| Communications Accessibility and Alternative Formats FAQ |
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Table of Contents
[ top ] This FAQ sheet has verified all up to date communications accessibility information. It lists and describes the resources in this area and across the country. Due to evolving technology and rapid changes in the marketplace, some information may have changed. If you discover any changes or some new information, please let us know and we will include it in the next revision of this FAQ sheet. If you know what you are looking for, you may skip ahead to the listings in Part 6 - 8 where you can begin your search. If you need more detail about certain products, please look at our Assistive Technology FAQ sheet. If you are new to communications accessibility or alternative formats, please read on. [ top ] 2) Introduction to Communication Accessibility Our society revolves around information. Some people say Information is power. Our jobs, our social life, our values are based on the information that we possess. We are who we are because of what we know. Many of us take our ability to receive and share information for granted. We are accustomed to traditional media and embrace new technology as they emerge. With the advent of radio, newspaper editors spoke against the new technology, erroneously predicting their own demise. Radio remains inaccessible to people with hearing loss, but they opened doors for blind people to receive information in a new way. Now, with television, the Internet and other technologies, we have more options that work for some of us so that everyone is able to remain informed. Although individuals have different disabilities and unique needs, we recognize that some of their needs do overlap. Some individuals are unable to process the information in traditional ways. Although their ears or eyes are intact, people with learning disabilities may not understand words as they are spoken or printed. People who are deaf or hard of hearing cannot hear the radio. Blind people are limited in their ability to watch television, look at billboards or even read a Walk/Don’t Walk signal. The following is a brief description of each disability category, the communication barriers they face, and possible solutions. [ top ] A. Cognitive Disabilities For individuals with speech problems, electro larynxes enable the person to speak using the vibrating mechanism placed against the neck. Augmentative communication systems provide synthesized speech from typed data. Newer models are roughly the size of a calculator and run on AAA batteries. You can type in 18 words at a time in English or Spanish and they cost around $200. Individuals with TBI and learning disabilities may obtain different types of software which help in educational, vocational and communicative advancement. Many of these products can be found in the Assistive Technology FAQ sheet. Many individuals with learning disabilities are unable to process information in regular formats and must rely on alternative delivery. Some are unable to read and for them, graphics relay the information instantaneously. Others who may have normal hearing cannot process what they hear and need to obtain information in a visual format such as sign language or captions. [ top ] B. Physical Disabilities Several types of hands-free computer access software using speech-recognition and point-of-gaze technologies such as Eye-Gaze enable the individual to do computer related functions. One common use for this technology is environmental control which allows the disabled individual to operate a variety of electrical appliances (i.e., stereo, bed, telephone) remotely. Sometimes, the location of the equipment can be a barrier. A public telephone booth must be in an accessible location at the proper height so a person in a wheelchair can use the phone. When a manufacturer designs a piece of equipment using the Universal Design philosophy and guidelines, it is designed so that anyone can use it regardless of whether they have a disability or not. A simple example of this could be an universal television remote with large glow-in-the-dark buttons in an ergonomic pad that fits the hand comfortably. [ top ] C. Sensory Disabilities Printed information needs to be offered in alternative formats, such as large print or Braille. This FAQ sheet and other printed materials published by ECNV uses a minimum 14 point Arial Bold. All word processors now have the capability of printing large-print documents inexpensively. If anyone needs larger print or Braille copies of any ECNV publication, please contact us and specify your needs, and we will convert any document and send it out to you in the mail. Some individuals prefer the text to be on a diskette in ASCII text. Their computers are equipped with text readers that can voice the text for them. Adaptive software for word processing programs such as Eye Relief, VisAbility or ZoomText can enlarge text up to 1.5" on a computer screen, an improvement over the usual fonts. Some television programs, videotapes and movies now have video description that comes through a secondary audio channel that describes the video. Individuals who are severely or profoundly deaf need to receive their information in a visual format. Others who are hard-of-hearing [HoH] or have a slight hearing loss need amplification and specialized listening systems. Though all television sets with screens, 13" or larger have built-in closed captioning systems since 1993, set top decoders can work with older or smaller sets. New FCC rulings ensure more captioned programs beyond popular TV programs and videotapes. Hearing aids are becoming tinier, yet more powerful than before. Text Telephones [TTY’s] and other telecommunication devices are on sale in many stores and are widely in use.Handset amplifiers allow voice telephone conversations. Wireless listening amplification systems are available and it consists of a clip-on microphone transmitter and a receiver. Some public facilities such as theaters and classrooms have listening systems built in that works with your hearing-aid or with a special receiver. These can be very useful in lectures, meetings and other cases where understanding every word is imperative. Some recent