Gallaudet University in Washington DC is the world’s only campus where all programs and services are designed for deaf and hard of hearing students.
This is no easy feat, as the university offers over 40 major degree courses toward Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science awards. Undergraduate students can self-direct their majors and choose cross-discipline subjects, like University College Dublin’s arts degrees.
CART At Gallaudet
Gallaudet also provides Master of Arts and Master of Science degrees, specialist degrees and Doctorate degrees. While Gallaudet has a strong sign-language ethos, captioning (CART, or Communication Access in Real Time) featured in 80% of presentations at an orientation day.
Interestingly, the captioning was provided with sign language, a new method when Gallaudet operated so successfully with only sign language in the past.
CART is used by educational entities in Europe and the United States to support deaf and hard of hearing students in their studies, but few offer CART and sign-language to a level anywhere near that of Gallaudet.
Not All Deaf Students Know, Or Use ASL
While captioning has advantages such as enabling students to take notes during lectures and assisting students unfamiliar with signing, it is significant the CART system is used at a traditional signing university like Gallaudet.
Gallaudet University supports the introduction of CART alongside American Sign Language (ASL) by stating that this advancement will enable Gallaudet to ‘become the leading international resource for research, innovation and outreach related to deaf and hard of hearing people’.
University managers believe the creation of a virtual campus will expand Gallaudet’s reach to a wider audience of visual learners. It is fair to say the introduction of CART will support a wider range of potential students and make Gallaudet even more accessible to deaf and hard of hearing people.
(compiled by Nicola Fox)
Further Reading
- Captioning: A Lifeline At Conferences and Seminars
- ‘Disability Law News’ Blog Cites IDK’s Advocacy
- Tutorial Captioning Benefits Deaf Students’ Access
