ICTs AS ENABLERS OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED: A CASE FOR TELEVISION NEWS CLOSED CAPTIONING IN INDIA

ANANYA ROY

A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

2015

1

© 2015 Ananya Roy

2

To my parents Jhara and Ashish Roy: You are, therefore, I am

3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

At the outset, I am indebted to my parents for believing in me. The decision to pursue a PhD was not easy, as my family members with doctoral degrees had made clear; moving 9,000 miles away from the familiar South East to the foreign West only added to the challenge. But I had wanted to earn a PhD since my early school years, and had already started on the research journey while pursuing my master’s degree in

Singapore. So my mother, an educator, made sure I made every attempt to turn my dream into reality. While the decision did not come without its consequences—it was particularly tough living alone far from family and friends—my parents’ continued support, despite my father’s sporadic suggestions to let it go and return to the comfort of home, helped me survive the challenging times. In this spirit, neither my parents nor I would have been able to dream of education abroad had it not been for the foresight of my maternal grandmother and paternal grandparents—Mrs. Rama Roy, and

Mrs. Aloka Roy and Late Mr. Amalendu Roy respectively—who always emphasized quality education as first priority for the family. My mother being a posthumous child, I never knew my maternal grandfather Late Mr. Haridas Roy, but had he been with us, the former dedicated police officer would have set us to even higher standards.

Next, my older brother and only sibling Anindya, my sister-in-law Paromita, and my toddler nephew Aritra contributed invaluably to my years as a doctoral student here.

While my brother and his wife were encouraging me from the West Coast, my toddler nephew Aritra’s childish banter came as a breath of fresh air, lifting my spirits with his simple expressions of affection. His most recent suggestion was that I should have taken his help in writing this dissertation because he has now learned the Alphabet.

4 Alongside my family, I owe my sincerest appreciation to my Committee Chair

Professor Dr. David H. Ostroff, Chair at the Department of Telecommunication, for guiding me through the entire process. Even though my research focused on policymaking in India, a country whose political administration he was not familiar with,

Dr. Ostroff always showed deep interest in my work. A search for prospective advisers among the College’s graduate faculty while I was applying to the program had led me to

Dr. Ostroff’s profile page; his expertise and work in telecommunications had inspired me right then to want to work only with him as my adviser. Fortunately for me, he had agreed, and we were able to build a very cordial mentor-student relationship over the years. I am more than grateful for his unwavering support in everything I attempted, his inputs on my dissertation, and for his patience with my sometimes all-over-the-place queries. I look forward to many more years of academic collaboration with him.

I am extraordinarily thankful to Dr. Debbie M. Treise, Senior Associate Dean at the Division of Graduate Studies and Research, CJC, and Professor at the Department of Advertising, my dissertation Committee member and professor, who showed her concern and affection for me benevolently through these four years, took me flying with her on her Cessna without allowing me to crash it, and amidst it all, made sure that I produced quality work. Without her guidance, encouragement, and patience with my innumerable queries about work and otherwise, I would have been totally lost in the unfamiliar setting. She is also the first person from UF I had spoken to when she had called to discuss my acceptance into the program; it has been a warm and beautiful relationship with her ever since, which I hope for to continue forever.

5 Immense gratitude towards Associate Professor, Department of Advertising,

Dr. Lisa Duke (retired 2015), a truly genial and beautiful individual in every sense, my

Committee member and professor, and the go-to person for all things qualitative. She not only brought the best out of me in terms of research method, but also encouraged me every step of the way with her kindest words and warmest hugs through the years.

Many thanks also to Associate Professor Dr. Maria Coady, my external

Committee member and professor from the College of Education, for her enthusiasm, timely and relevant inputs, and her forever-welcoming attitude. With her expertise, she was able to guide me about matters related to the inequalities in access to education. I once again thank all my committee members, prominent and esteemed scholars in their fields, for giving of their valuable time and guidance so generously and helping me through the qualifying exam and dissertation requirements of the program.

Heartfelt gratitude to my mentor, professor and close friend from my Masters days, Dr. Indrajit Banerjee, Director, KSD, Communication and Information Sector at

UNESCO, for his unwavering belief in my abilities and overwhelmingly kind support through the years. Thanks also, Sir, for inviting me to attend the first UNESCO international conference on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities, where I could listen to informed viewpoints and collect a wealth of valuable insights relevant to my study. I thank God every day for blessing me with your presence in my life.

A note of sincere thanks to Associate Professor Dr. Mato Brautovic, University of

Dubrovnik, Croatia, and faculty at UF, my supervisor and colleague for Interactive

Media, which I have taught, or assisted with, these four years. His cooperation and encouragement at the most stressful times during the program is much appreciated.

6 Many thanks also to my professors, and later colleagues, at the Indian Institute of

Mass Communication, New Delhi—Professor Dr. Gita Bamezai, Professor K.M.

Shrivastava and Professor S. Raghavachari for their support, and belief in my abilities.

Special mention goes out to the indispensible CJC trio Jody Hedge,

Sarah G. Lee and Kimberly Holloway, program assistants at the Division of Graduate

Studies and Research, for their help and guidance with all paperwork and procedures, and for making each progressive step for me as a graduate student a whole lot easier.

My sincere gratitude to the Minister of State for Social Justice and

Empowerment, senior bureaucrats at the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, and founders or senior most representatives of disabled rights advocacy groups in India, who spared their valuable time to speak to me for the study. Heartfelt thanks also to the officials and staff at the Ministries for helping me access the bureaucrats and Minister.

Life in a foreign country is very difficult to negotiate without the company of kind colleagues, classmates and friends. A shout-out to them for their friendship, many meaningful and frivolous conversations, and for the great times and meals shared.

Specially, thanks to my family friends—Dr. Prabha and Mr. Bhadrayu Trivedi, and

Mrs. Sreemati and Dr. Malay Ghosh—for their love and care. All of you have been a bigger part of my life here than I can acknowledge in words.

Last, and foremost, I thank God for being my constant companion through all the good times and the bad, and for blessing me with wonderful people and much abundance in life.

7 TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... 4

LIST OF TABLES ...... 11

LIST OF FIGURES ...... 12

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...... 13

ABSTRACT ...... 14

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 16

Purpose of the Study ...... 20 Background ...... 21 Perspectives on Development ...... 23 Human Development Perspective, ICT and Social Justice...... 24 Policymaking in India ...... 27 Hearing Impairment Statistics in India ...... 30 Theoretical Framework ...... 32 The Public Sphere ...... 32 Inequality of Access to ICTs ...... 34 The Social Model of Disability ...... 35 ICTs and the Disabled ...... 36 Scope...... 37 Closed Captioning in the US ...... 41 Closed Captioning in Other Developed Countries ...... 42 The Indian Case ...... 44 Broadcast Regulatory Authorities and the Broadcast Policy in India ...... 45

2 LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 50

Definitions of Disability ...... 51 Disability as a Medical or Functional Limitations Construct ...... 54 Disability as a Social Construct ...... 55 The Social Constructionist Version in the US ...... 58 The Capability Approach ...... 60 Deafness as a Disability: The Sociocultural Model of Deafness ...... 63 Assistive Technology and Policy for Disabled ...... 66 Closed Captioning: Definition and Metrics ...... 66 The Digital Divide, Access and Opportunity ...... 69 Language Policy Planning for the Deaf and Closed Captioning ...... 70

8 3 METHODOLOGY ...... 82

Sampling Strategy ...... 85 Case Study ...... 89 Data Collection ...... 92 Data Analysis ...... 97 Coding ...... 99 Stage 1: Developing the Coding Manual ...... 103 Stage 2: Testing the Reliability of the Initial Codebook ...... 104 Stage 3: Summarizing Data and Identifying Initial Themes ...... 104 Stage 4: Applying Template of Codes and Additional Coding ...... 106 Stage 5: Connecting the Codes and Identifying Themes ...... 107 Stage 6: Corroborating and Legitimating Coded Themes ...... 107

4 RESULTS ...... 117

Layout of the Chapter ...... 117 The Case Setting ...... 118 Description of Interview Participants ...... 119 Description of Documents ...... 120 Data Analysis ...... 121 Findings ...... 122 Other Key Findings ...... 123 Availability, Access, Effectiveness and Affordability ...... 125 Adaptability to the Indian Context ...... 126 A Policy in Place and Political Will ...... 128 The Need for Advocacy ...... 130 Industry Players ...... 133 Equitable Media Access a Right ...... 137 Additional Findings ...... 140 Summary of the findings ...... 152

5 DISCUSSION ...... 194

Implications and Recommendations for Policymakers ...... 210 Policymaking in India: Some Challenges...... 210 Closed Captioning: Key Considerations ...... 215 Disability in Perspective...... 221 Implications for Deaf/ Hard of Hearing Advocacy Group Representatives ...... 221 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research ...... 222 Conclusion ...... 229

APPENDIX

A INTERVIEW INVITATION EMAIL FOLLOWING PHONE CALL ...... 231

B LIST OF INTERVIEWEES ...... 232

9 C ORGANIZATIONAL CHART OF THE MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ...... 233

D BRIEF PROFILES OF SELECTED NGOS ...... 234

E ALL TRANSCRIPTS POPULATED INTO DOCUMENT SUMMARY TEMPLATES ...... 237

F LIST OF LINKS TO NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ...... 282

