Based on press release (pdf file) with edits.
On election night, deaf and hard-of-hearing people can experience live radio coverage for the first time, when NPR, Harris Corporation and Towson University simulcast the first ever live, captioned radio broadcast.
NPR, Harris Corporation and Towson University is coordinating the broadcast as part of an initiative to make radio more accessible to the millions of consumers with sensory disabilities around the world.
Nearly seven million people in the United States are either deaf or hard of hearing, and more than 28 million Americans report having trouble with their hearing, according to Gallaudet University.
Stations hosting these broadcasts:
* WTMD in Baltimore
* WGBH in Boston
* KCFR in Denver.
The election broadcast is the latest event coordinated by the International Center for Accessible Radio Technology (ICART), which is headquartered at Towson University in Towson, Maryland.
WGBH in Boston will be acting as a technical resource for monitoring and caption production. WAMU (where I went to college!) in DC will serve as the transmitting station. The election broadcast also will be carried simultaneously on the Internet for anyone, anywhere, to view at NPR.org. A link to the broadcast also will be available at http://www.harris.com.
The broadcast uses cutting-edge digital HD Radio(TM) technology where viewers can view live radio content on specially equipped receivers.
HD Radio enables station operators to split their broadcasts up into multiple channels, providing several CD-quality channels for their audiences. Through this accessible radio initiative, a small amount of the total data capacity will be used to carry textual data that will be shown live on a screen on new versions of HD Radio receivers, essentially providing a closed-caption transcript of live broadcasts for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Another aspect of the project is designed to serve people who are blind or visually impaired. Specially equipped HD Radio receivers are in development with several features to provide the visually impaired audience with better access to broadcasts, such as audio prompts that notify which direction the tuner is going, what channel the radio is on, and larger, easier-to-read text
on the radios.