Learning Center

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.

Captioned Media: Teacher Perceptions of Potential Value for Students with No Hearing Impairments

This national survey conducted by Frank G. Bowe and Aviele Kaufman in 2002 focuses on 359 special educators from 45 states found that most perceive value in captioned media for some special education students, notably those who are English Language Learners and those classified as having specific learning disabilities. Results suggest that captioning technologies be explored in more depth, particularly since they are available to classroom teachers at the touch of a button.

Future Trends

Printed in the American Annals of the Deaf in 1974, Dr. Malcolm J. Norwood's article reminds readers that the "lifestyle of modern society is technologically oriented." Dr. Norwood indicates that the "name of the game today is educational services," and that his role in the government's Media Services and Captioned Films branch includes research in technology related to the handicapped child. He writes of the upcoming development of Learning Resource Centers. He emphasizes that "the utilization of television as a means of bringing deaf persons further into the mainstream of the general population also has a top priority."

Just Don't Scramble the Wrong Egg

Written by Dr. Malcolm J. Norwood in 1980 for the First National Conference on Captioning at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. The author provides a captioning scale (for reading rate) employed at the time, and he details some of the early difficulties encountered in captioning films. Also explained is a method of captioning, utilized at the time for educational films, referred to as "syncapping," in which audio tracks are streamlined to match the captions.

Comparison of an Interpreted and Captioned Newscast Among Deaf High School Graduates and Deaf College Graduates

The full dissertation submitted to the faculty of the graduate school at the University of Maryland in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy by Dr. Malcolm Norwood (the "Father of Closed Captioning") in 1976. The study investigates the effectiveness of communicating verbal information to deaf persons using two different modes of presentation: print (captions) and sign language (interpreter). Concludes that the educational level of deaf persons determines the amount of verbal information received, regardless of the mode of presentation used; but the greatest amount of information is transmitted by captions.

Comparison of Video and Text Narrative Presentations on Comprehension and Vocabulary Acquisition

This 1998 study investigated the effect of video and narrative presentations on children's comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. Participants were students in four heterogeneously grouped eighth-grade English classes (n=16, 22, 21, and 11) in a rural school district in southwestern New York.

The Effects of Closed Captioned Television on the Listening Comprehension of Intermediate English as a Second Language (ESL) Students

This 1999-2000 study investigated the effects of closed-captioned TV (CCTV) on the listening comprehension of intermediate English as a second language (ESL) students. Thirty students with intermediate levels of ESL proficiency participated in this study.

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.

Captioning for Deaf People: An Historical Overview

A presentation given at Gallaudet University in 1988 by Dr. Malcolm J. Norwood. Reviews the history of captioning, including the signing of Public Law 85-905 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Captioned Films for the Deaf

Originally published in 1976 in “Exceptional Children,” Malcolm J. Norwood, Chief of Captioned Films and Telecommunications, writes of efforts to have FCC authorize use of a closed captioning device.