Speaker 1: The following message has been provided by the Described and Captioned Media Program, a U.S. Department of Education-funded organization that provides free, loan-educational accessible media that is available to teachers and families.

Speaker 2: Technology is changing the landscape of the educational environment. Schools across the country are utilizing various forms of emerging technology to enhance and improve both teaching and learning. However, such tools are not always accompanied by the accessibility that is necessary to benefit or to include students with varied abilities in the lesson, even when the technology is vital in providing an equal opportunity in learning. For example, one common form of educational technology that has been evolving over decades is the use of educational films. Film has evolved to the digital formats commonly used today, such as DVD and Internet streaming. These formats allow for a growing and improved use of classroom media because of reasons such as navigability and low cost. However, presently less than 15% of educational media are captioned for the deaf and hard of hearing. What's more, less than 1% of educational media is described for the blind or visually impaired. As staggering as this data may be, what these numbers do not fully convey is just how often opportunities are lost to students when no accessible media is provided for them. Here are a couple of examples that may help to put this into perspective. Imagine a blind student's experience when educational media is used in class that is not accessible.

Speaker 1: The following clip is intended to simulate the experience of a student who is blind or visually impaired.

Speaker 3: Good morning. Good morning.

Speaker 1: The following is the same clip, but description has been provided to describe visuals, actions, and settings not conveyed in the existing narration.

Speaker 4: The yellow beetle pulls up and Lisa glances up momentarily before looking down. When the car door opens and the driver's foot appears, clad in a clean white loafer and an argyle sock, Lisa looks up again and does a double take. Her mouth drops open and she stares toward the car.

Speaker 3: Good morning.

Speaker 4: She gazes fixedly as the figure passes her.

Speaker 2: Students who are blind or who have a severe visual impairment cannot see actions, settings, and visuals, such as pictures or charts, that are not explained in the dialogue. For media to be accessible to these students, additional narration called description must be provided during natural pauses in the spoken dialogue. Now, imagine a deaf student's experience when educational media is used in class that is not accessible.

Speaker 1: The following clip is intended to simulate the experience of a student who is deaf or hard of hearing. The following is the same clip, but captions have been provided to textually reproduce the narration and identify the speaker.

Speaker 2: The following is the same clip, but captions have been provided to textually reproduce the narration and identify the speaker. Students who are deaf or hard of hearing do not hear the narration, dialogue, music, and important sound effects. For media to be accessible to these students, a text version of the audio called captions appears on the screen. These are examples that specifically illustrate how the lack of accessibility may exclude students who are blind or deaf. Equally as important are the many students with only some degree of vision or hearing loss that would be excluded as well.

Speaker 1: The described and captioned media program provides equal access to everyone. Additional narration called description is provided during natural pauses in the spoken dialogue for students who are blind or visually impaired. And a text version called captions of the audio makes media accessible for deaf or hard of hearing students.

Speaker 5: DCMP is an invaluable tool in my classroom. Most people think of history as a boring subject, but I think of it as something living and moving and continuous. And using captioned media helps me convey that to my kids. A lot of times we're studying the Civil War or World War I, World War II, or whatever, and they can't relate to that. But once you give them that visual picture, that visual effect, then they get it. And it's just invaluable.

Speaker 6: When I explain that I'm an educator of blind students and that I use video in my classroom, the reaction is usually that of surprise. However, a student may not be able to see a video, but there's an opportunity to learn from this media. For instance, a recording of the historical event will have an audio that the students with a vision impairment may listen to. But without a description to fill in what the actions are taking place that are not made clear in the audio, the students will not be able to follow what is happening throughout the video. With all of the details that the description points out in a video, there is an enhanced learning opportunity for all students with or without vision impairments.

Speaker 7: I would encourage teachers who teach deaf children in public schools to use them because it is good exposure to English vocabulary. Students can see the words plus the actions and actors in the movie. It is a good way to learn. Most deaf children in public schools miss out on a lot of what goes on around them. When movies are made accessible with captions, then they have access as well.

Speaker 2: Remember those clips from a few moments ago? The Described and Captioned Media Program offers free loan educational media on DVD and through internet streaming that is available in both description and captions. Furthermore, the DCMP also provides a clearinghouse of information on media accessibility, including a gateway to internet resources related to accessibility. The DCMP even provides a center for training and evaluation of any description and captioning service providers. Now let's watch and listen to a clip from one of these media titles that are delivered postage-free to teachers and families through funding by the U.S. Department of Education.

Speaker 8: They walk off the path into the forest. Inside, they climb over fallen branches and push leafy twigs out of their way as they look around for the path. I don't see the path.

Speaker 7: But it's here. We found it a couple weeks ago. This is taking too long. Maybe we should just go back to the regular way. No, look. Over here. That's the path, but I don't remember all that.

Speaker 2: Cans, bottles, pizza boxes, and newspapers lay around a few fallen logs.

Speaker 8: Some of the litter is crammed into a hole in one of the dead trees.

Speaker 2: The free loan media in the DCMP's collection allows you options to include description, captions, or both. And this makes it possible for educators to use the universally designed technology that they need to offer an equal educational opportunity to their students. To conclude, technologies such as educational media impact the quality of life of students. Technology such as educational media impacts and improves upon the way our students learn. The mission of the DCMP is to promote and provide equal access to communication and learning through described and captioned educational media. The DCMP's ultimate goal is for accessible media to be an integral tool to the teaching and learning process for all stakeholders in the educational community, including students, educators, and other school personnel, parents, service providers, businesses, and agencies. On behalf of the described and captioned media program, I would like to thank you for your time and your attention to this public service announcement. We hope you will look to the DCMP as your source of free loan accessible educational media and media accessibility information. Contact the DCMP and begin utilizing this incredible service today.

Speaker 1: If you are a teacher or family member with a student who is blind, deaf, or deafblind, call the DCMP today at 1-800-237-6213 or visit our website at www.dcmp.org. Thank you. Thank you.