G INITIAL THEMES FROM DOCUMENTS CATEGORIZED UNDER A PRIORI CODES ...... 286

H INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL OF PROTOCOL #2014-U- 0515 CONSENT FORM ...... 287

LIST OF REFERENCES ...... 289

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 312

10 LIST OF TABLES

Table page

2-1 Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living ...... 79

2-2 The Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale ...... 80

3-1 Approaches to address issues ...... 109

3-2 Example of a priori code ...... 111

3-3 An example of codes developed a priori from the template of codes ...... 112

3-4 Summarizing the data from interviews under guiding question headings ...... 113

3-5 Example of theory-driven codes with segments of text from all four data sets . 114

3-6 Example of data-driven codes with segments of text from all four data sets .... 115

3-7 Connecting the codes and identifying themes using the research questions as headings: Considerations for implementing closed captioning ...... 116

4.1 A priori codes derived from theory and research questions ...... 158

4-2 Applying the template of codes to raw data ...... 160

4-3 Summary of responses from interviews with guiding questions...... 170

4-4 Coding all four data sources by applying codes from codebook ...... 172

4-5 Data-driven codes with segments of text from all four data sets...... 186

4-6 Connecting the codes and identifying themes using the research questions as headings: Considerations for implementing closed captioning ...... 188

4-7 Corroborating and legitimating coded themes and identifying second-order themes ...... 189

11 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure page

1-1 Question on disability canvassed in Census 2011 ...... 48

1-2 Required steps for creating closed captions for TV and the Internet...... 49

2-1 Definitions of Disability...... 74

2-2 A Social Model of Disability...... 75

2-3 The Capability Approach...... 76

2-4 The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health...... 77

2-5 Access to Information and Communication Technology ...... 78

3-1 Key points relevant to study synthesized from the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012...... 108

3-2 Diagrammatic representation of stages undertaken to code the data...... 110

4-1 Number of times a priori codes present in newspaper reports published between 2011 and 2014...... 156

4-2 Number of times a priori codes present in rest of the data ...... 157

4-3 Number of code applications to all newspaper articles categorizes under preset codes ...... 191

4-4 Number of code applications to documents except newspaper articles categorizes under preset codes ...... 193

5-1 Trade-offs when introducing a new access service...... 230

12 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ADA Americans with Disabilities Act

ASL American Sign Language

CA Capabilities Approach

CBA Canadian Broadcasting Association

CC Closed Captioning

CCD Council of Canadians with Disabilities

CRTC Canadian Radio, Television and Telecommunications Commission

D/HoH Deaf/Hard of Hearing

DD Doordarshan

DRG Disability Rights Group

FCC Federal Communications Commission

ICF International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

ICIDH International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps

ICT Information and Communications Technology

ISL Indian Sign Language

MIB Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

MOSJ Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

NGO Non Governmental Organization

SLS Same Language Subtitling

SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

TRAI Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

UNCRPD United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

13 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

ICTs AS ENABLERS OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED: A CASE FOR TELEVISION NEWS CLOSED CAPTIONING IN INDIA

By

Ananya Roy

August 2015

Chair: David Howard Ostroff Major: Mass Communication

This dissertation examines considerations for the possible implementation of closed captioning on Indian television as outlined in the Draft Rights of Persons with

Disabilities Bill 2012. The Bill, which proposes to replace the existing disability law in

India draws upon the UNCRPD that India ratified in 2007. The case for mandating closed captioning of news and current affairs programs on Indian television to make them accessible to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing population is built upon the theory of the public sphere. The theory conceptualizes a democratic country such as India as one in which enabling participation from all demographic groups allows for the creation of a space where the citizenry debate, discuss, and opine on issues of public interest, and thus contribute to its effective functioning. In addition, this study explores how policymakers and disability rights advocacy groups view closed captioning as a means for such participation for the hearing impaired population in India.

Data collection for the study consisted of in-depth interviews with policymakers directly involved with disability and media policies in India, and senior most representatives of disability rights NGOs involved with advocacy for the hearing

14 impaired in the country. Additionally, 43 newspaper articles published in the timeline during which the Bill was drafted, and multiple revisions were made before being passed over to a Parliamentary Standing Committee for discussion, and two relevant policy papers were analyzed to examine the current scenario of the disability rights movement in India.

The findings of this study pointed towards various aspects of technology, political will, advocacy and industry initiative as key considerations for closed captioning of

Indian television. There was unanimous agreement on accessible news and current affairs as a right, and an enabler of equitable participation in the public sphere. The results also demonstrated an emphasis on the part of policymakers on signed broadcasting as a means of equitable media access, while advocacy group representatives emphasized subtitling or closed captioning. Lastly, the study highlighted how disability is viewed in India, and the perceived areas of focus for an inclusive disability policy in the country.

15 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

The public sphere, a conceptual public space in which citizens are able to opine, ideate, debate, and discuss issues they consider important, has particular relevance in

Jürgen Habermas’ deliberative democracy. In The Structural Transformation of the

Public Sphere, Habermas indicates the pedantic separation between the private and public, yielding the public sphere influenced by the mass media, in which public life is removed from political influence.

Far from being a simplistic or ideal model where all citizens are able to equally, rationally and effectively participate in the public space, debate and discuss, and put forth their opinions freely without any external influence, Habermas’ public sphere suffers from much criticism (Appadurai & Breckenridge, 1995). In Deliberative democracy, the public sphere and the internet, Gimmler lists some of these criticisms: the public sphere has historical origins as an exclusionary concept, it seemingly overlooks the plurality of human thoughts, morals and motivations in a society, and the obliviousness with which hierarchical power in society is disregarded by it (2001).

Despite these criticisms, however, the existence of a space for discourse and deliberation, a meeting place for civil society and other institutions in a parliamentary democracy’s political process is nevertheless essential in its crucial function of steering decision-making towards the common good (Gimmler, 2001).

The existence of the public sphere is facilitated by “universal access” for all citizens in a democracy “mainly media institutions through which politically important information is disseminated discussed and analyzed” (McNair, 2012, p. 12). Equitable access to information about matters that concern the public becomes a fundamental

16 consideration; free access to media as carriers of public information is necessary to facilitate the creation of a public sphere, as Kalpagam (2002) mentions in his analysis

Colonial Governmentality and the Public Sphere in India.

However, that the only inequality is the lack of opportunity is summarized from a personal conversation a few years ago with telecommunications scholar and

UNESCO’s current director of the Knowledge Societies Division. The concepts of a deliberative public sphere and universal access come laden with considerations. The public sphere “being defined and dominated by majoritarian values and norms” (Ali,

2001, p. 2419) often results in it being non-reflective of the plurality of cultures. But more importantly, certain sections of society not having “access to”, and “accessibility of” information (McNair, 2012, p. 12), and consequently devoid of a voice in the public sphere, further exacerbate the problem. That normatively, democratic legitimacy is brought about by the rational consensus between free and equal citizens about public matters (Nanz & Steffek, 2004), is of note here. It is then imperative that all citizens in a democracy have the opportunity to participate in the deliberative public sphere.

Among other minorities, persons with disabilities have historically been an oppressed section of society (Russell, 1998; Charlton, 1998; Shapiro, 1993); with socially constructed disability being imposed on them over and above physical impairments, thus inhibiting the community from full and equal participation in society

(Finkelstein, 2007). Civic engagement facilitated by media, “even if only symbolically empowering” plays a substantial role in enhancing the legitimacy of mass democracies’ political systems (Bucy & Gregson, 2001). Therefore, equitable access to media becomes an important right for all citizens including people with disabilities; provisions

17 for equitable access has made its way to revised disability policies such as the

Americans with Disabilities Act, the Communication Act, and European Accessibility Act in Western democracies. Further, access to information as a means for consequential opportunity to participate in the public sphere for the disabled is facilitated by access to media technologies (Papacharissi, 2002). In particular, television is one of the most commonly used news information sources (Spence, Lachlan, Burke & Seeger, 2007;

Bracken, Jeffres, Neuendorf, Kopfman & Moulla, 2005).

Closed captioning, the text translation of audio on screen, which includes dialogues as well as sounds, and which can be turned off or on at the discretion of the user provided the television has decoder facility, is a critical means of television media accessibility for the hearing impaired (Hearing Loss Association of America). Many countries such as the US, Canada, parts of Western Europe, and Japan have mandated closed captioning for television broadcasts as a part of their media accessibility policy.

India, having ratified the United Nations Convention for Persons with Disabilities in

2007, is currently on the throes of replacing its current exclusionary Rights of Persons

With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act

1995, with the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012, to align with the mandates of the UN Convention. In this regard, with the intent to consider persons with disabilities as being equal to all other members of society, and who should have the opportunity to be actively involved in decision-making processes about policies and programmes, the Draft Bill, revised multiple times from since its first draft in 2011 to the time up to when this project was completed, elucidates various methods to facilitate equal access to information and communication to enable the disabled to participate in

18 society. It lays out various means to achieve this, including making ‘all audio, print and electronic media content in accessible formats, and particularly provide persons with disabilities equal access to electronic media by providing audio description, sign language interpretation and close captioning’ (Draft RPD Bill 2012).

India, one may contend, as a developing country, is not comparable to advanced

Western democracies. Therefore attempts to ensure accessibility to adaptive technologies by governments in India and other developing countries to fulfill the provision of rights to assistive technology to ensure citizens’ full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) require investigation related to “particular policies, service delivery outcomes and international cooperation” in addition to the development and production of the technology as suggested by Borg, Lindström & Larsson (2011, p. 20).