technologies in wide use also benefit deaf/HoH people such as fax, E-mail and vibrating pagers. Universal Design in communication accessibility refers to the philosophy of designing products or services that can be used by the majority of individuals without regard to disability. This includes disseminating data in different ways so that anyone can receive that information in alternative formats. In order for a television program to reach viewers who are deaf or blind, the program must be captioned with printed information on the screen that follows the dialogue or have audio information on a secondary channel that describes the video during lulls in the dialogue. [ top ] 1. Print Printed materials are ideal for persons who are able to read and write. However, for some people, reading text is difficult or impossible. Ways to increase readership include putting photos and graphics where appropriate. Some individuals with cognitive disabilities are not able to process the written text. Reading level and vocabulary should match the capabilities of the intended readership. Alternative formats should be made available, including large print (such as this FAQ sheet), Braille and ASCII text on diskette. Some major cities offer a call-in service that provides newspaper articles on audio. [ top ] 2. Audio Listening materials often reach persons who are unable to read. Transcripts should be prepared verbatim for people not able to hear the spoken dialogue. Meetings and other public events are made accessible through interpreters who use sign language, speech reading and cued speech. Additionally, specially trained stenographers or court reporters type into a shorthand machine that converts phonetics into text verbatim and displayed on a computer screen or on a video projector. The telephone, ironically was invented as a device to help Alexander Graham Bell’s deaf wife as a hearing aid. Instead it became a notorious barrier to employment and independent living. Deaf people often relied on family members and coworkers to make calls for them. They can not hear a phone ring unless there was an amplifier or a light attached to the phone line. Many jobs excluded deaf and hard of hearing people because hiring and promotion decisions were often contingent upon the ability to make and receive telephone calls. In 1964, a deaf physicist, Robert H. Weitbrecht used his knowledge of amateur ham radio to retrofit his radioteletype modem for use over the telephone lines. These acoustic couplers were connected to teletype (TTY) machines that were donated by Western Union when they upgraded to machines using the ASCII standard. Now, today there are many different models of electronic TTY’s, including TTY software. In 1999, there are over 55,000 TTY listings in Telecommunications for the Deaf Inc.’s (TDI) Blue Book, a national TTY directory and resource guide, up from 175 in 1968. Yet, the TTY only enabled deaf and hard of hearing callers to call others with TTY’s. When the ADA was passed in 1990, Title IV included a provision for all 50 states to establish their own telephone relay services (TRS) operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This bridged the communications gap between TTY callers and voice callers, however more public awareness campaigns needs to be done to educate the population about TRS. [ top ] 3. Video(Tapes, DVD, Television, Movies) Since video materials also have audio output, insuring access to video materials must also include transcripts and other printed materials. Other auxiliary aids include captioning, a post production process that adds subtitles to the video that indicate not just the dialogue, but all forms of sounds such as the phones ringing, doors slamming, etc. Two types of captioning are widely used. One is closed captioning in which a decoder is required to view the captions. The other is open captioning or subtitling where words are always on the screen. Captioning benefits not only deaf and hard of hearing viewers, but also those learning how to read English in ESOL and literacy programs. Seeing the words on the screen helps reinforce the spoken word for many viewers. Virtually all prime-time shows are captioned, however, cable television has yet to equal the level of captioning that networks provide. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 mandates that almost 100% of network, local and cable television programming be captioned by the year 2008. There are no laws mandating captioning on videos, however, many school districts are specifying that new educational audio/video materials be captioned as well. While television and video has used open and closed captioning for more than 20 years, closed captioning is beginning to spread into motion pictures. Since silent movies began, motion pictures have always used subtitles - today mainly foreign films are either subtitled or dubbed with English audio. Theaters across the country now schedule special screenings of films with captions. Some are also installing Rear Window captioning systems where patrons borrow a reflector that superimposes captions on the movie screen. Descriptive Video Services are coming into the picture for blind and visually impaired viewers. This system uses a secondary audio channel to narrate video descriptions during lulls in the dialogue. Currently, few television programs and movie titles have DVS, but is expected to grow. Specially equipped movie theaters allow viewers to borrow wireless headphones. [ top ] 4. Digital In the Information Age, the trend is toward convergence of all the technologies that carry data. Digital data is any form of information (text, audio, voice, still graphics, animation and video) that has been converted to binary digits of zeroes and ones during transmission (via telephone lines, cable lines, wireless, etc.) and arrives to the end user intact without any degradation that analog signals face. Accommodations include adapting all of the above concepts to digital technology. Due to the technology, you usually have more flexibility to add options. For example, analog television uses Line 21 captioning in which the captions are embedded in the hidden part of the television signal. By its nature, there is only the capability to transmit four captioning channels. 