[Nfbf-l] Video On Demand TV Programming for Blind Children Now Accessible

[Alan Dicey]

Dear Friends,
I thought some would be interested in this article.
With Best Regards,
God Bless,
Alan
Plantation, Florida

Video On Demand TV Programming for Children Now Accessible
press at ed.gov
The U.S. Department of Education today announced the availability of free, 
video on demand childrens television programming for thousands of students 
who are blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing.
Dozens of children's and family TV episodes may now be viewed online 
featuring closed captioning and descriptions through the Education 
Departments Accessible Television Portal project.
Among the shows: Ocean Mysteries, Magic School Bus, Bill Nye the Science 
Guy, Daniel Tigers Neighborhood, Expedition Wild and Peg Plus Cat.
The portal is part of the Department funded Described and Captioned Media 
Program (DCMP). It includes video on demand content provided at no cost by 
the major television networks, as well as producers and distributors like 
PBS Kids, Sesame Workshop, Cartoon Network, Sprout (NBC), the Fred Rogers 
Company, Scholastic Media, Litton Entertainment, Out of the Blue and 
Fremantle Television.
quote, In the digital age, the capability exists to deliver a higher level 
of personalized programming for students who were underserved in the past, 
quote, said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Quote, This type of 
large scale collaboration between the Education Department and so many major 
television networks, producers and program distributors will allow greater 
access to television programming for all students. quote.
To view the content, teachers and school personnel, parents, and other 
professionals working with qualified students can visit,
http://www.dcmp.org
and apply for access to the portal.
Once approved, accessible content can be used with, and by, students in the 
classroom and at home via the Web, mobile phones and tablets, mobile apps, 
and set top boxes. The portal itself is fully accessible to those with 
sensory impairments. Children with disabilities can locate any featured 
program without difficulty.
Initially, the site will include 73 episodes of 19 different children's 
television programs. Additional content from other producers will be added 
over the next two years.
Melody Musgrove, director of the Education Departments Office of Special 
Education Programs, which manages the portal, said teachers and parents 
routinely use television to introduce, reinforce and expand upon school 
lessons.
quote, The Accessible Television Portal was created to open up these 
learning opportunities for the population of children with unique learning 
needs, quote, Musgrove said. Quote, The general population takes for granted 
the entertainment and education provided by quality television. Children 
with disabilities deserve access to that same programming. With the 
technology we have available to us, there is no reason for them to be left 
out. Quote.
quote, I am very excited about the prospect of our diverse mix of 
programming on CBS and ABC being made available to children who, otherwise, 
would not have the opportunity to fully experience it, quote, said Meg 
LaVigne, president of Litton Television.
DCMP provides services to benefit thousands of students - early learning 
through grade 12, who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing or 
deaf blind.
These services include a library of free loan described and captioned 
educational media, a learning center of information related to educational 
media access, a gateway to Internet resources related to accessibility, and 
guidelines for adding descriptions and captions to media.
The Department funded DCMP is administered by the National Association of 
the Deaf. More information is available at,
www.dcmp.org.
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