With focus on the specific provision of closed captioning for Indian television to make news and information accessible to the country’s approximately 60 million hearing impaired individuals, this study aimed to look at the considerations that need to be addressed, and the perception of the country’s decision-makers and disability rights activists about closed captioning as an assistive technology for equitable media access.

In this chapter, a background with the policymaking process in India, statistics on the hearing impaired, and the broad human development perspective regarding disability is discussed. The theoretical framework is discussed, elaborating on

Habermas’ public sphere, and how information and communications technologies (ICT) have been argued to be facilitators of access to relevant information for persons with disabilities, and consequently to their participation in the public sphere. Brief examples

19 of implementation of closed captioning in Western democracies are given with the intent to provide a possible conceptual framework for India, despite awareness of the distinctions between the former and the latter in terms of development. Provisions already in place in India for equitable media access for the hearing impaired are entwined in the discussion, and a brief working process of the closed captioning technology is given for the benefit of the readers.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore, with a sample of policymakers and disability rights advocates, the feasibility and perceived need for closed captioning in India. The considerations for implementation of a policy for closed captioning, especially news and current affairs, to make television accessible to the Deaf/ Hard of

Hearing population in India was studied. Social justice demands that every demographic group including the disabled in a country must be enabled to participate in the public sphere—the space where a country’s citizenry debate, discuss, ideate and opine on issues of public interest, and thus contribute to the effective functioning of a participatory democracy. In this context, absence of assistive technologies for the hearing impaired in India, in this case, closed captioning, may act as a barrier to broadcast news access, and consequently to their access to information regarding issues of public interest. This, in turn, may further hinder their participation in the country’s public sphere. A new Bill, drafted by the Indian government to align with the

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, of which India is a signatory, highlights this issue and recommends implementation of closed captioning of television programming, to enable equitable media access for the hearing impaired. The

Bill, named the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012 is yet to be

20 implemented as policy, and this study aimed to explore the key considerations for, and the perceived value of closed captioning in India by the key actors involved in the policymaking process, and representatives of Deaf/ HoH advocacy groups.

This study is propitiously timed given the transitional phase in which the Draft

RPD Bill lies. Success, as with basic policy research, will be measured on the quality of the report generated from the case study in how it may inform policymakers broadly about the needs of the hearing impaired in India, and specifically about how closed captioning is perceived by the community as an assistive ICT for equitable media access. This study is a first attempt to apply the theory of public sphere to build a case for an assistive technology for television news access for the hearing disabled in India.

In keeping with the tenets of Habermas’ conceptualization of a deliberative democracy consisting of a vibrant public sphere with equitable representation and participation from all citizens, this case is built on the argument that making provisions for the Deaf/ Hard- of-Hearing population to have equitable access to broadcast news and current affairs in democratic India is a salient requisite for enabling this population to participate in informed participatory decision-making on matters of public interest.

Background

Starting in the 1970s, in most developed countries, innovative new technologies such as personal computers, cable and satellite television, the Internet, and related technologies have made it easier for people to access information. About a decade back in particular, the merging of technologies that enabled both information dissemination and communication between people, systems, and within the two domains as well, indicated the arrival of a new kind of society—the information society.

Since the mid-1990s, such merging of technologies was considered to be instrumental

21 in ushering a new kind of society (Webster, 2007), with computer-mediated communications at the helm. Castells (2000) refers to this informational society, contemporarily known as the information society, as a social organization in which technology, with its capacity to generate, process and transmit information, enables the latter to become a pivotal source productivity and power.

Today, these information and communications technologies are universally acknowledged as useful tools for development. Advances in personal computing, electronic innovations in the form of cable and satellite television, mobile telephony, and especially the Internet, have been seen to have a significant impact on education

(Andrews, 2004; Condie & Munroe, 2007); in reducing poverty (Torero & Von Braun,

2006; Marker, McNamara & Wallace, 2002); environmental sustainability (Erdmann,

Hilty, Goodman & Arnfalk, 2004); production and economic development (Venturini,

2009; Ellis, 2000; Wang 1999) to name a few. ICTs in addition, ideally help in development by making information of value available to people (Alampay, 2006).

These technologies facilitate the collection, management, control, and distribution of information (Wilson, Kellerman & Corey, 2013), which in turn result in enabling communication between the consumers of such information. Such communication, in turn, facilitates citizens’ acquisition of knowledge and information about community issues and problems, thereby enabling them to participate in society (McLeod,

Scheufele & Moy, 1999). Kelley-Salinas (2000) informed us that such multidirectional and multitude of information brings about profound cultural and political consequences by way of reinforcing the values of a pluralistic democracy, ultimately rendering the relationship between government and civil society more transparent.

22 Perspectives on Development

It is important here to recall that development itself is looked at with various perspectives, and in a discussion of development via participation enabled by ICTs, it becomes imperative to mention them. Sein and Harindranath (2004) suggested three different perspectives via which to look at development: modernization, dependency and human development. Modernization assumes that ICTs help less advanced countries in their development attempts as they emulate their advanced counterparts via the use of technology, capital, skilled workforce and entrepreneurial class. The dependency perspective, on the other hand, proposes that local governments in underdeveloped countries are singularly responsible for their own development—global cooperation is discounted in this perspective—and that ICTs only work to serve developed countries. In terms of human development, which aims to facilitate enabling mechanisms for people in a society, ICTs act best by helping individuals realize their potential. This human development perspective, according to Sein & Harindranath

(2004, p. 16), works towards:

1. Enabling choices in education, health, and standard of living

2. Building a democratic society marked by involvement, participation, and transparency

3. Better management of behavior and customs, based on a better understanding of culture

Keeping in focus the human development perspective, which enables the building of a democratic society, ICTs must be recognized for their role in facilitating political and civic participation, and for giving the public a voice. To ensure transparency and accountability in a democratic society, it is important for the public to question, debate and discuss. If people other than those in power are to be encouraged, and their

23 participation made possible, they must be given an opportunity to offer their inputs. ICTs enable such participation with the existence of a ‘genuinely questioning’ voice, made possible by access to information about a public policy decision’s context, legalities involved in governing the actions of those holding power, and about commitments to the public made by decision-makers prior to implementation of policies (Goetz & Jenkins,

2005).

Human Development Perspective, ICT and Social Justice

With the human development perspective comes a key consideration that must be looked at before pinning hope on ICTs as facilitators of participation—social justice.

ICTs manifest exchange inter- and intra- relationships between individuals, groups, and public and private institutions with a range of foreseeable and unanticipated economic, social and political outcomes (Roy, 2005). But it can be claimed with some authority that positive relationships or outcomes are dependent on the existence of social justice, which refers to the obliteration of socioeconomic disadvantages that obstruct the equal participation of individuals and even entire communities in the construction of “culture, in public spheres, and in everyday life” (Vrasidas, Zembylas & Glass, 2009, p. 4). Fraser opined that socioeconomic redistribution, and legal or cultural recognition are the two fundamental and mutually exclusive dimensions of social justice (2007). While the former relates to a just distribution of resources and wealth, the latter speaks to establish a world and a society without differences. In these terms, she observed, the argument about justice today has moved beyond “first-order questions of substance” such as how much economic inequality is tolerable and how much redistribution is solicited to balance the scales, to “second-order, meta-level questions”, which ask who is entitled to just distribution or reciprocal recognition.

24 In today’s information society, as cited earlier, the most profound function that

ICTs have been credited with is that they have made access to information fairly easy, even though some barriers exist. ICTs allow societies to access, produce, adapt to and apply information, thus giving them vast opportunities to facilitate the acquisition and transfer of knowledge (Morales-Gomez and Melesse, 1998). Yet, while ICTs may be theoretically seen as enablers of development and participation, their effectiveness is determined largely by the socio-cultural and political environment in which they are initiated and put to use (Morales-Gomez and Melesse, 1998). Specifically in terms of

Fraser’s notion of social justice, with its redistribution and recognition aspects, it becomes imperative to analyze this socio-cultural and political environment, focusing on not just whether everyone has equitable access to this information, but also on who is entitled to this access.

Scholars argue that the relative ease of information access in today’s Internet and communications satellite era ideally makes access to information a basic human right. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which entitles all human beings to some basic rights and fundamental freedoms, mandates that people have the right to free and uninhibited access to information. Article 19 states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. (United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, p.n.a)

Lor and Britz (2007) among others further argued that the right to access to information is no longer this “intellectual right” as enshrined in the Declaration, but that in today’s globalization era, and is sine qua non to involvement in political and socio- economic activities making it a salient social right (p.388).

25 It may seem dated to recall Harold Lasswell’s work from almost 60 years back, but his idea of relative enlightenment theorized in The Structure and Function of

Communication in Society, which argued that communication and information is necessary for public opinion in a democratic society, holds relevance to this day.

