"Read Captions Across America" is the first national reading event that puts emphasis on the importance of captioned media (DVD, video, CD-ROM, and Internet streaming) as a reading tool for children with or without a hearing loss. http://www.captionedmedia.org

The NAD's U.S. Department of Education funded Captioned Media Program (CMP) is organizing and promoting "Read Captions Across America," and is loaning captioned media for the event as well. The CMP project director Bill Stark remarks that:

"Captions are a wonderful source of readily available reading material. They can turn television or computers into a moving story book, with a steady stream of written language presented with both video and audio reinforcement. Viewers can see words on the screen, hear them spoken, and see them put into a visual context. One of the most exciting potential applications of captioning is its use as an educational tool."

Captions are text forms of the spoken word, and also often convey sound effects. Captions and subtitles can be carried on DVD, videotape, broadcast TV, and cable TV. Also, an increasing amount of content on the Internet has sound, with some of it being captioned. While captions were originally developed for deaf and hard of hearing persons, they are increasingly used by others to develop reading skills.

Source: National Association of the Deaf