60 Minutes on CBS now feature English and Spanish captioning over two channels. In contrast, digital technology, which is not compatible with analog, has the capability for the user to select from several languages and reading levels. If you purchase or rent a digital video disk (DVD) from your local video store, you will see that it has several languages on its soundtrack as well as in captions. Since digital technology is very new, expect to see a lot of changes in this FAQ sheet to keep up with emerging technology. However, some efforts have already taken place. Microsoft Corporation has taken the lead in captioning several of its CD-ROM’s, including Encarta Encyclopedia 99. Several captioning service providers are now captioning Internet events real-time. One of them can be found on www.lexicast.com. Lexicast offers real-time captioning over the Internet on several events, such as an FCC hearing or public forum. [ top ] 5. Federal Laws and Regulations Affecting Communications:In 1971, the IRS rules that TTY’s and modems are tax deductible as a medical expense. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended prohibits discrimination by Federal agencies or entities receiving Federal funding. In 1998, a new section was added. Section 508 now mandates that companies that contract with the Federal Government must not only make their products and services accessible to people with disabilities, their Internet web pages must also be accessible. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, a landmark civil rights law prohibits discrimination to people with disabilities. Requires that auxiliary aids be provided in order to facilitate effective communication. Also mandates that Public Service announcements produced with Federal funding be captioned. 9-1-1 emergency services must be accessible to TTY users. Title IV includes a provision for all states to establish their own telephone relay services (TRS) operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Federal Communications Commission sets and enforces minimum TRS standards. Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990, mandates that all television sets 13" or larger be equipped with circuitry to decode closed captions. This effectively puts a decoder in almost every household in America. This law also preserves the captioning functions in emerging television technologies. Telecommunications Act of 1996 has several parts that impact on people with disabilities. [ top ] 3) How Can I Find Out Which Communication Access Methods Are Best for Me? To achieve a precise evaluation, we highly recommend that a team of specialists, i.e., occupational/physical therapists, rehabilitation engineers or other people knowledgeable in the field, do a complete assessment of the individual’s goals and needs within the home and work environments. Several Virginia state agencies such as the Department of Rehabilitation Services (VDRS), Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (VDDHH) and Department for the Visually Handicapped (VDVH) are appropriate places to begin this process. You also may want to check with the different associations that deal with your type of disability. (See Part 8.) After the evaluation, the individuals can then check the companies in this FAQ sheet. [ top ] 4) How to Research for Communication Access Keep Accurate Records of Contacts: Use a notebook. If you are researching on the World Wide Web (WWW), "bookmark" the appropriate web sites. Talk to Peers: support group members, general or specific disability organizations (such as MDA or MS Society): to find out what has worked best for others with similar needs. First Contact Databases for General Information on Products and Services: list company name, address, telephone number and contact person. Make sure to get names of people you speak with. List Questions: you want to ask about each specific product or service beforehand. Leave space for responses. Begin Your Conversation With a Brief Reason for Your Call: Addressing a person by their first name usually makes them more willing to help you. If you keep the conversation easygoing, you will usually get more information. [ top ] 8. Further Information Resources ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia (ECNV)/Project W.O.R.D. Gallaudet University Job Accommodation Network (JAN) Maryland Technical Assistance Program (MD TAP) National Organization on Disability (NOD) National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC) Potomac Knowledgeways (Community Action) Rehab. Engineering & Assistive Tech. Society of No. America (RESNA) Virginia Department for Rights of Virginians w/Disabilities (DRVD) No. VA Resource Ctr. for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC) Civil Rights Office on the Americans with Disabilities Act Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board Federal Communications Commission (FCC) National Library Services for the Blind & Physically Handicapped American Speech-Language Association NAD Law Center Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc. (TDI) American Council of the Blind (ACB) [ top ] A. General Disability Resources: Council for Exceptional Children American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Virginia Department of Rehabilitation Services (VDRS) Virginia Department for the Visually Handicapped (VDVH) [ top ] All addresses begin with http://” Assistive Technology Resource Alliance CIT Accommodation - persons with d/a’s. Community Integration Program www.ctc.edu/~jelmer/index.html Center for Universal Design www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/ Denise's Toe Typed Page www.sped.ukans.edu/~dlance/ Disability Share/Freeware www.azc.com/client/acsp/sharewar.html Frontier Computing www.FrontierComputing.on.ca/ IBM Special Needs www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/snshome.html Jim Lubin's Eskimo North Page LAB Resources www.execpc.com:80/~labres/other_pl.html Mac Access Passport www2.apple.com/disability/disability.html MSDOS Educational Shareware www.gu.edu.au/aeres/edsw/dossoft.htm Raised Dot www.well.com/user/dnavy/webdis.html Team Rehab University of Kansas www.sped.ukans.edu/spedadmin/welcome.html [ top ] |
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