COOKEVILLE, Tenn., and BOULDER, Colo.—PBS station WCTE and the Public Media Venture Group (PMVG) this month met in Cookeville to test and implement a new initiative that uses ATSC 3.0 technology to bring American Sign Language (ASL) services to emergency alert systems.
Building on the groups’ introduction of real-time, Spanish-language closed caption translation this past December, the latest effort aims to ensure critical information reaches deaf and hearing-impaired community members. Both projects are powered by PMVG’s NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0) station in Cookeville, leveraging the capabilities of NextGen TV broadcasting to deliver life-saving emergency information across the entire Cookeville and Putnam County, Tenn., region, PMVG said.
WCTE (branded on-air as WCTE Central TN PBS), PMVG, DigiCAP and EQ4ALL are collaborating on the ASL initiative, which is supported by a memorandum of understanding between PMVG and EQ4ALL to advance accessibility and emergency alert technology, it said.
The meeting at the Putnam County Emergency Management Agency in Cookeville was hosted by WCTE president and CEO Avery Hutchins and Putnam County EMA Director Brandon Smith. Attending the meeting were project leaders, station engineers, emergency management experts, specialists in accessibility solutions and local government officials, including the Putnam County Mayor and the Cookeville Mayor. Meeting attendees expressed strong support for the initiative and agreed to work together to complete further testing and deployment, it said.
At the meeting, DigiCAP senior VP Joonyoung Park introduced the company’s cloud-based, NextGen TV “broadcast app” technology that integrates seamlessly with existing emergency alert infrastructure.
“Broadcasting's large coverage area and the hardening and backup power of broadcast sites make television an ideal platform for emergency alerts,” Parks said “ATSC 3.0 technology enhances this capability by adding intelligence and accessibility features to the alerts.”
EQ4ALL co-CEO Kevin Lee demonstrated human avatar technology that uses ASL to deliver emergency alerts over various platforms. The avatars not only sign critical messages but also guide viewers to trusted local resources for additional information.
“Signing is crucial because many hearing-impaired individuals cannot rely on text-based alerts,” Lee said. “The ATSC 3.0 standard allows us to add sign language capabilities, making alerts more accessible and impactful.”
More information is available on the WCTE, DigiCAP, EQ4ALL and PMVG websites.
