NPR Labs is Working on Emergency Alerts for the Deaf (Video)

When we think about NPR (National Public Radio) most of us think of A Prairie Home Companion or another favorite radio show. But NPR also has a research component, NPR Labs, that they say "is the nation's only not-for-profit broadcast technology research and development center." The video (below) is an interview with NPR person Maryfran Tyler about their pilot program designed "to demonstrate the delivery of emergency alerts to people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing in the Gulf Coast states through local public radio stations and the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS®)." NPR also says, "This is the first effort to deliver real-time accessibility-targeted emergency messages, such as weather alerts, via radio broadcast texts."

Comments

And then it gets defunded

[Anonymous Coward]

Sweet! Now the Republicans have another thing about NPR at they can point and derp on about how much precious, taxpayer-funded taxpayer money from job creators is being "wasted"! Sounds like another week worth of material for the Daily Show and another eight or so years of talking points for slack-jawed yokels to parrot!

Try a little harder next time.

[westlake]

There is this thing called television. The deaf can readily get emergency information from it today.

Works only when your TV set is on.

Weather radios have a stand-by mode and battery back-up power.

um no

[Charliemopps]

First off, "A Prairie Home Companion" isn't anyones favorite show... it's a leftist talk show with skits featuring horrible acting, which I wouldn't mind as I do like SNL but I give SNL a pass because it's funny, where as, Prairie Home Companion is about as un-funny as anything I've ever heard. Sadly, most of the shows surrounding it on Sundays are awesome and some of my favorite radio... so I have to spend part of the day enjoying the radio, then screech in horror as I race to turn it off as soon as I hear Garrison Keillors voice, then wait for the show to go off before I switch back.

Secondly, Deaf people don't listen to the radio you morons. I've had several deaf friends over the years and none of them owned a radio that I knew of. They watch TV with subtitles and TV solved the whole "Deaf people alerts" problem long ago by putting the alerts in TEXT on the TV. I believe they even have a little flashy light thing that you can hook up via SAP to alert them should they be in another room.

You know what would've been nice...

[wonkey_monkey]

Just as a one-off, you might have subtitled the video.

Just sayin'.