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 *Pages 1--1 from  Microsoft Word - 6011056189.txt*
 I  am  a  legally  blind  person  (i.  e.,  less  than  10%  of  normal  vision)  and 
 have  used  audio  description  of  live  theater  performances  and  TV  programs  on 
 PBS. 
 Such  description  has  been  useful  and  has  added  to  my  understanding  of  the 
 play  or  program.  It  has  been  nice,  but  not  essential.  It  in  no  way 
 compares 
 to  the  need  of  a  deaf  person  to  have  speech  translated  into  sign  language. 


 I  can  easily  get  along  without  knowing  the  expression  on  an  actor's  face 
 or  his  cloths  in  a  sit-  com.  It  is  nice  to  know,  but  it  is  not  essential 
 to  my  understanding  of  the  plot. 


 However,  what  can  be  absolutely  essential  is  the  text  displayed  on  the 
 screen. 
 This  occurs  with  weather  warnings,  newscasts,  interviews,  and  foreign 
 language 
 segments  with  subtitles.  I  can  see  the  action  on  the  screen,  but  not  read 
 the  text.  In  the  case  of  weather  warnings,  that  can  be  a  matter  of  life  or 
 death  rather  just  enhancing  understanding  of  a  program. 


 The  current  proposal  addresses  the  very  minor  issue  of  network  programming 
 of 
 sit-  coms  and  dramas.  It  does  nothing  to  deal  with  the  real  need  for 
 speaking 
 text  on  the  screen.  It  is  a  band-  aid  that  will  cover  up  the  far  more 
 important  need. 


 I  urge  you  to  rework  the  current  proposal  to  cover  weather  warnings, 
 newscasts, 
 interviews  in  which  the  speaker  is  identified  only  by  text  on  the  screen, 
 and 
 foreign  language  segments  in  which  translation  is  presented  only  by 
 subtitles. 
 Deal  with  the  real  problem,  not  a  sighted  person's  idea  of  the  problem. 


 Although  the  results  of  the  current  proposal  would  be  useful  in  a  minor  way, 
 I  fear  that  would  be  the  end  of  it.  TV  people  would  think  they  had  taken 
 care 
 of  blind  people  when  nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth. 
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