According to his thesis, rational choices in democratic societies are brought about by enlightenment, which is itself dependent on communication, and categorically upon similar attention among decision-makers, experts, and the general public. Further,

Carpentier, Dahlgren & Pasquali posited that participation differs in between variations of democracy itself--in maximalist democracy, representation and participation go hand in hand with greater emphasis on maximizing the latter, while the minimalistic version is marked by “processes of representation, participation to elite selection and the political to politics” (2013, p. 289). This resonates with both the redistribution and the recognition aspects of social justice, as identified by Fraser & Honneth (2003). Therefore, it is not fantastic to assume that access to information is central to the building and maintenance of an effective democracy, as social scientists working in development economics have stated and proved on numerous occasions (Williams & Pavlik, 1994;

Jenkins & Goetz, 1999, Héritier, 2003; Norris, 2008).

The right to access public information serves a key role in bringing about transparency and accountability, making it the pivotal argument for establishing Right to

Information Acts in many countries around the world. Jenkins and Goetz (1999) wrote that transparency is mostly defined in terms of obliterating voluntary control and clarifying strategies, with deliberate exclusion of preconditions for such clarity most effective in producing desired results. Accountability, on the other hand, refers to the

26 obligation that people in power have towards the public to justify their actions whether in procedural terms or with reference to impacts; “that elected officials will be made accountable by voters through elections; and so on” (Jenkins and Goetz, 1999, p. 607).

Access to information, along with being a basic human right that allows people to be informed and educated, is also essential for enabling people to come together to exchange ideas and views. Such exchange of ideas and views, especially relating to issues or topics that concern the public, forms the backbone of a functional democracy.

This realm of social life, formed by the exchange of information and issues of public concern and theorized by Jürgen Habermas as the public sphere, is crucial for forming public opinion (Dahlgren, 1995).

Public opinion, arising ideally out of the people’s ability to ascertaining its own good, works towards an obligation for the State into acting for public welfare. To achieve this, Todd Gitlin wrote in Media, Ritual and Identity that the information about public issues gives the public “access” and opportunity for “deliberation”: “The public needs, in short, to take shape, to become itself” (1998, p. 168).

Policymaking in India

Elucidating the basic definition of a democracy, Kavlekar (1987) reminded us that it “implies rule by the people” (p. 81); representative parties involved in debates, discussions, elections and in taking majority decisions lead to consent. Such participation in social and political decision making, contended Kliksberg (2000), goes beyond debates of ideal versus reality and lends legitimacy to the process. Such legitimacy, procedural as well substantive, in turn, makes implementation of policies more likely. Agarwal and Somanathan (2005) explained that procedural legitimacy comes from involving in the policymaking process people directly affected by the policy,

27 and substantive legitimacy is achieved by the involvement of experts on the subject of the policy during the deliberation and formulation process. In conjunction with current knowledge, evaluation of collateral effects on other sectors, the direct involvement throughout of decision-makers responsible for the ultimate implementation of the policy, and honesty, independence, intellectual breadth and depth of the policymakers, legitimacy makes for a good policymaking process (Agarwal and Somanathan, 2005).

India follows a multi-party democratic system with the Parliament as the center for decision-making. Elected representatives of the people raise, debate and discuss issues of public importance in the Parliament, and the functioning of the executive is scrutinized through the Parliament, both during sessions and well through special committees constituted for the purpose and for enacting laws (Asaiah, 1987).

Opposition, critical to a parliamentary democracy, comes from multiple parties without a single unified voice (Asaiah, 1987).

Policy decisions are made in Indian ministries at the levels of Director and above, with Secretaries to the government being the most integral advisers to the Ministers. A policymaking structure wherein key Departments are divided with limited interdepartmental communication, there is blurred distinction between policy and implementation signaling an inclination towards operational convenience than towards public needs, and there is high fragmentation at the policy levels is drawn up by

Agarwal and Somanathan (2005) demonstrating the weaknesses of the Indian policymaking process. In addition, there exists a marked absence of informed debate and inputs from non-governmental inputs; those invited are often “single issue advocates” providing “single issue inputs” without the opportunity or liability to continue

28 the interaction, debate other opposing outside inputs, or “confront trade-offs” (p.14).

The Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012, as synthesized from interviews with policymakers and disability rights advocacy groups in this study followed a similar path, highlighting aspects of the process as well as corroborating, to a large extent, the weaknesses laid out above. To replace the existing Rights of Persons With

Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, and to align with the directives of the inclusionary UNCRPD, which India ratified in 2008, in 2010, a Committee was constituted by the Ministry of Social Justice and

Empowerment (MOSJ) to draft a new legislation viz the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities Bill. With the Centre for Disability Studies, University of Law Hyderabad,

India, appointed as the legal consultants in 2010, the Committee, after several meetings involving the “disability sector, disability rights activists, members of civil society, State level consultations across the country and legal consultants” (MOSJ) presented its final report (http://socialjustice.nic.in/pwd2011.php) in June 2011.

Following the first draft submission, the interviewees in this study, some of whom were directly involved in consultations with the Committee, or represented the Ministry at the topmost level, pointed out that the draft was debated and discussed, consultations made at the State and Central levels, and with disability rights groups, and revisions made to it progressively over the years to 2014 when it was passed by the

Cabinet and sent to the Parliament, followed by its introduction in the Upper House. A change in political order in September 2014 delayed the passing of the Bill into legislation, and at the time of this study’s reporting, the Bill was with a Parliamentary

Standing Committee for deliberation.

29 The process followed by the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012 echoes the points highlighted by Agarwal and Somanathan (2005). During consultations with the Ministry officials and the disability rights advocacy group representatives, it was found that there was a difference in perception between the two groups with regard to representation of the disabled in the policy making process, as also concerning inputs and recommendations accepted from the disabled/ disability advocates and general public in the final draft of the Bill. Moreover, it was highlighted by the advocacy groups that the appointment of a single legal expert for the Committee instead of a collegium of experts, the outsourcing of the drafting of the Bill to the said legal expert, the heading of the Committee by a person not belonging to the disabled community in a country that does not lack experts from the sector itself, all contributed to a violation of the principle of Nothing About Us Without Us. The perceived lack of knowledge of the policymakers about issues related to disability and their actions largely motivated by vote-bank politics were repeatedly mentioned as contributing to the unsatisfactory outcome of the process with many provisions of the final Draft still being vociferously debated by persons with disabilities, as newspaper reports demonstrate.

Finally, as explained by one representative from the Ministry, the Parliamentary

Standing Committee, which has issued a notice to the general public seeking comments on the Draft will synthesize the feedback and pass the final version of the proposed Act with its recommendations to the Parliament for debate in the Upper and Lower Houses until it becomes a law.

Hearing Impairment Statistics in India

Numbers on the hearing impaired in India vary. According to Census 2011, there are around 5 million deaf persons in India (Office of the Registrar General & Census

30 Commissioner, India). Population-based surveys using the World Health Organization

Ear and Hearing Disorders Survey Protocol to define hearing impairment estimated approximately 63 million persons with hearing impairment in 2003 (Garg, Chadha,

Malhotra & Agarwal, 2009). Other sources such as India’s leading daily, the Hindustan

Times, pegs the figure at around 50 million (Nair, 2011). In perspective of India’s 1.2- billion population (Census 2011), the figure then varies between 4 per cent and 5 per cent. Poothullil, Sahasrabudhe, Chavan and Toppo (2013, p. 3) claimed that there are more than 100 million Indians with some type of hearing loss (including the 28 per cent of the geriatric population). The National Sample Survey Office, in 2002, further enumerated the percentage of persons reporting to acquired deafness or auditory impairment due to old age (greater than 60 years) at 56 per cent and 62 per cent in rural and urban areas respectively (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation).

The WHO, in a survey further found earwax and non-infectious causes such as ageing and presbyacusis to contribute to auditory impairment in about 26 per cent of the Indian population (Garg et al., 2009).

The discrepancy in numbers, according to policymakers and advocacy group representatives as mentioned during the interviews, as well as reported in literature, comes from the metrics and definitions on which the numbers of the hearing impaired are collated.

Ghai (2003) draws attention to the fact that the numbers of the hearing impaired are underreported in national censuses, relegating them to almost invisible status.

Further, interview participants emphasized the widespread stigma attached to disability in India contributing to underreporting by households of the presence of hearing

31 impaired, and the absence of a strong disabled identification system in India, which further excludes the hearing impaired from enumeration owing to the non-apparent disability. The office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, highlights the differences in categorization of the hearing impaired in the current Census and

Census 2001: while persons using hearing aids were counted as hearing impaired in

Census 2011, a category excluded in its predecessor, persons with hearing problems in only one ear were not considered as disabled in the latest enumeration unlike in Census

2001. By its very process, the Census does not ask for reporting of persons with any kind of auditory impairment; the question asks for reporting of persons with hearing disability (Figure 1-1).

Theoretical Framework

The Public Sphere

One of the key factors that determine whether people are able to participate in the social, cultural, political and economic features of a society is access to technology

(Mansell, 1993). In particular, participation is dependent on equality of access to media outlets, which are instrumental in facilitating the communication process in the public sphere (McNair, 2012; Gregg, 2006). The idea of the public sphere in its present form represents a space open to everyone, in which everyone can assume a public role

(McKee, 2005). The public sphere developed during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries “as the cultural and political expression of the self-conscious members of civil society” (Broman, 1998, p.125). Habermas (1991) in The Structural

Transformations of the Public Sphere speaks of public as constituent members of the civil society. Broman elaborates this definition by stating that the public is not to be considered an “inert object of state control”; that threat to state intervention gives the

32 members of the civil society the impetus for self consciousness, and present itself as the public. The public sphere manifests itself amidst this self-conscious public as a “set of discursive practices and institutions by means of which the self-conscious public comes into being” (1998, p. 126).

