Norton Healthcare and WDRB mark 10 years providing real time closed captioning

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- WDRB with the help of Norton Healthcare is marking ten years of providing real-time closed captioning to viewers. It's a service many don't realize impacts a large number of people in the 19 counties the station serves in Kentucky and southern Indiana.

Norton Healthcare CEO Steve Williams and President Russ Cox explain their decision to support real time closed captioning for the past decade. With the aging Baby Boomers, the deaf and hard of hearing people in our community have increased from 157,000 to more than 276,000. The need has never been greater.

Closed Captioning and Real Time Closed Captioning are different things. Only WDRB provides Real Time Closed Caption and Norton Healthcare underwrites the cost of that. Specialists are hired to listen to every word of every newscast and then type those words on the screen, 365 days a year. Real time closed captioning is actually provided by real people, and WDRB is the only station providing this service to viewers.

The other stations have captioning too, but it is limited to whatever is on their scripts. They cannot share with the viewer the ad libs, what the weather people say, what the reporters live on the scene say, and much of what the sports people say. That vital information is all lost for the deaf and hard of hearing without real time closed captioning.

This is important to us, but it is important to Norton Healthcare employees, our doctors, and their board of directors, too. It is also very rewarding to provide such an important service for so many people.