DD news now for hearing impaired Bindu Shajan Perappadan
NEW DELHI: Prime time news on Doordarshan will now be made accessible to hearing impaired people. As the news is read out, either a running scroll or sub-titles will appear at the bottom of the screen of the television set. National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) director Javed Abidi said: "Until now, the only accessible television news available to our deaf people was the weekly sign language news bulletin. The thirst for news among deaf was so high that in spite of the news being dated and about a week old, they would look forward to that weekly bulletin to be able to know the goings-on in the nation and across the world. 'Normal facility' "In other developed/progressive countries, the sub-titling of television programming is a very normal thing. Countries including Thailand and Saudi Arabia are doing it for their deaf citizens, unfortunately in India the awareness has been so low that our policy-makers and decision-makers did not even think of this leave alone consider this as an option," said Mr. Abidi. The demand for sub-titling television programming was first raised by the National Association of the Deaf about two years ago, but the Government did not take it very seriously. Main demand "Only recently, this last World Disability Day, when we raised the issue at our India Gate rally and made it one of our main demands, the Government sat up and took notice. We are grateful to the PMO for understanding our sentiments and for supporting our demand and for catalysing the dialogue with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting which has finally lead to this decision," he added. "For us, this is not the end of the road. On the contrary, it is the beginning of one. Prime time news being made accessible to deaf people is a good and positive beginning. However, our aim is to ensure that the entire programming on television, at least as far as public broadcasters are concerned, is made accessible. We also aim to extend this dialogue with the private sector and it is incumbent upon all the private television channels to take necessary steps. The cost is negligible. What is needed is awareness and sensitivity and a certain socio-political will on the part of the decision makers," said Mr. Abidi. http://www.thehindu.com/2009/04/03/stories/2009040356740400.htm Vikas Kapoor, MSN Id:[email protected], Yahoo&Skype Id: dl_vikas, Mobile: (+91) 9891098137. To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
