Learning Center

A Note on Carrying Captions Over a Shot Change

This paper, written in 1999 by Carl Jensema, Ph.D. and Ramalinga Sarma Danturthi, Ph.D., retraces the research done by Dr. Kenneth G. O'Bryan at the Children's Television Workshop and his creation of the term "shot change." A shot change refers to a sudden change in the picture shown on the screen. His studies suggest that when this occurs, the viewer goes back and rereads the caption. In this article, Jensema and Danturthi put his theory to the test. Results conclude that viewers do not always react the same way to a shot change; hence, eye movement is unpredictable. Includes eye movement diagrams.

Time Spent Viewing Captions on Television Programs

This 1999 paper by Carl Jensema, Ramalinga Sarma Danturthi, and Robert Burch reports on the eye movements of 23 deaf subjects, ages 14 to 61, while they watched captioned television programs. It discloses that the viewers in the study spent about 84 percent (%) of their television viewing time looking at the program's captions, at the video picture 14% of the time, and off the video 2% of the time. ("Off video" was due to eye blinks and normal eye movement.) Concludes that much exposure to print was "bound to influence reading skills." (Note: The DCMP educational and training materials are selected in large part because of their pictorial component, and thus it is imperative that the presentation rate of captions not prohibit opportunity to learn from this component.)

Final Report: The Relation Between Eye Movement and Reading Captions and Print by School Age Deaf Children

This 2003 report by Carl Jensema states that the average hearing child spends 30 hours a week TV viewing and that this same amount of "TV time" is spent by their deaf peers. Because of this, it is estimated that deaf children spend more time reading captions than they do printed material. This study, three years in the making, examines how reading captions relates to the overall reading skills development of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Various tables and figures accompany this article. Research was conducted at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.

Final Report: Caption Speed and Viewer Comprehension of Television Programs

Dr. Carl Jensema and Dr. Robb Burch examine speed rate and viewer understanding of closed-captioned TV programs in this 1999 research paper. Third in a study of caption rates (first one in 1996 showed medium caption rate to be 141 wpm; second one in 1998 showed rate increased to 145 wpm), this study shows that the reading rate which persons who are deaf or hard of hearing are most comfortable with is 220 wpm. Asks two questions for the basis of this research: "What caption speeds are likely to lead to the highest understanding and retention of information?" and "How do these optimal caption speeds vary with age, sex, degree of hearing loss, education, household size, and frequency of caption viewing?" Includes tables and figures.

The State of Closed Captioning Services in the United States: An Assessment of Quality, Availability, and Use

Final Report: Presentation Rate and Readability of Closed Captioned Television

Written by Carl Jensema in 1997. Objectives of this report were to (1) establish an advisory board, (2) establish a measurement system, (3) obtain and analyze off-air data, (4) develop video materials, (5) obtain and analyze child data, (6) obtain and analyze adult data, (7) compose the final report, (8) disseminate findings, and (9) submit all monthly reports, as well as the final report. Appendix includes three journal articles produced by the project, including: "Presentation Speed and Vocabulary in Closed-Captioned Television" (1995), "Closed-Caption Television Presentation Speed and Vocabulary" (1996), and "Viewer Reaction to Different Captioned Television Speeds" (1997).

Word Frequency in Captioned Television

Written by Carl Jensema and Michele Rovins. This paper states, "There are more than 500,000 words in the English language, but a person who masters the use of 250 words . . . will recognize more than two-thirds of all words shown in television captions." For people with limited reading skills, this is a great advantage. The list was created by taking scripts from the various television programs utilized in the study and combining them. Such words include: "the," "before," "around," "please," "yeah," and many others. The table showing the complete list of words is located on the last page of the article.

A Tale of a Troll and His Captioned Media

[Editor's note: This article was originally written in 2005 and has since been archived. Some content may be outdated.]

New and Emerging Technologies in Media Accessibility

When I was asked to write an article about emerging captioning technologies, my first thoughts were of the cutting edge: high-definition television (HDTV) captions with adjustable sizes, captioned video on the Internet, and eyeglasses that show captions to you (and only you!) in a movie theater. Then I had a discussion with Bill Stark of the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP).

Line 21: Closed Captioning of Television Programs

David Sillman was Manager of Engineering Planning at the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) where his prime responsibility was development of closed-captioning technology. He overviews the events leading to the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare's (HEW) interest in funding the development of such technology. PBS has contracted for the development of a commercial decoder suitable for mass production that could be used by the general public for the reception of closed-captioned television programs. After many years of experimental and preparatory work, it appears that the necessary combination of a closed-captioned transmission system, programming, and a practical home caption decoder can be brought together in the fall of 1979. To quote Sillman: "Let us hope this will signal the end of the exclusion of the hearing impaired from this significant part of our social and cultural life."

Captioning at WGBH TV: A Paper Presented at the 1978 Symposium on Research and Utilization of Educational Media for Teaching the Deaf

Author Sharon Earley participated in the first captioning of "The Captioned ABC News" and in 1977 became the director of all caption center activities for the Caption Center at WGBH-TV. She overviews the debut of captioned news, overall development of captioning at WGBH, and captioning refinements that continued to be made in 1978. To quote Earley: "That the deaf community wanted television news to be captioned was no surprise to anyone. Dr. Malcolm Norwood had been aware of this longstanding need for years. But until 1973, it had seemed impossible."

Utilizing Captioned Films for Teaching Communication Skills

Real Time Closed Captioned Television as an Educational Tool

Written by Martin H. Block and Marc Okrand, Ph.D. for the 1983 Symposium on Research and Utilization of Educational Media for Teaching the Deaf American Annals of the Deaf. Covers the topic of real-time, or live, captioning which provides an opportunity and motivation to improve reading skills. Examines how this technology offers a new approach to providing access to classroom lectures and discussions. Reviews equipment needed as well as the sociological and educational implications surrounding the use of this type of captioning.

Videodisc Update

The Media Development Project for the Hearing Impaired (MDPHI) has been involved in the design and production of "videodisc" programs since December 1978. In this 1980 paper, George Propp, Gwen Nugent, and Casey Stone examine the use of videodiscs to promote education. The disc is designed to be used with an educational/industrial player for individualized use, much like a book. A student can view the materials at his or her own pace in a sequence either predetermined by the teacher or selected by the user. Discs would include teachers' guides, quizzes, and various exercises. Includes studies on the use of the discs by students.

Youth and Captioned Media

Research shows that approximately 90 percent of all children who are deaf have hearing parents. Many of these children are at a true disadvantage when it comes to obtaining information, due to communication barriers. They must rely on additional resources to gain a knowledge base that most hearing children learn by listening.