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DCMP offers the only guidelines developed for captioning and describing educational media, used worldwide.
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The DCMP provides services designed to support and improve the academic achievement of students with disabilities. We partner with top educational and television content creators and distributors to make media accessible and available to these students.
Filtering by tag: research
This 1998 report, prepared by the National Center for Accessible Data (NCAD) and the WGBH Research Department, discusses Advanced Television (ATV), a product which would allow the utilization of captioning features, such as flexibility of caption placement, color choices, and controlled reading rates. Fonts chosen for this study include: Helvetica, Times, and Monaco, with Helvetica being the clear choice of participants. Also includes reactions to the mix of an upper- and lowercase character format as opposed to all caps, and presents feedback on the two types of character spacing: mono and proportional. Photos of television clips that show various captioning styles are included, although difficult to read. Lots of participant feedback.
Elementary school deaf students were selected as participants in this 1998 study by Margaret S. Jelinek Lewis and Dorothy W. Jackson. They found that the time constraint of captions further compounded the literacy problem for deaf readers as captions move quickly off the screen. Deaf readers also exhibited a lack of fluent word reading, which adversely affects comprehension; word-reading fluency depended on the ability to recognize (effortlessly and automatically) letters, spelling patterns, and whole words. In addition, students who viewed captions at a slower pace of 78 wpm retained significantly more information than students who viewed captions at an average rate of 116 wpm.
Prepared in 1995 by Judith E. Harkins, Ph.D; Ellie Korres; Beth Singer, M.S., CCC-A; and Barbara M. Virvan, M.S.W., with funding provided by the U.S. Department of Education and Gallaudet University. "In television programs and movies, not all information is conveyed through dialogue." That is what is at the heart of this paper: the importance of identifying sound effects, including music, mood, and an explanation of puns, to provide an inclusive and comprehensive viewing experience for persons who are deaf and hard of hearing. Includes findings and recommendations. Appendices include a questionnaire on the awareness of features and another on the demographic characteristics of the sample; a list of companies and organizations that responded to the draft guidelines; and a list of the advisors, consultants, and staff who participated in this study.
Project funded in 1996 by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs and Gallaudet University. Studies the variations in captioning conventions for conveying non-speech information (NSI). NSI includes: identification of speaker, sound effects, music, manner of speaking, audience reaction, and indication of a title (book, film, newspaper, play, etc.). A total of 189 deaf and hard of hearing consumers in the study confirmed the importance of consistent presentation of this information. One implication that pertains to presentation rate is that while NSI is crucial in conveying information about plot, humor, mood, or meaning of a spoken passage, it does add more written language for the viewer to process. Pictures of the captioned clips used in the study are included.
This article, written in 1996 by Frank Thorn and Sondra Thorn, addresses the concern that some viewers are not receiving the benefits of captioning because the captions are too small or too fast for them to read. The authors designed a series of experiments to test this theory, focusing on (1) optical blur, (2) presentation speed, and (3) the acquisition of English as a first or second language. (Observers received eye exams before taking part in the study.) The results revealed that "both blur and fast presentation rate dramatically reduced reading accuracy," and those with English as a first language performed better than those who have English as a second language. Suggests simultaneous captioning as a solution to these problems.
A study conducted by Carol J. LaSasso and Cynthia M. King in July of 1994. Presented in question/answer format. States that "it is important that deaf people have early input into decisions made by television manufactures and caption providers to ensure that captions meet the needs of the primary group for which they were developed." Addresses the desire of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing to have the option of placing captions anywhere on the screen, as well as being able to choose from a variety of colors for the captions. Includes comments from deaf and hard of hearing participants.
Written by Dr. Carl Jensema and Ralph McCann in 1995, this paper addresses concerns regarding broadcast captioning, such as whether programs are captioned verbatim, how much editing is done, and what the presentation rate is. One hundred eighty-three prerecorded programs were selected for research. Includes tables that show the original script, words removed, words added, and the final captioned script of various programs. Also includes a list of the most frequently used words, with percentages, from the combination of the television programs used.
A telephone survey was conducted by Cindy Camp of Jacksonville State University in April 2004. Twenty captioning agencies were randomly selected from readily available information on several Web sites, and agency representatives were asked to respond to several questions. These questions included the pricing for captioning of a 30-minute video, turn-around time, additional fees or discounts, requirements for copyright permissions, if customer proofing/changes to the captioning were part of the pricing structure, and if the agency could provide Internet captioning.
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.
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.
Jennifer DiLorenzo, an alumna of Gallaudet University's School of Psychology graduate program, reveals how the Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) has helped her deal with important issues in her school by educating deaf students regarding social norms and pressures, such as conflict resolution, drinking, drugs, relationships, and communication skills. She includes a list of media that has been most helpful to her. Links make for easy ordering.
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.
Defines, explains, and provides sample pages of continuity scripts.
A study performed by the Institute for Disabilities Research and Training, Inc. (IDRT), June 1997. Reprinted with permission. This paper includes graphs and charts relating to an experiment studying different captioning speeds. The test subjects included deaf and hard of hearing people as well as hearing people.
A report written in 1981 by Dr. George Propp and Dr. Virginia Berman. Clarifies that the mission of the Media Development Project for the Hearing Impaired (MDPHI) (now defunct) at the University of Nebraska was to be involved in the adaptation and development of instructional materials for hearing-impaired students in the areas of concept development and decision-making skills. This paper covers the steps involved in finding and developing appropriate materials, including search and locate, design and production, and evaluation. Charts are interspersed throughout the article.
