LIBERTY Hearing & Health

Weather warnings get more visual for deaf By Chris Vaccaro, USA TODAY Chris Vaccaro, USATODAY.com Though closed-captioning at the bottom of television screens can hide scrolling emergency information, icons at the top of the screen can help display information. When a radio announcer stops your favorite music to say a tornado is on the way, or when a TV meteorologist breaks into Friends to give details of a flash flood, most people will catch the warnings. But until recently, the deaf and hard of hearing had relatively limited ways of knowing that severe weather was imminent. For the more than 28 million Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing, new technology and federal laws aim to make broadcasts of emergency information more accessible. Says Glenna Cooper, project manager for Communication Service of the Deaf: "We are just tired of playing second-guess games during these weather warnings on a daily basis."

In addition to the deaf and the hard of hearing, senior citizens with progressive hearing loss and those recovering from ear surgery also are in danger of missing weather alerts. Warnings of impending severe weather are broadcast over weather radio, a product of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Reaching about 85% of the USA, weather radio is a direct way for the National Weather Service to quickly warn people of dangerous weather, especially when they are asleep. Loud tones on some weather radios alert the user even when the radio isn't turned on. However, deaf Americans aren't awakened by the alert and can't hear the broadcasts.  Television closed-captioning also can be problematic because it's available for shows that are scripted, unlike the live ad-libbed weather break-ins by a local meteorologist. Stations would need to rely on a stenographer to type what a broadcaster is saying live — an additional cost that stations are unlikely to pay for. Text messages of weather alerts at the bottom of television screens, known as "crawls," also can go unnoticed or are illegible when covered by the closed-captioning that displays a show's dialogue. The National Weather Service says warning systems are improving. But tornadoes, flash floods and other hazards can happen with little or no warning, leaving little time for second-guessing. Last summer a Federal Communications Commission rule went into effect requiring broadcasters that disseminate emergency information to also present the alerts visually so they can be accessible to the hearing-impaired. The information must also not interfere with closed captioning.  Bob Ryan, chief meteorologist at WRC, says his station scrolls emergency information at the top of the screen. Ryan says that this way, "people who are hearing-impaired can get the information without it running over the closed captioning." Real-time captioning is another option stations can use to provide emergency information in text form during live break-ins. Services such as VITAC's Realtime Emergency Announcement Captioning Team (REACT) provide stenographers that transform the station's audio information into text.  But stations like these may be the exception than the rule. "The sad thing is that the TV stations across the nation are not taking it seriously enough or that it is their last priority to consider that equipment or live captioning services," Cooper says. Sarah Geer, attorney for the National Association of the Deaf, says that the association's law center "receives frequent complaints from the deaf and hard of hearing who believe they did not get adequate information about emergencies." Viewers are urged to report stations that fail to comply with the FCC rules. Violators can receive letters of reprimand, fines and, in severe cases, injunctions on their operating license. Despite the work that lies ahead, Geer says, "it's a very exciting time with all the telecommunications developing for the hearing-impaired."