available at the touch of a button.  TV receivers able to decode 
captions on both fields as well as EDS may be available before the end of the 
year.

Because of a historical coincidence, the FCC is now in the throes of 
choosing an Advanced TV system with bigger, sharper pictures and many 
channels of audio.  Thanks to the decoder law, the new ATV system must 
include a greatly improved captioning system.  MARDO is chairing the EIA 
working group charged with developing 21st-century captioning for this 
system, which will include features like user-controlled type size.
Closed captioning, once an obscure part of broadcasting, is now coming into 
its own.


Lo Nuevo... en Espanol

Last year MARDO conducted the Spanish Language Project, an 
investigation into the needs of Spanish-speaking television audiences and 
the production and delivery (via the SAP channel) of Spanish translations of 
PBS programs.  The research revealed an overwhelming demand for access to 
educational programming.  This demand has prompted MARDO to create a 
strategic plan examining the technical, promotional, and financial resources 
needed to launch a user-oriented translation service.  

At the same time, MARDO is working with Radio Bilinguee to investigate 
whether public radio's highly acclaimed news programs can be translated or 
adapted for Spansh-speaking listeners.  Radio Bilinguee is a Latino-controlled 
organization that operates a public radio network in California.  For the 
project, MARDO produced a sample reel illustrating a variety of techniques 
for adapting English-language newscastsfor Spanish-language broadcast.  The 
reel will be field-tested with listeners and evaluated by key public radio 
professionals.

MARDO also recently lent its translation expertise to a non-broadcast 
project known as Interactive NOVA.  Interactive NOVA is a series of 
multimedia educational packages based on the popular public television 
science program.  MARDO produced the Spanish-language soundtracks for 
two videodiscs, Race to Save the Planet and Animal Pathfinders.  The project 
was commissioned by the Interactive unit of WGBH and Scholastic.
"Access to information is necessary to succeed in our society,"  says Roberto 
Rodriguez, manager of the Spanish Language Project.  "Saber es poder."  
(Knowledge is power.)


Available From MARDO:

-- Accessibility Guidelines for Producers of Interactive Media
-- Closed Captioning Brochure
-- Information Series for Caption Watchers
-- EIA Closed-Captioning Test Tape ($)
-- EIA-608: Recommended Practices for Closed Captioning Technologies
-- Descriptive Video Service(R) Brochure*
-- DVS Guide(R) (newsletter and program guide)*
-- DVS Home VideoSM Catalogue**
-- The Print Access Project Summary
-- The Spanish Language Project Summary
-- QuickCaption and QuickCaption School Captioning Software ($)

   *	avale in audio cassette, braille, and large print
**	large print on braille
($)	call for price information

Help Us to Help You!

-- For more information on any of our projects and activities, or to order 
the materials listed above, please call 617 492-9258 (voice/TTY) or write to us 
at MARDO, WGBH Educational Foundation, 125 Western Avenue, Boston, 
MA 02134.  Fax us at 617 562-0590 or reach us through Internet e-mail: 
Judith_Navoy@WGBH.org

-- If you have information on products or services related to media 
access, or if you are involved in related research or have ideas for projects, we 
want to hear from you!  Please contact us at the above number or address and 
add us to your mailing list.

-- Media Access is available in the following alternative formats:  audio 
cassette, braille, and printed Spanish.

-- Please make copies of this newsletter and distribute it freely!



Media Access is made possible by funding from the Corporation for Public 
Broadcasting.

The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and do not 
necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Corporation for Public 
Broadcasting.

