The following was released November 12th, 2002, and is reproduced here for the interest of Arts Access patrons.

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BLINDNESS COALITION VOWS COURT DECISION WON'T END DESCRIBED VIDEO

WASHINGTON -- Leaders of advocacy organizations working on behalf of millions of blind and low vision children and adults today reacted strongly to the Federal Appeals Court decision on Friday, November 8, which vacated the Federal Communications Commission's July 1, 2000 rule and order mandating the major television networks to provide limited amounts of described video programs for visually impaired people. While expressing disappointment, the 17-member National Television and Video Access Coalition, which includes AARP; the American Council of the Blind (ACB); the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB); and the Blinded Veterans Association (BVA), expressed its resolve to keep video description alive on prime-time and children's television programs, and to expand the service which makes visual information contained in televised programs accessible, via verbal description, to people who cannot see their TV screens.

Coalition Chair Dr. Margaret Pfanstiehl of Silver Spring, Md., President of the Metropolitan Washington Ear, said, "Described television is, for people who are blind or visually impaired, what closed captioning is for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. We have worked for a dozen years to make this service available, and we are not about to have it disappear from commercial television networks just when blind people are beginning to discover the pleasure of television in the same way that other people take the medium for granted. Many people of good faith have supported us in our efforts to obtain and expand this essential service. Our supporters within the industry and within the disability community will continue to promote this access."

Charlie Crawford of Silver Spring, Md., Executive Director of the American Council of the Blind, added, "The ACB has worked too long and too hard to achieve the kind of inclusion that video described television was beginning to offer us to allow it to be taken away from us now." Crawford said that the technique of describing visual information verbally via the Secondary Audio Programming channel has been embraced enthusiastically by members of his organization, which includes blind and visually impaired people of all ages, all over the USA.

"ACB and other members of the Coalition are weighing our options and considering a number of next steps," said Christopher Gray, of San Francisco, President of the ACB. "The population of blind and visually impaired people continues to expand as the baby boom generation enters senior citizenship. People who lose their vision later in life have grown up watching TV, and they aren't going to like the idea of having to do without access to this mainstream medium, just when it began to appear that described video would allow them to continue to enjoy it."

Video description, developed for television in the late '80s by Boston public broadcaster WGBH, provides viewers who are blind or visually impaired with narration of key visual elements, actions, scene changes, and facial expressions during natural pauses in dialogue. Narrated description is delivered via the second audio program, a standard feature on stereo televisions and SAP-equipped VCRs since 1990. PBS has provided description of programming for over a decade, and the Narrative Television Network and Turner Classic Movies cable network also provide this program feature on a regular basis.

In July 2000, the FCC adopted rules designed to increase the accessibility of television and emergency information for viewers with visual disabilities. The rules took effect between April and June 2002, and required that the top commercial networks and the major cable networks provide 50 hours per calendar quarter of described programming to the nation's top 25 television markets. (More information on the FCC's description rules can be found at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/videodescription.html.)

The Motion Picture Association of America and the networks attempted to vacate the Federal Communications Commission's rule under a contention that the FCC did not have the Congressional mandate to make such a rule. On Friday, November 8, the Federal Court of Appeals in a three-to-zero decision sided with the industry.

"The Access Coalition welcomes the early indicators that the television industry will continue to provide video description on broadcast and cable television on a voluntary basis," said Coalition Chair Pfanstiehl. "We will continue to advocate for this essential access. The nation's 12 million citizens with visual impairment are eager to see that the industry maintain and expand the number of programs which include description, and we applaud those commercial broadcast and cable networks that began providing description as of the date the FCC's mandate went into effect."

ACB Executive Director Crawford says, "Future actions of the coalition in regard to legal and legislative initiatives will be informed by the continued resolve of national broadcast and cable networks and local cable companies which pass through (or neglect to pass through) the description content on the SAP channel. We, at ACB, have appreciated the quality of the descriptions, and the willingness of some to go beyond the requirements of the FCC rules. For example, in July 2002, we gave an 'Access Award' to the Fox television network who began providing description even before the mandate went into effect, and who extended the service to its most popular prime-time programs."

ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, as well as the top five cable networks: Lifetime, Nickelodeon, TBS, TNT and USA Network have all joined with PBS and Turner Classic Movies to provide described programming. Viewers who are blind or visually impaired, their families and friends now enjoy such varied described programs as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on CBS, Law & Order on TNT, Lifetime movies, world television premieres of theatrical films and specials on ABC and USA Network and Rugrats and Blue's Clues on Nickelodeon.

The American Council of the Blind is a national membership organization whose purpose is to work toward independence, security, equality of opportunity, and improved quality of life for all blind and visually impaired people. Founded in 1961, ACB's members work through more than 70 state and special-interest affiliates to improve the well-being of all blind and visually impaired people by: serving as a representative national organization; elevating the social, economic and cultural levels of blind people; improving educational and rehabilitation facilities and opportunities; cooperating with the public and private institutions and organizations concerned with blind services; encouraging and assisting all people with severely impaired vision to develop their abilities and conducting a public education program to promote greater understanding of blindness and our capabilities. To learn more about the Council's work, visit the web site at http://www.acb.org, or contact the national office in Washington, DC at (202) 467-5081.

End of News Release.

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