Habermas’ classical public sphere was conceived of in terms of the German bourgeois—small segments of the European private realm comprised of the elite, educated, and propertied, who indulged in exclusive, prejudicial discourses, often to the detriment of those not included (Calhoun, 1992). In later theorizing, Habermas elaborated that the line between State and society divided the public sphere from the private realm. While primarily the “realm of commodity exchange and of social labor” in which the family formed the core constituted the private sphere, the political public sphere was formed by public opinion, which apprized the State of the needs of society

(1991, p. 30).

Habermas’ idea of the public sphere has often been criticized on the basis that it overlooks the self-interest intentions of powerful actors that hold its reins, or that it assumes the participants in a public sphere to behave rationally. Webster (2007), however, argued that given the formation of public opinion on open debate, its effectiveness is incumbent upon the “quality, availability and communication of information”; while authentic and adequate information will result in facilitating potent discussion, mediocre, or worse corrupted information, is bound to produce biased decisions and amateurish debate (p. 168).

Webster used the example of the British public service broadcaster BBC to demonstrate that even though the broadcaster’s ethos ‘to inform, educate and entertain’

33 cannot be said to have created the public sphere Habermas theorized, it has, without doubt, increased public awareness about covert public issues and events pertaining to

Britain; performing an “important democratizing function” (2007, p. 170). Yet, while equitable access to media outlets and via them, information, is desired and necessary to enable civic participation, often circumambient factors play a vital role in determining access to media and technology. Among others, Gregg (2006) highlighted that even as services become available, public policy is pivotal to ensuring equitable access for those who face barriers.

Inequality of Access to ICTs

Continuing this argument, scholars note that the idea of public sphere is possible only if all the actors in a society have relatively equal access to information. Access to information and communication technologies encompasses three dimensions: the cognitive ability or desire to access ICTs, the ownership or presence of ICTs, and the cost of ICT usage (Wilson, Kellerman & Corey, 2013, p. 121). Despite the fact that democratic societies are theoretically conducive to free and equal access to information, certain sections of society, even in democratic countries are deprived of the right to access information via ICTs. van Dijk in The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the

Information Society (2005) posited that in most research work on inequalities in access to ICTs, scholars have focused on individuals and their characteristics such as level of income, employment status, age, gender, education, ethnicity, absence of individual motivation to acquire ICTs, and individual lack of skills in operating them ethnicity in explaining the differences in access to ICTs. This approach, however, he noted, while produces relevant data and descriptive statistics, does not explain the digital divide in terms of what about these differences in individual characteristics cause the differences

34 in access. To address this gap, the relational or network approach is more effective in explaining ICT inequality in the use of digital technologies as a fragment of the larger notion of social inequality: that the relationships between individuals and not the individuals themselves should be the prime units of analysis (van Dijk, 2005). In other words, social structures and networks advance or restrict opportunities potentially affecting the “propensity to perform social activities in a new context, such as the role of information and communication technologies” (Carrasco & Miller, 2006, p. 464). This is not to contend socioeconomic characteristics as unworthy of being included in discussions of equality of access to ICTs—in fact, apart from physical availability of assistive devices, literacy, and relevant content in diverse languages are key determinants of access to ICTs (Warschauer, 2002). Yet, excluding social resources, viz community and institutional support as significant supporters of access to ICT is not recommended (Warschauer, 2002). Effectiveness of ICT, therefore, can be said to depend on sociocultural and political environment in which they are implemented, in addition to individual characteristics.

The Social Model of Disability

The disabled are one among these marginalized groups, who are often overlooked while a country’s citizenry is provided with access to enabling technologies.

According to the social model, institutional and social discrimination causes disability

(Terzi, 2004). Society and social constructions about disability, and erroneous institutional policies, and not the actual medical disability, are barriers that lead to exclusion of and discrimination against the disabled. Tom Shakespeare (2006, p. 199) explains the there defining parameters of the social model of disability:

35 1. Impairment is distinguished from disability. The former is individual and private, the latter is structural and public. While doctors and professions allied to medicine seek to remedy impairment, the real priority is to accept impairment and to remove disability

2. The social model is distinguished from the medical or individual model. Whereas the former defines disability as a social creation—a relationship between people with impairment and a disabling society—the latter defines disability in terms of individual deficit

3. Disabled people are distinguished from non-disabled people. Disabled people are an oppressed group, and often non-disabled people and organisations—such as professionals and charities—are the causes or contributors to that oppression. Civil rights, rather than charity or pity, are the way to solve the disability problem

The social model of disability asserts that nondiscrimination policies toward the disabled are required to ensure complete inclusion of disabled people in society, and their acceptance with equal rights, entitlements and responsibilities (Thomas, 1999;

Oliver, 1996). In terms of access to assistive technologies in particular, appropriate disability-related support must be provided to ensure inclusion, based partly on the universal design principles. D’Aubin (2007, p. 197) stated that this two-pronged approach accurately reflects the social perspective of disability, which aligns with the disability rights approach.

ICTs and the Disabled

The technological superhighway, with ICT as a part, provides a route to the disabled to “transcend problems of mobility, communication, time and space— fundamental barriers to social participation. It offers new solutions to many problems, which have previously seemed insurmountable. Thus people with disabilities have the potential to be among the major beneficiaries of the technological revolution. But whether this potential being realized or not is a concern raised by Seymour and

Mackinnon (2004). When looked at from the social model of disability point of view,

36 which disregards disability as a medical problem, and considers the society’s limitations responsible for not considering the specific functional requirements of persons with disabilities (Toboso, 2011), the discrimination against the disabled with regard to ICT access is clearly visible. Moore reminded us that people with disabilities have similar information needs as other citizens; that they must have access to information to participate as equals in society, to know of their rights and entitlements, and finally, to have the opportunity to ensure their welfare (2002).

ICTs can be crucial in building capabilities (Toboso, 2010). Despite ICTs having

“benign and utilitarian connotations,” their benefits are not evenly distributed (Seymour

& Mackinnon, 2004). The disabled continue to face barriers in their participation as equal members of society and violations of their human rights in all parts of the world.

Specifying the inequities faced by people with hearing impairments, Valentine and

Skelton, recalled that information and communication technologies have historically isolated this community from information in mainstream society. Radio, television, and the telephone, for example, are rendered inaccessible for them without subtitles or relay services (2009).

But technology is not the only barrier to equitable access among the disabled.

The ‘disability digital divide’ (Vicente & Lopez, 2010) may be attributed to many factors, including policy, technology, economic and financial barriers, education and literacy, among others.

Scope

Article 21 (d) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

(CRPD), which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006, signed by 146 countries as of September 2010, and ratified by 90 countries making it an

37 enforceable legal instrument, encourages mass media providers to make their service accessible to the disabled along with everyone else (e-Accessibility Policy Handbook for

Persons with Disabilities). The International Telecommunications Union, in Measuring the Information Society further mentions that persons with disabilities find it difficult to undertake simple tasks such as accessing a website or a phone, an electronic kiosk, watching broadcast news or informing themselves of emergency public announcements for the lack of universally designed technologies (http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-

D/Statistics/Pages/publications/mis2013.aspx). Therefore, member states that have ratified the CRPD are bound by law to provide universally accessible national information infrastructure.

India as a member state has, in 2011, drafted a new disability rights bill to unite with the mandates of the UNCRPD. Among other provisions, provision of accessible media to the country’s disabled population is prominently mentioned in the draft. For the hearing impaired in particular, the draft bill recommends accessible television via sign language interpretation and closed captioning. At present, the country’s public broadcaster provides only one weekly signed news bulletin. Among entertainment programs, Doordarshan, in partnership with a non-profit organization PlanetRead, provides same language subtitling for some popular music-based programs such as

Rangoli and Chitrahaar and a few other regional programs, an effort that has met with

“tremendous success” (Vaidyanathan, 2013). Announcements about the probability of captioning prime time television news in 2009 have not been followed through. Recent efforts towards making events of national importance accessible to the country’s deaf

38 population was sign language interpretation of the 2014 Republic Day parade and the current Prime Minister’s swearing-in ceremony.

The media affect us in a multitude of ways, performing various functions such as effecting socialization and culture, as a source of information, education and entertainment, as a facilitator of political communication and participation in a democracy, and in communicating ideological values and norms, attitudes and beliefs

(Stadler in Watermeyer, 2006, p. 373). Further, television, with its reach of 153 million households (out of 234 million as in January 2014, TAM) is a pervasive medium in

India, but inaccessible to the more approximately 60 million Deaf and Hard of Hearing population. Closed captioning opens up new possibilities for this sizeable hearing impaired population to access news and public information in addition to benefiting other sections of the country’s population such as senior citizens, illiterate people and linguistic minorities (Vaidyanathan, 2013). Despite the proliferation of new media, mobile phones and tablets, television has been found to be the most widely used news and information source for Indians (Kumar, 2014; Geniets, 2013, 2010; Economic and

Social Research Council, 2010). There are around a 100 news channels on Indian television (Ram, 2011) and the State broadcaster Doordarshan reaches an estimated

400 million viewers (Geniets, 2013). According to Vaidyanathan (2010), perceived progressive increase in information dissemination via television makes a case for pressing the need for the medium to be made accessible.

