2009 Inauguration Coverage on PBS to be Described and Captioned Live<\/p>\n
January 16, 2009<\/p>\n
Press Contact: <\/p>\n
Mary Watkins<\/p>\n
617 300-3700<\/p>\n
mary_watkins@wgbh.org <\/p>\n
Media Access Group at WGBH To Provide Closed Captioning And Live
\nDescription for PBS’s Inaugural Coverage<\/p>\n
Described version of coverage will also stream live on the Joint
\nCongressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) web site,
\nhttp:\/\/www.inaugural.senate.gov\/<\/p>\n
Boston, MA \u2014 The Media Access Group at WGBH, a non-profit service
\nof the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts, will
\nprovide both closed captioning and live description of Barack Obama’s
\npresidential inauguration for the PBS presentation of Inauguration
\n2009, a NewsHour special hosted by Jim Lehrer. The PBS coverage of the
\ninauguration airs live on Tuesday, January 20 from 11AM to 1:30PM EST.
\nWhile live captioning is an established feature of many television
\nbroadcasts, live description, the creation at time of air of a
\nnarration track imparting information about visual elements that
\npeople who are blind or visually impaired would miss, is a rare
\nservice. Dunkin’ Donuts is generously sponsoring the description
\nservice for this broadcast. In 1993, PBS’s coverage of the Clinton
\ninauguration was the first live television program that was made fully
\naccessible to the nation’s 36 million deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind and
\nvisually impaired viewers. <\/p>\n
While details from the inaugural planning committee are still
\nforthcoming, PBS plans to include coverage of Barack Obama’s arrival
\nat the White House, excerpts of the church service and Barack Obama’s
\nspeech to the nation from the Capitol steps.<\/p>\n
Hosted by Jim Lehrer of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, the PBS
\npresentation will feature political analysts Mark Shields and David
\nBrooks, as well as a panel to provide historical context:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Ellen Fitzpatrick, presidential historian and professor at the
\nUniversity of New Hampshire<\/p>\n
\u2022 Peniel Joseph, professor of history and African-American studies
\nat Brandeis University<\/p>\n
\u2022 Richard Brookhiser, senior editor at National Review and author
\nof a series of biographies of America’s founders, including Alexander
\nHamilton and George Washington<\/p>\n
“WGBH is proud to take part in making this historic event fully
\naccessible to all PBS viewers once again,” says Media Access Group
\ndirector Larry Goldberg. “And we’re extremely grateful to PBS, the
\nteam at MacNeil\/Lehrer Productions and to corporate sponsor of the
\nlive description Dunkin’ Donuts for the opportunity to bring not only
\nthe audio of the inaugural coverage to deaf and hard-of-hearing
\nAmericans, but also the visual highlights of the occasion to those who
\nare blind or visually impaired.”<\/p>\n
Dunkin’ Donuts, for many years a corporate caption sponsor of local
\nnews broadcasts in the Boston area, is sponsoring description for the
\nfirst time. Shannon Maxwell, field marketing manager for Dunkin’
\nDonuts says, “Dunkin’ Donuts individual franchise owners are proud to
\nplay a part of making this major event accessible to blind and
\nvisually impaired audiences. We are thrilled that our contribution
\nwill make the images of the day come alive via description.”<\/p>\n
Closed captions display spoken dialogue as text on the television
\nscreen. The live captions will be typed by specially trained
\nstenocaptioners \u2014 working from WGBH\u2019s Boston-based headquarters
\n\u2014 and broadcast simultaneously with the live program. The
\ndescriptive narration \u2014 provided by an expert team of describers \u2014
\nwill be audible during pauses in program dialogue and will identify
\nspeakers, describe settings and convey other visual information about
\nthe event. Captions can be accessed on televisions equipped with
\nbuilt-in decoders (most televisions are equipped), while viewers can
\nhear descriptions by switching to the Second Audio Program (SAP)
\nchannel on their stereo TVs. The described coverage will also be
\nstreamed live on the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural
\nCeremonies (JCCIC) web site at http:\/\/www.inaugural.senate.gov\/<\/p>\n
The Media Access Group at WGBH incorporates The Caption Center, the
\nworld’s first captioning agency, founded in 1972; Descriptive Video
\nService\u00ae (DVS\u00ae), which has made television, film and video more
\naccessible to blind and visually impaired audiences since 1990; and
\nthe Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media
\n(NCAM), a research and development entity that builds on the success
\nof WGBH’s access service departments to make existing and emerging
\ntechnologies more accessible to these under-served audiences. Members
\nof the Media Access Group’s collective staff represent the leading
\nresources and experts in their fields.<\/p>\n
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2009 Inauguration Coverage on PBS to be Described and Captioned Live January 16, 2009 Press Contact: Mary Watkins 617 300-3700 mary_watkins@wgbh.org Media Access Group at WGBH To Provide Closed Captioning And Live Description for PBS’s Inaugural Coverage Described version of…<\/p>\n