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Chapter 312
Purpose: To promote the use of communications and educational media by persons with disabilities. The program primarily provides support for the captioning and distribution of films, videos, and captioning of television programs for persons who are deaf; descriptive videos for persons who are visually impaired; and the National Theater of the Deaf and other appropriate nonprofit organizations. These activities are intended to encourage the educational advancement of persons with disabilities and to provide them with enriched educational and cultural experiences.
Funding History
| Fiscal Year | Appropriation | Fiscal Year | Appropriation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | $2,800,000 | 1986 | $6,747,000 |
| 1970 | 6,500,000 | 1987 | 13,804,000 |
| 1975 | 13,250,000 | 1988 | 13,216,000 |
| 1980 | 19,000,000 | 1989 | 13,403,000 |
| 1981 | 17,000,000 | 1990 | 15,192,000 |
| 1982 | 11,520,000 | 1991 | 16,424,000 |
| 1983 | 12,000,000 | 1992 | 17,000,000 |
| 1984 | 14,000,000 | 1993 | 17,892,000 |
| 1985 | 16,500,000 | 1994 | 18,642,000 |
In FY 1993, contracts were made with 36 educational film companies and 15 special interest companies captioning 132 titles for placement in captioned films libraries and depositories.
All major closed-captioned national news is available on the major broadcast television networks. A new project for FY 1993 provided eight continuous hours of captioning for CNN Headline News. Selected program hours captioned for CNN are provided under a separate award made in FY 1992.
All national children's programming on PBS and all Saturday morning children's programming are closed-captioned on the major broadcast networks. Many additional hours of children's programming are also captioned for cable.
With Federal support, the CBS network broadcast Fievel's American Tales in open-captioned format as a public service to increase public awareness of captioning, and will broadcast CBS Storybreak in open-captioned format in order to encourage the use of captions to promote reading and literacy skills.
Most major national sporting events are captioned for cable and broadcast television. Captioned coverage of daytime programming is nearly complete with the exception of certain program hours allocated to local stations. Many hours of captioned syndicated programming are available for local viewing including new released and classic (evergreen) programs. Close-captioning of popular late night shows as well as the captioning of commercials and music videos are funded entirely by the private sector.
Also, WGBH Educational Foundation, Descriptive Video Services is providing description for selected PBS programs, including historical and children's programs broadcast by nearly 100 local PBS stations utilizing the Second Audio Program (SAP) feature and is available to nearly 60 percent of all television households. The project for Home Video provides selected Hollywood classics in the described format. Additional services by DVS include program listings and catalogues in print or braille and 800 number for service, or for direct consumer feedback regarding video description.
The PBS coverage of the Inauguration of President Clinton, The Clinton Inaugural: A PBS Special, was the first live television program available to both individuals who are blind and individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. Video description was made possible by the National Federation of the Blind and the Department of Education, while close-captioning was provided by PBS.
[Special Studies]