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Radio. Television. The Internet. DVDs. Wireless devices. Communications technology has come a long way since 1951, when WGBH bowed in on 89.7 with a promise to listeners throughout the region to provide free access to thoughtful, inspiring programs. In an era when more and more media services come with a hefty price tag, WGBH remains committed to providing free access to all -- particularly people with disabilities.
WGBH's Caption Center broke the sound barrier for deaf viewers in 1972 by introducing the world's first television captions. We opened new doors for viewers with vision loss in 1990 with the debut of our Descriptive Video Service, providing supplemental narration of a program's key visual elements. "Today 36 million Americans with disabilities depend on WGBH for captions and descriptive narration of their favorite public and commercial TV programs, popular films, even Web sites," says Brigid Sullivan, vice president for children's, educational and interactive programming, and media access. "But rapidly changing technologies mean there's still much to be done." Adds Larry Goldberg, director of WGBH's Media Access Group: "Our friends in various disability communities nationwide regularly let us know about their needs. We take the material (whether WGBH's own productions or the work of another media producer) and pull it all together with our technologies and services to make it accessible."
This year WGBH created the first-ever described DVDs with audible menus: American Experience's Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. "We want these DVDs to serve as a model to the industry for producing completely accessible DVDs for people with vision loss," Goldberg says. "We opened a new office in Burbank, California to further encourage Hollywood studios to caption and describe their latest films and to support MoPix, our captioning and descriptive technology that enables people with vision or hearing loss to enjoy first-run movies in theaters." WGBH's efforts are paying off: the blockbuster Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone premiered this past fall with closed captions and descriptive narration, and the number of movie theaters nationwide with MoPix technology increased by nearly 50 percent in 2001.
WGBH is doing more than making popular media available. "Children with disabilities face many challenges," says Media Access research director Mardi Loeterman. "Technology can serve as either a barrier or a bridge to learning.
We're collaborating with publishers and educational software developers to make sure they consider children with disabilities in their designs.
"We're also evaluating the effectiveness of the recently added second stream of 'edited' captions on our children's series Arthur," continues Loeterman, noting that captioning is available on all TV sets 13 inches or larger manufactured from 1993 onward, and also through set-top decoders. "The goal of edited captions, which are supplied in addition to the more familiar near-verbatim captions, is to help children who are not fluent readers have greater success reading captions and understanding the program. If the results support our hypothesis, this will provide a compelling argument for a second stream of captions on additional children's programs."
For 50 years, WGBH has worked hard to provide all Americans with access to the media. Today, technology finally is catching up with our aspirations and mission.
To: Descriptive Video Services
I'm writing to let you know how much my 10-year-old son, who is severely visually impaired, enjoyed his first Descriptive Video Service movie in a theater. I wore the headphones for more than half the time myself. You've done an excellent job. I enjoyed seeing all the facial expressions on my son's face, knowing that they would not be there without DVS. Thanks!
John W., Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania
To: WGBH Media Access Group
I just wanted to let you know how terrific it was to be able to navigate the menu structure on an enhanced DVD and, for the first time, have access to all of the bonus materials without sighted assistance. The talking menus are wonderful. Thanks so much to WGBH and staff for working so hard to make this dream a reality.
Rick A., Davie, Florida
Timeline:
WGBH traces its roots to the generous 1836 bequest of John Lowell, Jr., who envisioned an institute that would provide free public lectures to the citizens of Boston. When the Lowell Institute found its audience dwindling more than a century later, Harvard President James Conant and Board of Overseers President Ralph Lowell came up with a solution: broadcast the lectures over radio. Under the visionary leadership of Lowell, the Institute formed a cooperative venture with six Boston colleges and began broadcasting on commercial stations in 1946. Inspired by radio's ability to provide free access to all and its educational potential, Lowell vowed to find a permanent place on the dial for "public" radio in Boston. WGBH Radio made its debut in 1951, and WGBH TV followed four years later.
WGBH is busy developing relationships with key institutions and lecture forums around Boston to launch the WGBH Forum Network, an online series at wgbh.org that will feature lectures delivered by the best and brightest within our community, with a special focus on arts and culture, science, and civics. To ensure that they reach the widest audience, these lectures will be presented in three formats: audio only, low bandwidth video, and broadband video. Set to launch in spring 2002, the Forum Network represents one more way WGBH is using technology to bring a world of ideas and information to all and staying true to our past promises.
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