Creating Accessible Analog & Print Media

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Creating Accessible Analog & Print Media

Creating Accessible Analog Media

Traditional broadcast analog media can be made accessible through the use of closed captions and audio descriptions. Off-line, or pre-produced, captions can be created with specialized software and hardware available from vendors such as Computer Prompting and Captioning (CPC) (www.cpcweb.com/). Basic caption style guidelines are available from the WGBH Media Access Group at main.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/mag/services/captioning/faq/ sugg-styles-conv-faq.html.

A more practical method for providing off-line as well as real-time captions, however, may be to hire a professional captioning agency. Similarly, audio descriptions for analog media can be professionally mixed into the program's soundtrack.

Creating Accessible Print Media

The following Web sites provide guidelines for making print materials more accessible to people who are visually impaired:

Making Text Legible (from Lighthouse International)
www.lighthouse.org/print_leg.htm
Lighthouse International also has guidelines on using appropriate color choices, Effective Color Contrast, at www.lighthouse.org/color_contrast.htm.

Arthur's Communication Adventure
pbskids.org/arthur/grownups/teacherguides/communication/index.html
This teacher's guide explores accessibility and communication solutions for people who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, or hard-of-hearing and their hearing and sighted peers. Based on characters from the popular PBS program Arthur, this guide is aimed at children but contains information of benefit to all users.