Consumers of Captioned DTV:Deaf and Hard of Hearing People

and Beyond

Donna L. Sorkin

Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Key Issues

The Evolution of Captioned Television

Users of Captioning

Opportunities to Improve Captioned TV

Your Role in Ensuring a Smooth Transition from Analog to Digital

Captioning: 0 to 100

Voluntary captioning/Separate decoders

TV Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990

Telecommunications Act of 1996

New captioning features via DTV

Faces of Hearing Loss

Spans ages

Crosses educational and socio-economic characteristics

Includes people in cities/rural areas

Impacts people of all ethnicities

Includes your viewing audience regardless of location or category of programming

Hearing Loss in America

One of the most common disabilities

28 million D/HoH people

Estimated 10% of total population

6 million use hearing technology

2 million with profound hearing loss

Incidence Varies by Age…At last count

3% up to age 18

10% at age 40

33% at age 65

50% at age 80

Incidence of Hearing Loss is Increasing

Noise Induced Hearing Loss on the Rise

One study measured 15% incidence in teens

Baby Boomers Entering Middle Age

Captioning Users

Likely not the entire 28 million all the time

½ or more of the deaf/HoH population are users

Children use captions from age 7 or 8

People for whom English is a Second Language

Audio off users (i.e., airports, bars, public places)

Family members often get hooked

Convenience/benefit for everyone