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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=160993259
OFFICIALS at TV6 are examining the issue of closed captioning and live deaf interpretation for the evening news, says TV6 General Manager Shida Bolai.
In a Sunday Express interview Bolai said that the station, launched back in 1991, had previously introduced a closed captioning system for the news that gave main headlines and information from the Teleprompter, though not the details in the reporter's stories.
In an Express article published July 9 titled Getting the news to the deaf heads of various non profit organisations that assist the hearing impaired stated that the absence of signed interpretation of local television news was of great concern to the deaf community, noting that the hearing impaired had no idea what was happening on the evening news and felt alienated.
This was also one of the issues highlighted in the National Policy on Persons with Disabilities launched in June.
Director of the Agape Deaf Centre Olga Anthony had told the Express that because many members of the local deaf population, estimated at 10,000, were illiterate they specifically wanted signed news and not closed captioning.
CEO of Gayelle TV Christopher Laird says that the station is committed to providing news for the hearing impaired.
"We are working on it and hope to put something in place by the end of the year," said Laird in a telephone interview with the Sunday Express.
Laird said that Gayelle, launched in February 2004, was leaning towards live signing for at least one news cast per week, which would take the form of a review of the week's news. He added that if the live signing was daily he was unsure how it would be handled, whether in the main news cast or as a special news cast.
He said, however, that the technology involved and logistics have not been sorted out yet. He added that there were challenges with both of the options of live signing and closed captioning, and noted that the latter was expensive both in terms of personnel and technology.
The difficulty with live signing, Laird explained, was that there were two sign languages in use, Trinidad and Tobago sign language and international sign language, and a lot of people did not use international sign language.
Rosaline Hayes Crawford, member of the Law and Advocacy Center of United States National Association of the Deaf (NAD), informed the Sunday Express via e-mail that captioning, rather than sign language interpreter services, was the means chosen by the US government to provide and ensure access to televised programming.
She reported that the United States Congress passed the Telecommunications Act in 1996 that put in place a gradual system of increasing captioned television programmes over a period of eight years. She stated that as of January 1, 2006 100 per cent of all new, non exempt television programming must be captioned.
Hayes Crawford noted, however, that there were a number of self-implementing exemptions to the closed captioning rules and a provision that permits petitions for exemption when captioning would impose an undue burden on the program provider.
She added that sign language interpreter services can also be provided but would be done on a voluntary basis. She noted the example of sign language interpreter services that had been provided when the governor of Florida made televised statements related to emergencies.
Deaf Pioneers Director Sharon Aguillera had told the Sunday Express that on many occasions deaf persons were uniformed of serious national matters and provided the example of the alert for Hurricane Ivan last year which requested that people remain at home. She noted that some deaf people had gone to work during the alert only to find deserted offices.
OFFICIALS at TV6 are examining the issue of closed captioning and live deaf interpretation for the evening news, says TV6 General Manager Shida Bolai.
In a Sunday Express interview Bolai said that the station, launched back in 1991, had previously introduced a closed captioning system for the news that gave main headlines and information from the Teleprompter, though not the details in the reporter's stories.
In an Express article published July 9 titled Getting the news to the deaf heads of various non profit organisations that assist the hearing impaired stated that the absence of signed interpretation of local television news was of great concern to the deaf community, noting that the hearing impaired had no idea what was happening on the evening news and felt alienated.
This was also one of the issues highlighted in the National Policy on Persons with Disabilities launched in June.
Director of the Agape Deaf Centre Olga Anthony had told the Express that because many members of the local deaf population, estimated at 10,000, were illiterate they specifically wanted signed news and not closed captioning.
CEO of Gayelle TV Christopher Laird says that the station is committed to providing news for the hearing impaired.
"We are working on it and hope to put something in place by the end of the year," said Laird in a telephone interview with the Sunday Express.
Laird said that Gayelle, launched in February 2004, was leaning towards live signing for at least one news cast per week, which would take the form of a review of the week's news. He added that if the live signing was daily he was unsure how it would be handled, whether in the main news cast or as a special news cast.
He said, however, that the technology involved and logistics have not been sorted out yet. He added that there were challenges with both of the options of live signing and closed captioning, and noted that the latter was expensive both in terms of personnel and technology.
The difficulty with live signing, Laird explained, was that there were two sign languages in use, Trinidad and Tobago sign language and international sign language, and a lot of people did not use international sign language.
Rosaline Hayes Crawford, member of the Law and Advocacy Center of United States National Association of the Deaf (NAD), informed the Sunday Express via e-mail that captioning, rather than sign language interpreter services, was the means chosen by the US government to provide and ensure access to televised programming.
She reported that the United States Congress passed the Telecommunications Act in 1996 that put in place a gradual system of increasing captioned television programmes over a period of eight years. She stated that as of January 1, 2006 100 per cent of all new, non exempt television programming must be captioned.
Hayes Crawford noted, however, that there were a number of self-implementing exemptions to the closed captioning rules and a provision that permits petitions for exemption when captioning would impose an undue burden on the program provider.
She added that sign language interpreter services can also be provided but would be done on a voluntary basis. She noted the example of sign language interpreter services that had been provided when the governor of Florida made televised statements related to emergencies.
Deaf Pioneers Director Sharon Aguillera had told the Sunday Express that on many occasions deaf persons were uniformed of serious national matters and provided the example of the alert for Hurricane Ivan last year which requested that people remain at home. She noted that some deaf people had gone to work during the alert only to find deserted offices.