Providing Equity Through Accessible Media

count. A person who is fluent in English and proficient in read- ing can easily understand captions that are less than ideal, such as those that are in all capital letters. Research has shown that words in all capital letters are more difficult to read and slow down the reading process. While an adult whose first language is English can read captions that are in all caps without difficulty, a child who is not a skilled reader or a person whose first lan- guage is not English will likely struggle. Another shortcut to captioning that is frequently discussed is automatic speech recognition software. One example that many people are familiar with is YouTube’s automatic captions. These are usually far from accurate and often cause more confusion than no captions. An additional drawback is they inadvertent- ly add incorrect words such as profanity. It is not only embar- rassing but also inappropriate to use these captions with stu- dents. Technology has improved tremendously and there might come a day when captions can be automated, but it is not cur- rently possible. Educational videos need the highest quality of captions be- cause students are learning important content. This is doubly true for students who are deaf or hard of hearing and depend on the captions to access the meaning of the video. DESCRIPTION Equally important is description for students who are blind or have low vision. Description is the verbal depiction of key visual elements in media and live productions. Also known as "audio description" or "video description," the description of media involves the interspersion of these depictions with the program's original audio. A second type of description is known as “expanded description.” When a video has many key visual elements but very little pause in dialogue, the video may be paused so that additional description can be added. This can be especially helpful with math and science videos, which tend to have a lot of dialogue and critical visual components. Description is the key to opening a world of information for persons with a vision loss or literacy needs. The American Foun- dation for the Blind reports that 26.9 million American adults have vision loss and 568,202 children with vision difficulties in the U.S. While description was developed for people who are blind or visually impaired, sighted children may also benefit from description’s concise, objective translation of media’s key visual components. Specialized learners, such as students with learning differences, English language learners, and children on the autism spectrum, can benefit from its value in literacy devel- opment (e.g., vocabulary and reading) and content learning. DC- MP’s Listening is Learning campaign focuses on these benefits. The amount of description available on broadcast television and popular movies lags behind closed captioning. In the 1990s, the FCC set up a tiered approach to mandate that an ever-in- creasing amount of broadcast content be captioned. Today, very little programming is exempt from this regulation. The FCC man-

dated that major broadcast networks and cable companies pro- vide 50 hours of described programming per quarter by April 2002. The amount has increased since, but there is still very lim- ited availability of described programming. The problem is even more dramatic in the area of educational media, as less than 10% of educational media is described. The purpose of educational media is to engage students and enhance learning. This will not happen for students who are vi- sually impaired if the media does not contain high-quality de- scription. The DCMP Description Key states that description must be: • Accurate: There must be no errors in word selection, pro- nunciation, diction or enunciation. • Prioritized: Content essential to the intended learning and enjoyment outcomes is of primary importance. • Consistent: Both the description content and the voicing should match the style, tone and pace of the program. • Appropriate: Consider the intended audience, be objec- tive and seek simplicity and succinctness. • Equal: Equal access requires that the meaning and inten- tion of the program be conveyed. THE DESCRIBED AND CAPTIONED MEDIA PROGRAM (DCMP) Because videos are a popular medium for teachers and many educational videos are not accessible to students with disabil- ities, teachers may try to find work-arounds or simply not use video. Neither of these is an appropriate solution. Video can be a great teaching tool, and accessible media enhances the learning opportunities for all students. The best solution is to use educa- tional media that comes with high-quality accessibility features. This is where DCMP can help. DCMP maintains an online vid- eo library of over 8,000 educational titles that are captioned and described. The project is funded through the U.S. Department of Education and administered through the National Association of the Deaf. All services are free of charge. This may sound too good to be true, but it is a truly free re- source for parents and educators. To access the online videos, membership is needed. There is a simple online form to fill out. Then an email is sent out to verify that the application email is an active address. Once the email is validated, DCMP staff will review and approve qualified applicants, then information is sent about how to access the account. Family members and pro- fessionals with early learners through Grade 12 students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired or deaf-blind qualify for membership. If for some reason a person does not qualify for a full account, DCMP’s collection offers over 1,000 vid- eos that are Open Educational Resources (OER), meaning they are available to everyone. Another DCMP resource that is open to everyone is the Learn- ing Center. It contains hundreds of posts on education, accessi- bility and advocacy as well as captioning and description stan-

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