Captioning Key for Educational Media

The first edition of the Captioning Key was developed in 1994. The Captioned Films and Videos Program (CFV), now the DCMP, was given the responsibility by the U.S. Department of Education to develop a list of approved captioning service vendors that would be selected by CFV to perform its captioning work. Captioning manuals were requested from major captioning vendors in the United States and utilized as a basis for developing the first Captioning Key. CFV staff experienced in writing and proofing/editing captions also contributed their expertise. This staff included Bill Stark, Dianne Stark, Teresa Rogers, and Missy McManus. Bill, Dianne, and Teresa continue with the DCMP today, and have contributed to all subsequent revisions of the Captioning Key.

The DCMP is a unique educational accessible media resource serving the United States and its territories. DCMP services are designed to support and improve the academic achievement of students who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind. Visit the DCMP website to learn about the only collection of free-loan accessible media, the only database of accessible media available for purchase, the only guidelines for educational description and captioning, and the only training and feedback resource for beginning description vendors. In addition, the DCMP is the premiere resource for educational description and captioning information, providing its own clearinghouse along with a gateway to additional resources provided by partners and collaborators.

(Read the DCMP Mission and Vision Statement on the “About Us” section of the DCMP website.)

2008 marks the Golden Anniversary of this federally supported program. Visit DCMP@Fifty to read an article detailing the history of the program, a time line highlighting important events in accessible media history, and to access various resources for people interested in learning more about the program.

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) was established in 1880 by deaf leaders who recognized the right of the American deaf community to use sign language, to congregate on issues important to them, and to have its interests represented at the national level. These beliefs remain true to this day, with American Sign Language as a core value. As a nonprofit federation, the mission of the NAD is to preserve, protect, and promote the civil, human, and linguistic rights of deaf Americans. The advocacy scope of the NAD is broad, covering the breadth of a lifetime and impacting future generations in the areas of early intervention, education, employment, health care, technology, telecommunications, youth leadership, and more.

• Bill Stark

  Project DirectorDCMP
  Spartanburg, SC Bill Stark’s Quote: I learned to caption films at a summer workshop in California for the old Captioned Films for the Deaf (CFD) program. My teacher was the “Father of Closed Captioning,” Dr. Malcolm ”Mac” Norwood, who monitored my work and the work of others for several summers. When the first Captioning Key was developed in 1994, the CFD captioning manual developed by Mac and his team provided much useful information, and in fact many of the CFD caption-writer guidelines had been incorporated into the captioning manuals being utilized at several major captioning vendors at that time.

• Dianne Stark

  Accessible Media AdministratorDCMP
  Spartanburg, SC Dianne Stark’s Quote: I used captioned films and videos for 15 years as a classroom teacher of students who were deaf or hard of hearing. Firsthand I observed the critical learning value of captioned media and learned the importance of their readability. Later I had the opportunity to apply what I learned into my direct involvement in captioning production and leading teams to develop standards and guidelines. It has been gratifying through the years to help several of today’s major captioning vendors get their start in media accessibility and to confirm that the Captioning Key and our work with various vendors had positive impact on television and home video captioning. Continual feedback from captioning vendors, teachers, and other consumers has also been invaluable in subsequent revisions of the guidelines.

• Teresa Rogers

  Captioning CoordinatorDCMP
  Spartanburg, SC Teresa Rogers’ Quote: As a deaf person and former classroom teacher, I have long advocated for consistency and quality in captioning. I have spent the last 15 years monitoring captioning errors and omissions in educational materials as well as in movies, television, and other forms of media. I have observed that both children and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing are often deprived of the opportunity to access, analyze, learn, evaluate, and fully participate in the mainstream of American culture because of the lack of captioning or faulty presentation of it. Captioning is essential to acquiring information and thriving (even surviving) in our society. The Captioning Key remains a unique document for opening a world of information for persons with a hearing loss or literacy needs.