CSD-DTV Help Center

By Cheryl Heppner

The CSD-TV Help Center for deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind individuals has been busy helping those who are encountering problems with the digital television transition. Their individual assistance has helped consumers seeking information, including assistance in obtaining coupons and converter boxes and installation. The switch to digital TV has caused consumers to have a lot of questions, and individuals who are able to see their programs but depend on captioning are still reporting widespread problems with the captions. These include captions that are garbled, are early or delayed, in the wrong place, flash on and off the screen, overlap each other, or fill up the entire screen.

CSD-DTV Help Center has been helping to document those problems. They appreciate consumers who have gone to their website to fill out a questionnaire so they have more information and data about the difficulties people are experiencing with captions. It’s at http://dtv.c-s-d.org/survey.

At the end of May the DTV Help Center got a 30-day contract renewal, and they’re hoping to get another extension so they can continue their work. They have done a truly remarkable job of making it easy to contact them with all these options:

Voice: 1-877-DTV-4YOU (1-877-388-4968)

TTY: 1-877-TTY-4CSD (1-877-889-4273)

Videophone IP Address: DTV03.CSD.TV; DTV05.CSD.TV

Videophone Number: 866-351-1950; 866-401-3519

AIM: DTVCSR07; DTVCSR008

Email: DTVHelp@c-s-d.org

Website: http://dtv.c-s-d.org

Their hours of operation are also lengthy: 7 am to 1 am CST, 18 hours a day and 7 days a week.

See more of Cheryl Heppner reports of the 2009 Hearing Loss Association of America Convention at NVRC.

Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc (CSD)

Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc was amongst the booths at the 2009 Hearing Loss Association of America Convention at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.

CSD has been awarded a contract from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to implement an awareness campaign targeted at the nation’s deaf,hard of hearing, and deaf-blind consumers in regards to the digital TV (DTV) transition. So CSD wants to hear from YOU through the Digital Television (DTV) Transition Survey that is attempting to identify caption problems with the transition. HLAA is a partner in this survey as well.

CSD (also known as Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc.) is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing broad–based services, ensuring public accessibility and increasing public awareness of issues affecting deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Through global leadership and a continuum of quality communication services and human service programs, CSD provides the tools conducive to a positive and fully integrated life