Closed captioning, explain Lewis and Jackson, is “the typewritten version of the audio component of television that provides a visual display of the dialogue, narration

39 and audio effects for those who cannot hear (2001, p. 43). Figure 1-2 displays the basic process of closed captioning for television.

Closed captioning came into existence after nearly century-long negotiations involving a plethora of viewpoints, social goals, and involvement of skilled foreign and

American film translators, deaf and hard of hearing advocates and educators, and public and private court reporters (Downey, 2008). The technology has proved to be of immense value to the hearing impaired or disadvantaged in terms of education

(Neuman & Koskinen, 1992; Bean & Wilson, 1989; Goldman & Goldman, 1988;

Koskinen, Wilson, Jensema,1985); infotainment (Beadles & Ball, 1997); and advanced foreign language learning (Garza, 1991).

Many countries such as the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, and some Western European countries have mandatory closed captioning (alternatively called subtitling in most places except for the US) for television, to enable the hearing impaired to access information and entertainment. In Canada, for example, since the end of March 2013 the CRTC has made it mandatory for all live and near-live (recorded less than 24 hours before it is broadcast on television) programming to be captioned for television (CPC, 2012). For American television, FCC regulation states that: “Beginning in July 1993, the Federal Communications Commission required all analog television receivers with screens 13 inches or larger sold or manufactured in the United States to contain built-in decoder circuitry to display closed captioning. As of July 1, 2002, the

FCC also required that digital television (DTV) receivers include closed captioning display capability” (FCC). In the United Kingdom, the BBC achieved subtitling for all programs on main channels—BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBeebies,

40 CBBC and BBC News—by 2008 (Department for Culture Media and Sport, 2010)1. A brief discussion is included here to present the development of closed captioning in model Western countries where the technology has been successfully implemented.

Closed Captioning in the US

Subtitled films presented Americans with the possibility of captioned television.

The production and distribution of captioned television to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the US utilized the social and technological system of subtitled film (Downey, 2008), but did not emulate the latter in its development. The differences arose from the necessity to bring about an effective market-State partnership, which would absorb the significant labor costs of captioning television content. Moreover, there was an eventual substantial shift in the goals of television closed captioning—from visual education of school children to media equality. Deaf persons, in addition, long considered as suffering from a medical impairment, disability or a handicap, were beginning to be reimagined as a cultural diversity (Downey, 2008). American sign language was starting to be considered as a complete language comprised of a logical grammar structure, which could be used as an efficient tool for expression, and was not inferior to the

English language. Moreover, the two terminologies deaf and Deaf were being considered as depicting the medically hearing impairment, and a community of deaf people respectively, emphasizing the cultural identity of the latter.

Within these cultural and subcultural beliefs of the society, American lawmakers made the decision to pass the closed captioning legislation for American television. In addition, hearing impaired individuals, the Deaf community, proponents of technological

1 Author’s note: Citations for closed captioning are dated; the technology was most studied in the 1980- 2000 period

41 facilitators of closed captioning such as embedding decoder chips in all televisions

(Decoder Circuitry Act of 1993), advocates of nondiscrimination who highlighted the embarrassment or stigma attached to demanding special requirements by the D/HoH, and the illiterate, and consideration from the Congress to provide incentives for closed captioning of programs, all contributed significantly to the passage of the legislation mandating closed captioning. Officially, the service was started in 1980 (Gregg, 2006).

In 1996, the Telecommunications Act amended the Decoder Circuitry Act, subsequently directing the FCC to create a broad mandate for force-captioning American television programming.

Closed Captioning in Other Developed Countries

Given the strong demand for closed captioned broadcasting service in Japan, and especially for live programming and news, real-time captioning systems, such as those currently in operation on NHK were created in the early 2000s. Real-time captioning using a keyboard, noted Ando, Imai, Kobayashi, Isono, and Nakabayashi

(2000) was difficult. Ideographic Japanese characters, unlike the phonetic characters used in English that have clarity of correspondence between sounds and words, made the job of captioners more difficult. Yet, with new systems proposed, and some already in place such as a “hybrid method of switching between a direct program sound and a re-speaker’s voice for simple news programs” (Homma, Kobayashi, Oku, Sato, Imai &

Takagi, 2008), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in Japan mandated, in 2007, a guideline to promote closed captioning. The mandate requires Japanese broadcasters to provide closed captioning of all television programs including live programs, by 2017 (Homma et al., 2008). By the end of fiscal 2012, the Japanese

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) working to promote accessible

42 TV broadcasts for people with visual and hearing disabilities had achieved considerable success with 83.5 per cent of NHK general television broadcasts close-captioned (MIC,

2013).

The Canadian Broadcasting Act mandated that within the Canadian broadcasting system, depending on the availability of resources, accessible programming must be provided. According to the Canadian Broadcasters Association (CBA), there is strong evidence that deaf and hard of hearing people, or the “caption audience” will continue to grow in the next decade given the progressive ageing of the baby boomer generation, and the increasing cases of noise-induced deafness. Therefore, broadcasters must continue “to contribute to the public interest by continually working to improve access to their programming” for this population (CBA, 2004). According to the Canadian Radio,

Television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC)’s policy on closed- captioning, television stations generating revenue higher than $10 million annually, were required, by September 1998, to caption all local news bulletins, including live broadcasts. The policy also required television stations to caption “at least 90 per cent of all programming during the broadcast day by the end of individual license terms”.

Smaller television stations were expected and encouraged to endeavor for similar standards (CBA, 2004).

In addition to the CRTC’s efforts in this direction, the Council of Canadians with

Disabilities (CCD), the primary national organization of people with disabilities in

Canada, which collaborates internationally through Disabled Peoples International

(DPI), was founded in 1976 with a cross-disability mandate. With the human rights perspective in focus, CCD works towards obliterating discrimination with regard to

43 “employment, transportation, income security, health, and justice” in tandem with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

(D’Aubin, 2007, p. 194).

The Indian Case

If the specific case of closed captioning of television is observed in India, the government had draft mandated, in 2009, only prime time news on the national network

Doordarshan to be same-language-subtitled, following vigorous campaigning by hearing impaired rights groups. The mandate is yet to be implemented. At present, the only accessible TV news for the Deaf community is a weekly sign language news bulletin on the country’s public service broadcast station, Doordarshan (Hindustan Times, 2009).

In India, as mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is primarily responsible for disability policies. The Disability Division of the Ministry specifically facilitates empowerment of the persons with disabilities. The Ministry, under its aegis, has three statutory bodies, eight national institutes, two public sector undertakings, seven Composite Regional Centre for Persons with Disabilities, one public private partnership project and is in the process of setting up a National Institute for Inclusive and Universal Design to facilitate research on new assistive technologies for the disabled. According to the National Human Rights Commission Disability Manual

(2005) there are more than 3,000 Disabled People’s Organizations in India. Many of these are registered by the State as service-providers towards persons with disabilities.

At the other side of the spectrum, India also has a growing community of disabled people’s organizations, run by persons with disabilities, whose work has a rights-based development orientation (UN, 2006, p.11).

The membership numbers of these groups have grown exponentially over the years. Some of these groups, the National Association of the Deaf, and the Accessible

44 Broadcasting Coalition, in particular, have been advocating the case for television closed captioning of Indian television. In a letter to the then Minister for Information and

Broadcasting, the latter recommended that the Indian government mandate that all new television broadcasts, including live news, coverage of live events such as sports must include closed captioning in the language of the production. In addition, broadcasts of all pre-existing programs must include closed captioning in the language of the production (Accessible Broadcasting Coalition, 2010). More recently, following vigorous demands and protests by disability rights activists, India’s Republic Day parade was telecast on the public service broadcast channel Doordarshan, featuring simultaneous sign language interpretation for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. “Almost all English news channels took the feed from DD News with sign language interpretation” (Zee News,

2014).

Not much progress, however, has taken place towards closed captioning any television content yet. “Public policy is not one single actor’s brainchild”, wrote Kingdon

(1997, p. 71). Therefore, knowledge of the Indian broadcast policy and its key regulators is also required here before proceeding to build a case.

Broadcast Regulatory Authorities and the Broadcast Policy in India

The central Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is the apex body responsible for formulating and administrating rules, regulations, and laws pertaining to information, broadcasting, the press and motion pictures in India. The Ministry governs all mass communication channels—radio, television, films, the press, publications, advertising, and dance and drama. It plays a significant part in helping the people have access to free flow of information. It also caters to the dissemination of knowledge and entertainment to all sections of society, striking a careful balance between public

45 interest and commercial needs (OECD Roundtables, 2013). The Ministry of

Communications & Information Technology (MCIT) is responsible for licensing transmission equipment, satellites, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). The Telecom

Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regulates telecom services. One of the main objectives of TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent policy environment, which promotes a level playing field, and facilitates fair competition (OECD Roundtables,

2013).

As discussed before, in addition to others, various political factors affect the possible implementation and adoption of ICT in a country. Political volition of decision- makers sometimes drives the proliferation of specific communication technologies

(Rajesh, 2003). Particularly in India, traditional broadcast policies have advanced State control and focused on advertiser-driven programming with little consistent effort towards “promoting participation in development” (McDowell, 1997, p. 154). People’s democratic aspirations have further been sidelined with the “financialisation” of India; newer forces whose economic and political goals are in direct opposition have worsened the situation (Shaw, 2011).

