Spring / Summer 2013 - Rochester Institute of Technology

Enhancing Access
for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
by Greg Livadas
RIT’s Center on Access Technology (CAT) was established in 2006 by the National
Technical Institute for the Deaf to improve educational opportunities in classroom
access technologies, mobile technologies, audio and sound technologies, and
training and evaluation services for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
CAT Research is Far Reaching
Center on Access Technology Director James DeCaro, professor
and NTID dean emeritus, says the research conducted there
often involves collaboration with other RIT colleges, other
universities or industries and professional organizations.
CAT has four predominant branches:
• The CAT Innovation Lab, where technology is designed,
assembled, tested, and disseminated.
• Development and support of C-Print, a classroom
captioning service developed by NTID in the late 1980s
and refined as technological improvements were made.
Michael Stinson, a professor in NTID’s department of
research, oversees C-Print. In recent years, a tablet has
been added to C-Print, allowing drawings, equations,
and diagrams to be captured in notes.
• A five-year, $1.6 million National Science Foundation grant
to develop the Deaf STEM Community Alliance, a virtual
academic community for college students who are deaf or