Go Beyond TV:Captioning and Video Description as Teaching Tools for the DVD and Multimedia Environment

OSEP Conference 07.16.07: ET Grants: H327C060013 & H327C060014

Purpose of Today• Introduce You to CaptionMax• Demonstrate What CaptionMax is

Doing with the Emerging Technologies Grants

• Outreach Efforts• Research Opportunities

CaptionMax• Founded 1993, privately held• Video description - 2003• Media accessibility is all we do• Goal: Level the educational playing

field

Media Accessibility Today:

• What they are• FCC Rules• Limitations

Closed Captions

Closed Captions – FCC Rules

• 2006: all new programming• 2008: 75% of anything produced

before 1998• Spanish: 2010 and 2012

respectively• Broadcast Only

Closed Captions - Limitations

• Viewer has little control over settings

• Captioning signals can interfere with each other

• Not all TVs are capable of reading all captioning signals

Media Accessibility Today:

• When it is used, features• FCC Rules

– No requirements

• Limitations– Timing– Menu option hard to find – Shares channel with Spanish translations

Video Description

2006 Emerging Technology Grants• CaptionMax won 2 of 3 available awards• Funding the development of

accessibility for emerging technologies• 5 year project, in year 1 now• 5 year goal: Standard part of

educational landscape

Our Project: • Go beyond standard captioning

and description practices• Collaboration with media suppliers• DCMP as distribution partner• Rely on CAB for feedback• NOT a research grant

Going Beyond the Standard

• New technologies create new opportunities

• Multiple tracks• Interactivity• User options• Scheduling• Flexible interface

Phase One: DVD

• Inexpensive and widely available format

• Familiar technology• Schools have capacity to use• DCMP can deliver files via web

DVD Menu Accessibility• Auto-play spoken menu• Voiced navigation instructions • Large type and high-contrast

coloring• CaptionMax as DVD author• Accessibility is the first option

Spoken Menus

• Action verbs describe visual cues “Go back to the chapter menu”

• Simple, direct menu structure

Any questions at this point?

DVD Subtitles

• Traditionally limited to dialog

• Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH)

• Activated via on-screen menu

• Any font, color, background

• Up to 32 subtitle streams

Caption/Subtitle Choices

• Verbatim or edited for slower reading

Caption/Subtitle Choices

• Choose larger or smaller text

Caption/Subtitle Choices

• Less obtrusive subtitles

Caption/Subtitle Choices

• High- contrast subtitles

Caption/Subtitle Advanced Features• Clickable words/phrases

– Identified by highlight and sound– Definitions and annotations

• Enables greater interactivity and learning opportunities

DVD Video Description

• No SAP channel required• Eight audio tracks available

– Spanish – Video description– Other languages

Expanded Description • Menu: Expanded description track

– Pause video – Detailed description– Adds few minutes to program

• Optimized for classrooms with a variety of abilities

• Very positive feedback• Potential data source for research

Subtitled Description • Dialog and descriptive narration • Italicized description subtitles at top

of the screen– For students with both vision and hearing loss– For classrooms with students of varying

abilities – For those learning about accessibility

• Positive feedback • Research resource

View CaptionMax’s Enhanced DVDDemonstration

Other DVD Elements

• “Extras” Subtitled and Described– Slideshows– Lesson planning videos

• DVD-ROM Supplements– Tagged, described PDFs optimized for

screen reader software

Future Features/Enhancements• More text size options• User feedback on menu options • Repurposing for reuse on other

display systems– web streaming– hard drives– portable devices (iPod)

Outreach Efforts

• Teacher outreach • “For Teachers” subsite:

www.captionmax.com/teacherwww.captionmax.com/teacher

New Marks for Public Domain

Thank You