Have you ever watched a newscast with closed captioning?

Step 1: Captioners monitor KVUE's 6 and 10 p.m. newscast. They listen -- and watch -- the newscasts and transcribe what is seen and said

For people who have hearing disabilities, those fast-moving words at the bottom of the screen are their only link to the world's events.

Rose Minette is among them. She is deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other. She's configured her television to display text while she watches the news.

In Texas, one in nine people have hearing disabilities.

"You get me in noise or like on the TV," Minette said. "I can't understand what people are saying, especially if there's background noise or if I rely on lip reading."

Closed-captioning technology has been available on every television since 1993. KVUE was among the first in the country to provide the service. The station is still the only one in Austin to offer "live" closed captioning of its 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. news Monday-Friday. Benold's Jewelry, Heart Hospital of Austin, Reserve on the Lake and KVUE in partnership make this service available to the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Step 2: They use a machine similar to the kind used in a courtroom.

Live closed captioning allows for viewers to get a more complete written account of a newscast. That means viewers can read text even during a weather forecast or live coverage of major news events.

Captioners work to make sure that happens. They transcribe everything that is seen and heard during KVUE's 6 and 10 p.m, typing in a kind of shorthand. newscasts.

They don't type just spoken words, but sounds as well, giving people a sense of what is going along with what it is said.

The lag time between what is said to when it appears on screen is about a second and half.

That means that Minette reads what Christine Haas and Tyler Sieswerda say about the same time that most people hear them say it.

"It's nice for the deaf and hard-of-hearing people to be on top of what's happening and come to work the next day and talk about what current events," Minette said. "...Just like everyone else."

Step 3: Captioners type in a kind of shorthand

Local links:
The Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (TCDHH)
Communication Service for the Deaf/Visual Communications
Disability Policy Consortium
La Vista Retirement Community for the Deaf
Access Austin Arts
Texas Association of the Deaf Home Page
Texas Society of Interpreters for the Deaf web

Texas links:
Texas deaf Caucus (TDC)
A Sign Language Company, McAllen
Contact Assistive Technology, Amarillo
Deaf America Home Page, Rowlett
Deaf Network Internet access provider and web creation, Dallas
Dallas & Fort Worth Deaf home page
El Paso Center for the Deaf (EPCD)
Deaf Council of Brazos Valley, College Station

Other links:
Deaf World Web
Tips for the Deaf/HoH travelers
Deaf Information Exchange
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID)
The National self help for the Hard of Hearing (SHHH)
National Theatre for the Deaf (NTD)
Gallaudet University, Washington DC
National Information Center on Deafness (NICD
The Canadian Hearing Society (CHS)
Deaf Action Center of Louisiana (DACLA)
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf
Deaf Watch Newsletter Deaf Watch Award
Hearing Loss by Muriel
Information Regarding ADA acts
Cued Speech