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AdapTV is the world's first dedicated to the mobility impaired, hearing impaired, and visually impaired. AdapTV initially launched as a network of low power broadcasting stations (LPTV) that all carried the same programming, with the flagship station being KALTV in St. Louis, MO.
In late 2011 AdapTV sold or closed down most of its LPTV stations in order to raise funds for and concentrate on a national cable television launch. In mid 2012, AdapTV began broadcasting in cable markets nationwide. Some viewers who received AdapTV's low power signal are no longer able to receive the channel as their cable company does not carry it leading to a large volume of requests for a relaunch of LPTV stations in those markets or internet streaming of the channel. Officials for the network stated that the latter is in the works.
Prior to AdapTV, the Silent Network and Kaleidescope TV both served all or part of this audience. The Silent Network featured programming with open captioning and sign-language for the hearing impaired and deaf starting in 1980. The network was later purchased by a private group in San Antonio, TX who eventually transformed the channel into Kaleidescope TV which was envisioned as a channel for viewers of visual, hearing, mobility and other impairments but later became a general health network before ceasing to broadcast several years later.
Programming on AdapTV is as diverse as general entertainment networks and broadcast channels for the general viewing community.
Sports
The network covers live or tape delayed coverage of most sporting events, open and closing ceremonies for the Deaflympics, the Olympics sanctioned sporting event held every four years. The next Deaflympics starts June 23, 2013 in Sofia, Bulgaria
The Paralympics is a major international sporting event for athletes with physical and mobility difficulties andcarried live and in repeats on AdapTV.
AdapTV carries Wheelchair Racing every Sunday afternoon as part of its sports block.
News
AdapTV has the US's only open-captioned news broadcasts and also includes sign-language interpretation and audio description for the visually impaired. All major news stories are covered as well as stories of special interest to AdapTV viewers. Sign-language interpretation has been available on news broadcasts internationally for years including a special programming block on the BBC which AdapTV also carries.
Films and Series
Kids TV
AdapTV provides a wide variety of children's programming including films, cartoons, educational series and more for children who are hard of hearing or deaf, visually impaired or blind or physically or mobility challenged. As well the network seeks to reach the friends of these children and help create an inclusive environment. Much of the programming is produced by AdapTV, colleges for the hearing and visually impaired and the BBC
Events
Miss Deaf America is the precursor to the Miss Deaf International event. The pageant is broadcast live on AdapTV.
The next Miss Deaf International will be broadcast live from Sophia on AdapTV from July 23–27 as it is a multi-day event. Due to the time difference the pageant will be carried live and with tape delay during US primetime hours.
Open Captioning
Most programming on AdapTV features open-captioning. This means that viewers do not need to turn on captioning when watching the channel. AdapTV uses enhanced open captioning which uses larger letters and a white background making text much easier to read.
Sign Language Interpretation
Most programming on AdapTV features sign-language interpretation if it is not featuring sign language as the main content of the programming. Sign-language interpretation
Audio description While as of 2013 a contested Federal mandate in the US requires audio description on certain programming AdapTV has chosen to provide audio description of most of its television programming. Unlike other networks the audio description does not require that viewers activate the service and rather it plays during the main audio feed.
Closed captioning (CC) and subtitling are both processes of displaying text on a television, video screen, or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information. Both are typically used as a transcription of the audio portion of a program as it occurs, sometimes including descriptions of non-speech elements. Other uses have included providing a textual alternative language translation of a presentation's primary audio language that is usually burned-in to the video and unselectable.
BBC Two is the second flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tends to broadcast more "highbrow" programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio channels, it is funded by the television licence, and is therefore free of commercial advertising. It is a comparatively well-funded public-service network, regularly attaining a much higher audience share than most public-service networks worldwide.
Second audio program (SAP), also known as secondary audio programming, is an auxiliary audio channel for analog television that can be broadcast or transmitted both over-the-air and by cable television. Used mostly for audio description or other languages, SAP is part of the multichannel television sound (MTS) standard originally set by the National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) in 1984 in the United States. The NTSC video format and MTS are also used in Canada and Mexico.
