[Nfbf-l] Media Access Group at WGBH Boston to Provide Closed Captioning and Live Description for PBS Inaugural Coverage

[Sherri]

Thought some might be interested.
Sherri

> BOSTON, January 19, 2017 - The Media Access Group at WGBH, a service of 
> Boston public media producer WGBH, will provide both closed captioning and 
> live description of President-elect Donald J. Trumps inauguration for PBS 
> NewsHour Inauguration 2017: A Special Report. The PBS coverage of the 
> inauguration airs live on Friday, January 20 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m 
> EST.
>
> While live captioning is an established feature of many television 
> broadcasts, live description - the creation at time of air of a narration 
> track imparting information about visual elements that people who are 
> blind or visually impaired would miss - is a rare service. In 1993, WGBH 
> provided the service for PBS's coverage of the Clinton inauguration, 
> making it the first live television program that was made fully accessible 
> to the nation's 36 million deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind and visually 
> impaired viewers. This year the description service for this broadcast is 
> being sponsored by the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee.
>
> "WGBH is proud to take part in making this historic event fully accessible 
> to all PBS viewers through live closed captioning and video description," 
> says Alison Godburn, Senior Director of the Media Access Group at WGBH. 
> "And we're extremely grateful to PBS, the team at NewsHour Productions and 
> to the sponsor of the live description for the opportunity to bring not 
> only the audio of the inaugural coverage to deaf and hard-of-hearing 
> Americans, but also the visual highlights of the occasion to those who are 
> blind or visually impaired."
>
> While details from the inaugural planning committee are still forthcoming, 
> PBS plans to include coverage of the presidential inauguration procession, 
> the speech and the swearing-in.
>
> The special broadcast will be anchored by NewsHour managing editor Judy 
> Woodruff, with NewsHour correspondents John Yang reporting from the steps 
> of the United States Capitol and Lisa Desjardins from the National Mall. 
> Joining Woodruff in studio will be a panel of guests including The New 
> York Times columnist David Brooks; syndicated columnist Mark Shields; The 
> Cook Political Reports Amy Walter; PBS NewsHour Weekend special 
> correspondent Jeff Greenfield; chair of the American Conservative Union 
> Matt Schlapp; interim director of The George Washington University 
> Graduate School of Political Management Lara Brown; and senior advisor and 
> national spokesperson for @MoveOn Karine Jean-Pierre.
>
> Closed captions display spoken dialogue as text on the television screen. 
> The live captions will be typed by specially trained stenocaptioners - 
> working from WGBHs Boston-based studios - and broadcast simultaneously 
> with the live program. The descriptive narration - provided by an expert 
> team of describers - will be audible during pauses in program dialogue and 
> will identify speakers, describe settings and convey other visual 
> information about the event. The described coverage will also be streamed 
> live on the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) 
> website at http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/.
>
> For more than 44 years, public broadcaster WGBH has been a pioneer in 
> developing methods and solutions to make media accessible to people with 
> disabilities. The team has decades of technical production experience in 
> both traditional and emerging media. From creation of captions and video 
> descriptions to research and development pursuits that connect with 
> television, cinema, government, educational institutions, museums, 
> national parks and industry, WGBH is committed to serving disability 
> communities at both the leadership and grassroots levels.
>
> About WGBH
>
> WGBH Boston is Americas preeminent public broadcaster and the largest 
> producer of PBS content for TV and the Web. Television channels include 
> WGBH 2, WGBX 44, and the digital channels World and Create. WGBH Radio 
> serves listeners across New England with 89.7 WGBH, Bostons Local NPR; 
> 99.5 WCRB; and WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR Station. Find more 
> information at www.wgbh.org.
>

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the 
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the 
expectations
of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind 
people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what 
holds you back.

Sherri Brun
flmom2006 at gmail.com
President NFB of Central Florida
NFBF Newsline Marketer
Phone:  877-334-2069