India is a member of the UNCRPD, and gave formal sanction to the convention in

2007. Since then, various efforts have been made to bring together the key players in the disability movement to demand accessible technologies for the disabled. The

National Association of the Deaf (NAD) first raised the demand for mandatory closed captioning of all television programming and films to assist the hearing impaired, in

2007. But the Indian government did not consider the demand seriously according to the Disabled Rights Group (DRG), which drafted the Empowering Persons with

46 Disability in the country’s XI Five Year Plan. In March 2009, an announcement was made by prime minister’s office to close caption prime time news on Doordarshan

(IANS, 2009), but closed captioning yet remains to be implemented.

This brief review of the literature, and introduction of the case directs the research questions for this study.

Research question 1: What are the considerations for implementing a policy of mandatory closed captioning for Indian television as recommended in the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2012?

Research question 2: How do policymakers and disability rights advocates view closed captioning policy as a means of media access for the hearing impaired in India?

47

Figure 1-1. Question on disability canvassed in Census 2011 [Census of India 2011 Data on Disability, Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, 2013, http://www.censusindia.gov.in]

48

Steps for over-the-air caption

Script via ENT Teleprompter

Captioned Programing

Caption Encoder Video

Prerecorded/Live

Program

Captioners

Figure 1-2. Required steps for creating closed captions for TV and the Internet. [Adapted from National Association of Broadcasters, Notice of Ex Parte Communications, MB Docket No. 11-154, p.4]

49 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

A number of studies have focused on closed captioning as a helpful tool for the hearing impaired populations in different countries. Most prominently, television closed captioning has been studied in terms of its role in enabling adult education (Kothari,

Pandey & Chudgar, 2004; Kothari, 2000; Spanos & Smith, 1990; Bean & Wilson, 1989), reading instruction for deaf students (Lewis & Jackson, 2001; Koskinen, Wilson &

Jensema, 1985), enabling learning for non-native speakers of English, and for other foreign language learning (Huang & Eskey, 1999; Parks, 1994; Garza, 1991; Koskinen,

Wilson, Gambrell, & Jensema, 1986). A limited number of studies have also focused on highlighting the scope of and perspectives on closed captioned television in regard to their utility as an information and communication technology for the Deaf and Hard of

Hearing. Universal accessibility has been a basic premise for advocates of closed captioned television who have highlighted the need for equitable media content availability across audiences regardless of physical (dis)ability. But none have focused specifically on the topic of closed captioning as a tool for equitable access to television news, and consequently as an enabler of participation of the hearing impaired in the public sphere in a democratic society. In the previous chapter, literature was presented to highlight the human development perspective for building a democratic society by attempting to create social justice using information communication technologies, and that access to information is a basic human right, and needs to be ensured by making, among other media, television accessible to the hearing impaired.

In this chapter, previous research is discussed to highlight the broad perspectives of disability; a definition of disability is provided based on how it is viewed

50 in terms of social and functional criteria leading to specifically defining deafness as a disability. The growth and development and current state of the disability rights movement in India is discussed. Studies that use social and capability perspectives of disability to present arguments on information communication technologies, particularly closed captioned media as an enabler are cited and discussed. Closed-captioned television as a technical advancement for the benefit of the Deaf/ Hard of Hearing, is explained based on available literature and patent submissions. Lastly, specific to the

Indian case, the challenges and opportunities presented by the technology in terms of equitable access and viability including language policy planning, literacy and demographics are explored, and the basis on which a case for closed captioning of

Indian television, particularly television news, is being advocated is discussed.

Definitions of Disability

In The Journal of the American Medical Association, Iezzoni and Freedman

(2008) acquainted us with the observation that defining disability has likely been a difficult task for years—with social scientists grappling with finding a definition for the term. Mitra (2006) also noted that in social science research, a consensus is yet to be reached in terms of explaining what constitutes disability. Altman (2001) identified the several theoretical models that have been developed in an attempt to define disability.

Mitra (2006) further stated that disability has been described via different perspectives— medical, sociological and political, and various definitions have been developed and applied in different contexts. The reason for varied approaches to define disability may be explained by Altman’s (2001) observation defining disability theoretically is not a

“simple exercise in semantics;” any wordplay around the theoretical definition of disability exposes it to widely applicable social, economic, and political implications (p.

51 236). According to Altman and Barnartt (2000), disability is a ubiquitous topic in social science research since defining disability holds different and important meanings for disabled people, governments, international organizations, activists, and researchers.

In the United States, the rights–based approach, which influenced policy in the

1970s introduced the idea of disabled people as a minority that is entitled to civil rights protections (Blanck, Wilichowski & Schmeling, 2003). The Americans with Disabilities

Act (ADA), which was passed in 1990, recognized that

Historically, society has tended to isolate and segregate individuals with disabilities, and, despite some improvements, such forms of discrimination against individuals with disabilities continue to be a serious and pervasive social problem; [and that] individuals with disabilities are a discrete and insular minority who have been faced with restrictions and limitations, subjected to a history of purposeful unequal treatment, and relegated to a position of political powerlessness in our society. 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101(a)(2), (7) (2000)

The crux of the disability rights movement in the US lay in the direction of the disabled seeking a fundamental shift in society’s conception of disability. An attempt to foster change in society’s way of thinking about the disabled as people in need of pity or charity, or suffering from a tragic condition, is displayed in disabled rights’ activist Judy

Huemann’s statement: “Disability only becomes a tragedy for me when society fails to provide me the things we need to lead our lives” (Shapiro, 1993, p. 20). Similarly, in Ed

Roberts’ words, which focus on demand for control, and oppose the idea of dependency: “If we have learned one thing from the civil rights movement in the US, it’s that when others speak for you, you lose” (Charlton, 1998, p. 3). Shapiro’s work No Pity

People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement, which used a human interest approach with sharp criticism and highlighted issues and real-life situations affecting the disabled (1993) discussed the then prevalent mindsets. America’s disabled

52 made a demand for iconoclastic change in mindsets; Shapiro noted that the ADA brought real breakthrough with a rights-based approach towards disability (1993).

The ADA was conceptualized with an aim to eliminate the physical, economic, technological and social barriers that prevent unequal participation of the disabled in society. The Act, wrote Blanck et al. (2003), has advanced “equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency” for people with disabilities in the US (p. 827). They recalled that the disability policy framework was initiated in the 1970s and 1980s with the introduction of national policies for the disabled replacing the medical conception of disability as infirmity that hinders equal participation in society, with that of a civil rights conception.

In line with the shift in focus to a rights-based approach towards disability in

America, many other countries have, or are now, following suit. The civil rights-based perspective that seeks empowerment instead of accommodation for the disabled has led to the introduction of mandates in many parts of the world. In the European Union

(EU), for instance, in recent years, the approach has remained prevalent on the EU disability agenda; the EU has been focusing on social participation and equal opportunity. Waldschmidt (2009) noted that the “right to non-discrimination is put into practice” (p. 16-17). Viewing disability as a human rights issue encourages people to recognize equality among all—abled, disabled, or different—and in turn binds society to eliminate “attitudinal and physical barriers to equality”. Further, it encourages society to work towards inclusion of persons with disabilities (Perlin, 2008, p. 483-484). Figure 2-1 summarizes definitions of disability as summarized by Iezzoni & Freedman (2008).

53 Disability as a Medical or Functional Limitations Construct

In the 1800s, with the invention of new diagnostic tools, certifying disability as a medical condition became easy for doctors. By the 1900s, the definition of disability based on the medical model, which viewed disability “as a problem of the person, directly caused by disease, trauma or other health condition” was firmly entrenched in any discussion of disability. In addition, managing disability, according to this line of thought, was aimed at curing the problem, or adjustment and behavioral change in the disabled.

This functional limitations approach, as identified by Grönvik (2009), often labels physical disability as impairments, a label that limits or disables a person from performing expected social roles and tasks (Nagi, 1979). He further noted that peripheral factors have a pronounced role to play in determining the facets and severity of disability:

 the individual’s definition of the situation and reactions, which at times compound the limitations;

 the definition of the situation by others, and their reactions and expectations— especially those who are significant in the lives of the person with the disabling condition (e.g., family members, friends and associates, employers and co- workers, and organizations and professions that provide services and benefits), and

 characteristics of the environment and the degree to which it is free from, or encumbered with, physical and sociocultural barriers (1979, p.315)

Hahn & Hegamin (2001) observed that following this functional limitation definition focusing on medical impairment and disregarding environmental measures has driven most researchers to preoccupy themselves with quantifying disability using scale measures, such as the Activities for Daily Living (Table 2-1) and the Instrumental

Activities for Daily Living (Table 2-2) developed in the 1960s. Measurement of disability

54 using these quantitative scales, census reports, and surveys have been conducted globally in keeping with the functional limitations approach. The US Social Security

Administration, for example, observed Jette (2006), defines work disability in terms of inability to engage in meaningful activity owing to any prolonged “medically determinable physical or mental impairment” (p. 727).

