Braille Telecaptioning: Making Real-Time Television Accessible to Deaf-Blind Consumers

The dual sensory loss of hearing and sight results in the most isolating of handicapping conditions. Technological advances to meet this challenge have come from both the blindness and deafness fields. Provision of information in the form of paper braille slows information flow because of length of preparation time. Access to weather or daily news, for example, has required the ability to hear the broadcast. Closed-captioning for the hearing impaired population has converted sound to print within four to six seconds after the audio signal is transmitted, but the system requires that the broadcast be seen. Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop and test a prototype device to make closed-captioned television available to deaf-blind people The Braille TeleCaption System, with an output available in braille and large print, is being tested at the Helen Keller National Center. Existing and new technology makes real-time viewing of news, weather, and entertainment accessible to deaf-blind persons.