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1927 - 1989: Malcolm J. Norwood –  The Father of Closed Captioning

1927 - 1989: Malcolm J. Norwood – The Father of Closed Captioning

Born in Harford, Connecticut March 16, 1927, he was deafened at the age 5 by measles and scarlet fever. He graduated from the American School for the Deaf in 1943, and from Gallaudet College in 1949 with an undergraduate degree, a Master’s  Degree in Education in 1957 and an earned Doctor of Education Degree in Information Technology in 1976 at the University of Harford. 

Dr. Norwood, known as “Mac” to friends, stands out in the deaf and hard of hearing community as “the father of closed captioning.”

As television developed in the 1950s and 1960s the deaf were virtually left out.  As the head of DCMP (the Described and Captioned Media Program), Norwood became a leading advocate for the development of closed captioning on television and was singularly responsible for popularizing the captioning technique now used in television.  First with special caption decoders, and later integrated into the television circuitry. 

Norwood’s pioneering contribution in making television and film accessible to people with disabilities became a beacon for other individuals and companies to follow.  

Source: https://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearinginternational/2016/tv-captioning-where-did-it-come-from/ 

Source: https://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearinginternational/2016/tv-captioning-where-did-it-come-from/

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