Learning Center

The DCMP at Fifty

Thank you for visiting our special commemorative “Golden Anniversary” section. We hope that you will explore, along with us, the DCMP’s rich history in educational media accessibility. Here you will find a brief but informative article chronicling the program’s history up to 2008, a detailed timeline highlighting the first fifty years of captioning and description, and a list of some of our favorite DCMP history-related articles from our Clearinghouse section.
about description, captioning, dcmp, history
How Do I Get My Media Captioned?

Learn the questions to ask and what to do with your caption file
about captioning, consumers, producers-and-distributors
Know Your Legal Rights

Legal issues facing persons who are deaf and hard of hearing
From Janice D. M. Mitchell, Ed.D. about captioning, manuals-and-guidelines
Making Captioning Perfect

As you might guess, we get a lot of kidding about our name, "Caption Perfect." Admittedly, we've never been perfect and don't really expect to be, but our goal is to make our captions the equivalent quality to that found in the publishing world. We want to continuously improve the quality of our work, and we want clients who expect the same. Of all our clients, the National Association of the Deaf's Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) has held us and its other vendors to the most exacting standard, and this demand has improved the quality of all of our work. We generally follow a series of steps to make our captions the best they can be, and below is a description of the process we use for the DCMP.
From Burwell Ware about accessibility-vendors, captioning, manuals-and-guidelines
Captioning Types, Methods, and Styles

The evolution of captioning techniques
about captioning, manuals-and-guidelines
Captioning Guidelines for the DCMP

These guidelines list DCMP captioning specifications and requirements.
about captioning, accessibility-vendors
Caption It Yourself: Basic Guidelines for Busy Teachers, Families, and Others Who Shoot Their Own Video

Captions (sometimes called “subtitles”) are the textual representation of a video's soundtrack. They are critical for viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing, and they are also a great tool for improving the reading and listening skills of others. Unlike subtitles, captions provide information such as sound effects and speaker identification.
about captioning, manuals-and-guidelines, educators, parents, guidelines
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet 2008

Larry Goldberg, the Director of Media Access for WGBH in Boston, delivers a testimony to Congressional members of the ''Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2007'' subcommittee regarding the efforts undertaken by WGBH and NCAM to ensure accessibility in the digital age. Topics covered include the following: a brief history of captioning and audio description, some of the accessibility challenges faced by producers in moving their content to the Internet, the development and goals of the Internet Captioning Forum, and the need for standardization of captioning formats for the Web.
about research, captioning, description, history
The CBC Captioning Style Guide, 2003

These guidelines pertain exclusively to off-line roll-up closed captioning, as distinct from other styles of off-line closed captioning. Written by the CBC, they are intended to supplement those guidelines set forth in "The CAC Captioning Style Guide: General Guidelines for Off line Pop On Captions," which should be taken as the authoritative reference in the event of any omission from the present document.
about manuals-and-guidelines, captioning
Implementing Closed Captioning for DTV

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules impose obligations on broadcasters for captioning of digital television (DTV) programs, but there has been some uncertainty over exactly what is required. This paper sets out the main requirements defined by the FCC rules, summarizes what broadcasters should be doing to meet those requirements, and provides guidance on implementing the various links in the chain from caption creation through to emission. A method for transport of DTV closed captions is described using data services in the vertical ancillary data space of serial digital video signals, and several methods for feeding caption data to the ATSC encoder are identified.
about consumers, captioning, legal
Introducing Captioned Media In The Early Years

In the March 2008 issue of the Clarke School's "Mainstream News," Information Outreach Specialist Melissa Griswold makes the case for captions in the classroom. In encouraging teachers to adopt captioned media early and often in their students' academic careers, Melissa references the varied and proven literacy benefits of captioning, directs readers to programs such as the DCMP, and includes useful tips for teachers and parents. (Reprinted with permission.)
about educators, captioning, literacy
Canadian Network for Inclusive Cultural Exchange: General Guidelines for Inclusive Online Cultural Content

From Canada, these guidelines give a comprehensive review of existing web accessibility guidelines before beginning a discussion of accessibility techniques specific to online cultural content. The document outlines key considerations for creating inclusive online cultural content as well as for translating existing content to other modalities to make it accessible. Suggestions and guidance are provided to the reader around the concept of modality translation for each kind of translation specific to the online environment. Techniques for moving content between audio, visual, tactile and language modalities are discussed and explained at length. (Also see the companion document: Canadian Network for Inclusive Cultural Exchange: Online Enhanced Captioning Guidelines.)
about captioning, manuals-and-guidelines
Canadian Network for Inclusive Cultural Exchange: Online Enhanced Captioning Guidelines

From Canada, these guidelines focus on how to caption for Web-based media items. Topics include the following: the current state of captioning on the Web, tools for captioning on the Web, plenty of visual examples, and a bibliography of educational references. Also includes information on Web-based description for the blind or visually impaired. (Companion document to the Canadian Network for Inclusive Cultural Exchange: General Guidelines for Inclusive Online Cultural Content.)
about captioning, manuals-and-guidelines
Educational Captioning: Teachers Share Their Experiences

The following statements are teachers' testimonials of utilizing captioned educational media from the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP). Each teacher relates their experience using captioned media as a teaching tool in the classroom and why this accessible media is important in the education of students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
about educators, dcmp, captioning
Captioning From a Native American Perspective

When the first Europeans arrived on the shores of the land that today is called America, they had no idea that the native people greeting them were citizens of only one of the over five hundred different nations that existed at the time. The customs, traditions, cultures and languages of these native people were as diverse as those of the Europeans. However, that was not the way the Spanish, French, English, and other colonizers saw it. To them, one Indian was the same as another.
From Howard R. Busby about captioning, consumers

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Learning Center

The DCMP at Fifty

How Do I Get My Media Captioned?

Know Your Legal Rights

Making Captioning Perfect

Captioning Types, Methods, and Styles

Captioning Guidelines for the DCMP

Caption It Yourself: Basic Guidelines for Busy Teachers, Families, and Others Who Shoot Their Own Video

Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet 2008

The CBC Captioning Style Guide, 2003

Implementing Closed Captioning for DTV

Introducing Captioned Media In The Early Years

Canadian Network for Inclusive Cultural Exchange: General Guidelines for Inclusive Online Cultural Content

Canadian Network for Inclusive Cultural Exchange: Online Enhanced Captioning Guidelines

Educational Captioning: Teachers Share Their Experiences

Captioning From a Native American Perspective