Concert to be Webcast with Closed Captions

***WGBH's Caption Center to stream real-time closed captions to a live webcast
for the first time***

News Release

CONTACT:

Bob Merlis, The Bridge School, (818) 953-3224

Mary Watkins, CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media, (617) 300-3700 Voice, (617) 300-2459 TTY, mary_watkins@wgbh.org

Mark Pettinger, Intel Corporation, (408) 765-4970, mark.w.pettinger@intel.com

14th ANNUAL BRIDGE SCHOOL BENEFIT CONCERT TO BE WEBCAST

Global Audience Can Make Online Donations to Support Educational Programs for Children with Speech and Physical Impairments

Intel Corporation Supports Webcast and Closed Captioning by National Center for Accessible Media

HILLSBOROUGH, Calif., Oct. 24, 2000 - The Bridge School Benefit Concert will be available to a worldwide audience Oct. 28 and 29 through a webcast supported by Intel Corporation.  The concert, now in its fourteenth year, benefits the Bridge School, which offers assistive technologies and education services to children with severe speech and physical impairments so they may achieve full participation in their communities.  This year’s concert will feature performances by Neil Young, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Dave Matthews Band, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Beck, Foo Fighters and Tegan & Sara.

The webcast, made possible by a collaboration between Intel Corporation and the Bridge School, will be available through www.intel.com and www.bridgeschool.org.   Webcast attendees interested in donating to the Bridge School will be able to do so securely over the Internet.  Donations made online may be directed to the Bridge School Endowment Fund, established in 1998 to help secure the long-term financial stability of the school, or to support ongoing programs and services.

On Saturday, Oct. 28, the concert will be webcast starting at 5 p.m. PST, and on Sunday, Oct. 29, the webcast will begin at 2 p.m. PST.

Through a partnership between the National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH and Intel Corporation, this year’s Bridge School Benefit Concert will feature live streaming closed captions for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Web audience.  After logging onto the webcast at www.intel.com or www.bridgeschool.org, the audience will be offered closed captioning.  WGBH's Caption Center in Boston will send real-time closed captions to the webcasting service which are then translated into a format compatible with the media player.

NCAM and its fellow access departments at WGBH (The Caption Center and Descriptive Video ServiceŽ) make up the Media Access Group at WGBH.  WGBH, Boston's public broadcaster, pioneered captioning and video description on television, the Web and in movie theaters.  For more information, visit www.wgbh.org/access.

The Bridge School is an organization dedicated to ensuring individuals with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of assistive technology and the development, implementation and dissemination of innovative life-long education strategies.  To learn more about The Bridge School and its outreach programs, visit the Web site at www.bridgeschool.org.

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Received on Tuesday, 24 October 2000 16:03:20 UTC