The number of Americans experiencing hearing loss is growing at an alarming rate. Commonly, hearing loss has been attributed to the aging process but the number of people affected has doubled over the past 30 years (The Prevalence and Incidence of Hearing Loss in Adults). This dramatic increase is partially attributed to the frequent use of mp3 players with earbuds by younger generations. Approximately 28 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss. Another 22 million are exposed to hazardous noises on the job with 9 million more at risk of hearing loss due to other elements of their job (Murphy & Tak, 2009).
An interpreter/translator uses sign language to translate the spoken word for the hearing impaired. However, late deafened or hard of hearing people would essentially need to learn a whole new language to comprehend the translation. Other available avenues for communication would be via captioning or Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART). These are critical links in communication for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Captioning converts the audio content into words and can include sound effects, music description, and speaker identification. Closed captions only display on your television screen if you turn it on. Open captions (e.g. the rolling text on the bottom of your television screen) are visible for all to read and do not require any additional technology. CART produces text on the screen but there is not a video image.
The passage of Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) gave legal protection to the deaf and hard of hearing. Although this act is not necessarily new, enforcement has been a challenge throughout the years. Captioning dates back to the 1970’s when specially equipped decoders were needed to view the closed captioning. Albeit there was not much available as it was the rebroadcast of the ABC nightly news on the PBS station (A Brief History of Captioned Television).
The 1980’s broke a huge barrier with some television shows first broadcast with closed captioning. If you had the decoder box, you now had captioning for the ABC Sunday Night Movie, Disney’s Wonderful World, Masterpiece Theatre, and 3-2-1- Contact (Captioning Firsts for NCI). What hearing people take for granted was a huge success and milestone for the deaf and hard of hearing.
With the passage of the Television Decoder Circuitry Act in 1990, all television sets 13” or larger manufactured to be sold in the US must contain a special microchip that decodes the captioning without the need for a special decoder box. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 included further captioning requirements with eight and ten year transition periods to comply. These acts provide equal access to television for the deaf and hard of hearing viewers. Since 2006, as part of the eight year transition, captioning has been required by all broadcast companies who must provide 100% captioning for all new, English language video programming. These requirements are enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The ten year transition required 75% closed captioning compliance for all programs that originally aired prior to 1998 (A Brief History of Captioned Television).
Although there are plenty of loopholes available not making captioning a requirement, many widely released movies do offer captioning. An area that still remains inaccessible to the deaf or hard of hearing is radio. Technology is currently being tested by National Public Radio (NPR) to make this a reality by making the captions available with specially equipped receivers (When is Captioning Required?).
The National Association for the Deaf (NAD) continues to advocate for additional and improved captioning. One area of focus has been for closed captioning 24/7 regardless of program content. This would include all pre-recorded television programming and commercials. Another area is the usage of real-time captioning for all live programs such as talk shows, news, and emergency broadcasts as well as the display of closed captioning at all times for televisions located in public places (Accessible news, information and entertainment…).
A Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) captionist provides another type of service for the deaf or hard of hearing. A CART captionist is used for non-broadcast type situations such as classroom settings, church, seminars, conventions, and meetings. Much like captioning, the CART captionist uses special equipment to transcribe the spoken word into a textural display. The text appears simultaneously on a computer monitor or other display to be viewed by an individual person, small group, or large audience.
Deaf since birth, forty year old Janet Docken of Minneapolis knows firsthand the benefits of captioning for people with hearing loss. Growing up, it was not until she was fourteen that she had a device for closed captioning for her television. “Not only to watch the action of the show but to comprehend what was being said,” Janet wrote was a huge benefit. She also went on to explain how captioning improves grammar, spelling, and comprehension. With more and more movie theaters providing open captioning, Docken and her family especially enjoy the “big screen and being part of the crowd” experience (J. Docken, personal communication, January 6, 2010). Docken’s family has grown so accustomed to captioning on their home television they almost feel odd when watching a program at a friend’s house without captioning. They often use captioning as a backup if they should miss what has been spoken on a program.
Now, compared to many years ago, Docken feels that the hearing impaired are much better off. Technology advances in pagers, captioning, videophones, computer IM, texting, and emails also help meet their needs. One area she felt could be improved upon was breaking news coverage; many times these are not captioned. She understands that it is difficult to get these captioned at the last minute. Captioning or visual means are required during emergency situations such as bad weather or in instances that would be necessary to protect life, health, or safety.
As with all technology, captioning does have its drawbacks. It is slightly slower and not on the same pace as what is being said and captions do get mixed up, scrambled, and misspelled. Advances in technology will continue to improve captioning. With the growing number of Americans affected by hearing loss the status quo needs to be challenged; accurate and timely access needs to be brought to the forefront. Although much has been accomplished over the past 30 years, there still is a long ways to go.
References
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, The Prevalence and Incidence of Hearing Loss in Adults, retrieved January 03, 2010 from http://www.asha.
org/public/hearing/disorders/prevalence_adults.htm
org/public/hearing/disorders/prevalence_adults.htm
Murphy, W.& Tak, S. (2009, November 24). Workplace Hearing Loss, Retrieved January 03, 2010 from http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/blog/nsb112409_
hearingloss.html
hearingloss.html
National Association for the Deaf, Accessible news, information and entertainment…, Retrieved January 03, 2010 from http://www.nad.org/issues/technology/television-and-closed-captioning
National Association for the Deaf, When is Captioning Required?, retrieved January 03, 2010 from http://www.nad.org/issues/technology/captioning/when-required
National Captioning Institute, A Brief History of Captioned Television, retrieved January 03, 2010 from http://www.ncicap.org/caphist.asp
National Captioning Institute, Captioning Firsts for NCI, retrieved January 03, 2010 from http://www.ncicap.org/capfirsts.asp
