Office of Speaker Dennis M. O’Brien

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

139 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        CONTACT:  Bill Patton

                                                                                                                                   717-787-4610

House of Representatives begins offering closed captioning

New service will increase accessibility of House proceedings

HARRISBURG, May 8 -- Speaker Dennis O’Brien is proud to announce that the state House of Representatives now offers real-time closed captioning on the video broadcast of its sessions.

“Today, we take another significant step toward giving the public more access to the debate and decisions that take place in the House,” O’Brien said. “For the first time ever, we are providing closed captioning service to those watching our proceedings on the Pennsylvania Cable Network and numerous news broadcasts.”

O’Brien praised Majority Leader Bill DeWeese and Republican Leader Sam Smith for backing the addition of real-time closed captioning: “Without their active support, we could not have done this.”

The House of Representatives began broadcasting its sessions in 1996, but without the closed captioning service that lets the deaf and hearing-impaired read what is being said in the debate.

For 14 years, televisions sold in the United States have been required to have closed captioning display capability.

“It is time for this chamber, the ‘People’s House,’ to take this significant step toward giving all Pennsylvanians access to the business we conduct here on their behalf,” O’Brien said.

“An estimated one-half million Pennsylvanians have serious hearing impairment. Those who rely on closed captioning will now connect to their state government in a way they could not before, and they will be able to share this experience with family members.

“It’s also an excellent learning tool. Representative Paul Costa told me about the great work being done at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. Closed captioning of House sessions will aid in teaching students there and at many other schools about their state government,” O’Brien said.

The House chose VITAC, a company based in Canonsburg, to provide the new service. VITAC is a national leader in real-time closed captioning, working with CNN, several networks and numerous cable channels to caption more than 100,000 hours of live programming per year.

###bp