NAD celebrating Read Captions Across America

On March 2, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is launching its 2nd
Read Captions Across America Campaign.
This event is in conjunction with the National Education Association’s (NEA) Read Across America celebration.

In the press release on its web site, the NAD explains this observance as:
“Read Captions Across America puts emphasis on the importance of captioned media (DVD, CD-ROM and Internet streaming) as a reading tool for deaf and hearing children alike.”

“The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP), administered by the NAD and funded by the U.S. Department of Education, is organizing and promoting Read Captions Across America and loaning captioned media for the event as well. “We are pleased to be joining the NEA in celebrating the joy of reading,” says Nancy J. Bloch, NAD Chief Executive Officer. ‘Teachers and parents of young children are fast discovering the benefits of captioned media in fostering literacy development.’”

“Captions are text forms of the spoken word and often convey sound effects. Captions and subtitles can be carried on DVD, videotape, broadcast TV and cable TV. Also, an increasing amount of content on the Internet has sound, with some of it being captioned. While captions were originally developed for deaf and hard of hearing persons, they are increasingly used by others to develop reading skills.”

Please share the news of this great awareness campaign. While they are marking this observance during the week of March 2, and the week following, both Read Captions Across America and Read Across America are year-long campaigns.