WGBH-TV, virtual channel 2, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship property of the WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns fellow PBS members WGBX-TV in Boston and WGBY-TV in Springfield, Massachusetts, Class A Biz TV affiliate WFXZ-CD and public radio stations WGBH and WCRB in the Boston area, and WCAI radio on Cape Cod. WGBH-TV also effectively serves as one of two flagship stations of PBS, along with WNET in New York City. WGBH-TV, WGBX-TV, and the WGBH and WCRB radio stations share studios on Guest Street in northwest Boston's Brighton neighborhood; WGBH-TV's transmitter is located on Cabot Street in Needham, Massachusetts, on the former candelabra tower, which is shared with Fox affiliate WFXT and serves as an interim main and eventual full power backup facility for sister station WGBX-TV as well as CBS owned-and-operated station WBZ-TV, ABC affiliate WCVB-TV, NBC owned-and-operated station WBTS-CD and MyNetworkTV affiliate WSBK-TV.
Audio description, also referred to as a video description, described video, or more precisely called a visual description, is a form of narration used to provide information surrounding key visual elements in a media work for the benefit of blind and visually impaired consumers. These narrations are typically placed during natural pauses in the audio, and sometimes during dialogue if deemed necessary.
The Rear Window captioning system (RWC) is a method for presenting, through captions, a transcript of the audio portion of a film in theatres for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. The system was co-developed by WGBH and Rufus Butler Seder.
A radio reading service or reading service for the blind is a public service of many universities, community groups and public radio stations, where a narrator reads books, newspapers and magazines aloud for the benefit of the blind and vision-impaired. It is most often carried on a subcarrier, with radio receivers permanently tuned to a given station in the area, or an HD Radio subchannel of the offering station. Some reading services use alternative methods for reaching their audiences, including broadcasting over SAP, streaming Internet radio, cable TV, or even terrestrial TV.
Televisió de Catalunya is the public broadcasting network of Catalonia, one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain.
The history of deaf people and their culture make up deaf history. The Deaf culture is a culture that is centered on sign language and relationships among one another. Unlike other cultures the Deaf culture is not associated with any native land as it is a global culture. By some, deafness may be viewed as a disability, but the Deaf world sees itself as a language minority. Throughout the years many accomplishments have been achieved by deaf people. To name the most famous, Ludwig van Beethoven and Thomas Alva Edison were both deaf and contributed great works to culture.
The National Captioning Institute, Inc. (NCI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides real-time and off-line closed captioning, subtitling and translation, described video, web captioning, and Spanish captioning for television and films. Created in 1979 and headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, the organization was the first to caption live TV and home video, and holds the trademark on the display icon featuring a simple geometric rendering of a television set merged with a speech balloon to indicate that a program is captioned by National Captioning Institute. National Captioning Institute also has an office in Santa Clarita, California.
The Ontario Parliament Network is a television channel in the Canadian province of Ontario, established in 1986 to broadcast the parliamentary proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. It is available on all cable television providers in Ontario, as well as by webcast.
Subtitles are text derived from either a transcript or screenplay of the dialog or commentary in films, television programs, video games, and the like, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen, but can also be at the top of the screen if there is already text at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added information to help viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing to follow the dialog, or people who cannot understand the spoken dialogue or who have accent recognition problems.
AMI-tv is a Canadian, English-language, digital cable specialty channel owned by the non-profit organization Accessible Media. AMI-tv broadcasts a selection of general entertainment programming with accommodations for those who are visually or hearing impaired, with audio descriptions on the primary audio track and closed captioning available across all programming.
AMI, is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. The company operates three broadcast services: AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French. AMI's vision is to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, representing their interests, concerns and values through accessible media, reflection and portrayal.
The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP), originally known as Captioned Films for the Deaf, Inc. in 1950, and later known as Captioned Films and Videos and the Captioned Media Program, is a national nonprofit funded by the United States Department of Education under federal Public Law 85-905. It is currently administered by the National Association of the Deaf.
Deaf basketball is basketball played by deaf people. Sign language is used to communicate whistle blows and communication between players.
The Greek Sign Language is the natural language of the community. It is a complete language that uses the same types of grammatical mechanism that exist in the oral language
AMI-télé is a Canadian, French-language digital cable specialty channel owned by the non-profit organization Accessible Media Inc. (AMI). AMI-télé is a French version of AMI's English-language service AMI-tv, and broadcasts a selection of general entertainment programming with accommodations for those who are visually or hearing impaired, consisting of described video on the primary audio track and closed captioning available across all of its programming. The channel also broadcasts series on accessibility- and disability-related topics.
Assistive Technology for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is special technology made to assist them including Hearing aids, Video relay services, tactile devices, alerting devices and technology for supporting communication.
The Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA) is a United States accessibility law. Signed on October 8, 2010 by then-president Barack Obama, the bill amended the Communications Act of 1934 to include updated requirements for ensuring the accessibility of "modern" telecommunications to people with disabilities.
