Educational Media
Accessible Childrens Programming Now Available
The Described and Captioned Media Program
(DCMP) now offers free, on-demand children's television programming for students
with visual or hearing disabilities through its
Accessible Television Portal
project.
The portal currently offers 73 episodes of 19 different shows, such as Ocean
Mysteries, The Magic School Bus, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Daniel Tiger’s
Neighborhood, Expedition Wild and Peg + Cat. Students can view the episodes
online with closed captioning and descriptions. The DCMP will add more shows
from other producers over the next two years. Several Spanish-language programs
are also available.
Educators, parents or professionals who work with qualified students can
apply for access to the portal. Once approved, they can view the content on
Internet-connected computers, tablets, mobile phones, mobile apps and set-top
boxes. The portal itself is fully accessible to people with sensory impairments.
“In the digital age, the capability exists to deliver a higher level of
personalized programming for students who were underserved in the past,” said
Secretary Arne Duncan, in a prepared statement.
The video-on-demand content is provided at no cost by television networks,
producers and distributors, including PBS Kids, Sesame Workshop, Cartoon
Network, Sprout (NBC), the Fred Rogers Company, Scholastic Media, Litton
Entertainment, Out of the Blue and Fremantle Television.
The DCMP is funded by the United States Department of Education and
administered by the National Association of the Deaf. Further information about
the Accessible Television Portal can be found on the
DCMP's site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at leilameyer@gmail.com.