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In this issue: |
Back to School | Description Key | Press Release |
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Back to School with the DCMPBack to article listing
The myriad sales on pencils, backpacks, and the latest fall fashions for kids have begun. The late-summer swelter continues as the calendar rushes along toward autumn, while the freshly-manicured school lawns and long-dormant announcement placards proclaim an event that needs no formal introduction: “Back to School” time is here. We’ve had a busy summer at DCMP, adding a slew of new accessible titles to our collection, developing and refining new initiatives such as Caption It Yourself™ (CIY) and Equal Access in the Classroom, and finalizing the new Description Key (see below for more about the Description Key) for its planned September release. Before your children embark upon that first morning commute or homework assignment of the brand-new school year, help give them a head start by browsing the DCMP Media Library and previewing some of our new titles. You can also see a listing of new titles on the DCMP home page or visit DCMP’s listing of Emerging Technologies titles, provided via our partnership with CaptionMax, to see the latest media titles with expanded description and enhanced captions. Remember that you or your child’s teacher can recommend media to the DCMP, thereby helping us to keep our collection up-to-date with the latest innovative educational media. We look forward to a new school year and all of the opportunities for learning that comes with it. Now: Ready…Set…BACK TO SCHOOL! Description Key Development in Final Stages after Expert Panel MeetingBack to article listing
DCMP and the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) set to work in the fall of 2006 to develop guidelines for description of educational media—and we’ve been working hard! At the end of July, a panel of experts in the fields of audio description and education came together in Dallas at AFB’s Center on Vision Loss in Dallas, TX to collaborate with each other and finalize the guidelines. Think of the Description Key as a “Key to Access,” in the vein of DCMP’s Captioning Key [PDF], which has been available for more than 10 years. The Description Key is designed for agencies providing description work on educational media as well as for anyone else interested in learning description. Coming in early October 2008, the Description Key will feature guidelines for proper description, accompanied by video clips to demonstrate preferred styles and strategies for describers. We’ve developed the Description Key with a focus on accessibility and forward-compatibility. (We think it looks nice too!) Be sure to look for next month’s DCMP newsletter, where we are sure to feature more details about the Description Key, along with much more! Spread the WordBack to article listingA new press release about the DCMP’s services is available on our Web site. For those who prefer print, we also have a PDF version of the latest press release available. We encourage you to talk about the DCMP with friends, relatives, teachers, professionals…virtually anyone who can help bring the magic of accessible educational media to as many qualifying students as possible. |
Some Housekeeping…You’ve probably noticed that this edition of the DCMP Newsletter looks a bit different from the newsletters we’ve sent in the past year. Based on comments from readers, we’ve redesigned the newsletter to be more accessible, better organized, and (we think) better looking. Let us know what you think with a quick e-mail to the newsletter’s designer. 
Google in the ClassroomDCMP Information Technologist Kevin Jones and Google-certified math teacher Eric Marcos have written a step-by-step tutorial [PDF] showing how easy it is to upload, transcribe, and caption your videos using the free Google Video hosting service. Included in the article are some ways to use video to spark students’ imaginations and teach them about the benefits of captioning in the process.
Description on the WebMovies for the Blind is a free podcast of classic movies with description by Toronto-based describer Valerie Hunter. There are currently 40 “episodes” available (and growing rapidly); Valerie also frequently includes relevant links to alternate versions of original audio, as well as information and background material about the films she has described. Visit moviesfortheblind.com to subscribe to the podcast and to support a truly grassroots example of media access advocacy!
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The Described and Captioned Media Program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the National Association of the Deaf. |
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