Disability as a Social Construct

In contrast to the medical or biological impairment approach to defining disability, the social model defines disability as a socially-constructed circumstance in which society oppresses the disabled by failing to provide them with the appropriate accommodations or a flexible environment. Attitudes and attributes of the social and physical environment cause such environmental inflexibility, and demand “political response or solution” (Jette, 2006, p. 727). Oliver (1990, 1996 a) coined the term the social model of disability (Figure 2-2) to focus on the limitations that society has in terms of considering the specific, functional requirements of the disabled. Viewing disability from a social perspective, however, does not deny the individual aspects of disability focused on in the medical model; they are conceptualized in a more balanced manner situating personal impairments in the social context (Toboso, 2011). Goering noted that the social model of disability, in addition to steering social change towards greater inclusion of and non-discrimination towards people with impairments highlights the importance of respecting individuality (2010).

The social model itself comprises of at least nine varied versions and Pfeiffer

(2001) listed them as:

 The social model of the United Kingdom  The oppressed minority model

55  The social constructionist version of the United States  The impairment version  The independent living version  The postmodern version  The continuum version  The human variation version  The discrimination version

The relevant versions of the social model of disability that justify this study’s epistemology have been identified as a combination of the first three perspectives from

Pfeiffer’s classification. These three perspectives directed the study’s inclination towards a capabilities-based approach to disability.

The basic Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS, 1976) approach in the United Kingdom, which was drawn on the claim of disabled people to social or civil rights of the UK disabled people's movement and was documented in the

Fundamental Principles of Disability (Corker, 1999) was reworked into the social model of disability by Oliver (1983) to include a more complex discussion of disability. Barnes and Mercer (2005) highlighted Oliver’s account of the sources, forms and consequences of disability, in which he had stressed the following (Barnes & Mercer,

2005, p. 531):

 the social model directs the analytical focus away from individual functional limitations to the barriers to social inclusion created by disabling environments, attitudes, and cultures

 it is a holistic approach that emphasizes the interrelationship of these barriers across everyday life such as inaccessible education, information and communication systems, working environments, inadequate disability benefits, discriminatory health and social support services, inaccessible transport, houses and public buildings and amenities, and negative cultural and media representations

 it does not deny the importance or value of specific individual interventions in the lives of disabled people, for example, medical, rehabilitative, educational, and

56 employment initiatives, but emphasizes that they are insufficient to achieve inclusion in a society preeminently constructed by and for non-disabled people

In summary, Barnes & Mercer (2005) concluded that the social model of disability in the United Kingdom functioned as a way to scrutinize disabling tendencies of society, which could ultimately lead to formulation of inclusionary policies and practices. Crow

(1996) claimed in the context of UK’s social model of disability that the approach has enabled the disabled to visualize themselves as being free of constraints. In addition, it has enabled the disabled to promote their individual self-worth, collective identities and political organization; that “the social model has saved lives” (Crow, 1996, p. 207).

Mackelprang and Salsgiver (1999) drew attention to the oppressed minority identity of the disabled by observing that societal attitudes tend to separate disabled people and deny them complete social participation. Unfamiliarity with what is not the norm—people with disabilities—and isolation, have led to stereotypical attitudes towards them and towards what is called ableism. They used the term ableism to describe the societal belief that the observed differences between the disabled and the non-disabled render the former as inferior. In this regard, ableism, they noted, is similar to racism and sexism. Similar to sexism or racism, ableism allows for minority sections of society to be defined in “stereotypical and/or negative ways” by the dominant majority. It reduces the worth of people with disabilities, and results in social exclusion and exclusionary policies that pose as barriers to their full participation in society

(Mackelprang and Salsgiver, 1999, p. 9). Shakespeare (2006) noted that some disability rights activists and scholars have tried to develop the idea, and affirm the ethnic conception of a disability identity, and advocate the idea of a disability culture. Hahn

(1982 through 1993) widely explicated the oppressed minority analysis for the disabled,

57 stating that it should be viewed just like societal marginalization of other minorities created on the basis of race etc. Hahn (1993) explained that all aspects of the environment are influenced and shaped by public policy that reflects predominant social attitudes or values: therefore, existing public infrastructure, employment requisitions and daily life, with their discriminatory consequences on citizens with disabilities are not coincidental. They may be caused by conscious or unconscious reinforcement of an order of dominance wherein inequalities manifest themselves between the disabled and the non-disabled, and expose basic incompatibility with “legal principles of freedom and equality” (Hahn, 1993, p. 46-47).

Hahn’s focus on the oppressed minority classification of disability basically urged the legal system in a country to ensure that the disabled are not discriminated against.

Distrust on social and political institutions in guaranteeing basic individual rights of people with disabilities steer faith to be placed on the law instead (Bickenbach,

Chatterji, Badley and Üstün, 1999). Such a perspective that focused on the judiciary, and hoped to ensure equal rights for the disabled in society, played a strategic role in the formulation the Americans with Disabilities Act (1991). Protections against discrimination primarily in employment, public transportation, and communication are provided in the ADA on this theoretical grounding and inspired similar antidiscrimination legislation in Australia, Germany, India and the UK (Bickenbach et al., 1999, p. 1180).

The Social Constructionist Version in the US

The social constructionist approach to disability in the United States advanced the social model. This approach galvanized the World Health Organization’s (WHO) formulation of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps

(ICIDH) in 1980. Revisions to the ICIDH were undertaken and ICIDH2 was formulated in

58 year 2000 to address some of the shortcomings in the former classification. Primary among the weaknesses addressed were (1) Insufficient attention to the role of the environment, (2) Overlap between the Impairment and Disability dimensions, and between the Disability and Handicap dimensions, and (3) A lack of clarity about the causal and temporal relationships among the 3 dimensions (Gray & Hendershot, 2000, p. S11). Anastasiou and Kauffman (2011) noted that in general, the constructionist approach helped us empathize with the experiences of people with disabilities, and support their right to protest against socially constructed barriers that reflect a bias towards people without disabilities. According to Anastasiou and Kauffman, even though “the impairment/disability distinction can lead to a dualism of existence”, policy strategies that encourage inclusion can benefit persons with physical and sensory disabilities (2011, p. 376). Siebers (2001), however, cautioned against strong social constructionism: it either falls short in accounting for real physical impairments in persons with disabilities, or creates unrealistic, unrecognizable, conformist and conventional images of their bodies.

Yet, despite claims that the social constructionist model has largely disregarded the experience of impairment in the disabled, reduced the importance of medical treatment, and has not taken into account social differences around gender, sexuality, social class, age and other sociocultural attributes (Barnes & Mercer, 2005), the social construction analysis of disability has its merits according to some scholars. Samaha

(2007) pointed out that while the focus may be on the social model’s disadvantage, which apparently does not account for the experience of impairment in people with disabilities, critics gloriously overlook the “logical distance between the model's

59 causation description and public policy” (p. 1253). He further highlighted three lines of argument in favor of the social model, despite taking into account its disadvantages.

The social model of disability, according to Samaha, works well in at least largely identifying the environmental factors that contribute to the disadvantages the disabled face in society. This argument validates the fact that no scholar can deny that social and architectural system limitations do affect disadvantage. The social model has also been accused of not specifying what the term “disadvantage” may refer to. To counter this allegation, Samaha wrote that ambiguity in defining disadvantage arises only from lack of clarity about specifying and judging proper emphasis, and is a shortcoming capable of being overcome “without jeopardizing the social model” (2007, p. 1265). Individual traits in conjunction with inimical social conditions can result in both absolute and relative disadvantages (Samaha, 2007). Lastly, attention is drawn to the ability of the social model to obliterate disability to a large extent by reworking and fixing “social and physical structures and systems” that put persons with disabilities at a disadvantage

(Crossley, 1998, p. 621). Despite accepting that the social model of disability cannot explain “every human disadvantage linked to every individual trait” Samaha (2007, p.

1267) further contended that the approach has significant advantage over the conventional conception of disability as a “only a series of personal tragedies” (Samaha,

2007, p. 1267). Barnes (2005) concluded that while the social model based on a civil rights perspective may not be panacea for positive social change, it nevertheless propels one to examine society’s disabling proclivities and aim for “inclusionary policies and practices” (Barnes, 2005, p. 532).

The Capability Approach

The capability approach (Figure 2-3), conceptualized by Amartya Sen and later

60 built upon by Martha Nussbaum, focuses upon the limitations brought about by a lack of resources, which may cause an individual to either “adapt her preferences through resignation to her circumstances”, or limit her the freedom to grow and flourish by reducing her opportunities to live a life she considers valuable (Florian, 2013, p. 432).

Terzi (2005) succinctly described the capability approach as one that argues in favor or equality and social arrangements that need to be scrutinized and evaluated in terms of real freedoms that they may offer to individuals for their wellbeing. She maintained that the capability approach provides individuals with the choice to select their functionings

—examples include “walking, reading, being well-nourished, being educated, having self-respect or acting in one’s political capacity” (p. 449). According to Sen, capability provides people with multiple directions towards freedom of living, “to choose from possible livings” (Sen, 1992, p. 40).

The capability approach, observed Mitra (2006), has been studied to analyze links between disability, gender discrimination, and poverty, but has not been focused upon for its utility in defining disability, or for formulation of policies regarding disabilities.

Recently, however, Trani, Bakhshi, Bellanca, Biggeri and Marchetta (2011) steered their attention towards exploring how the capability approach may be used to improving the circumstances and inclusion of persons with disabilities.

In terms of disability, it may be helpful to combine the social model of disability with the capability approach (CA), posited Burchardt (2004). In Capabilities and disability: the capabilities framework and the social model of disability, she suggested that while the capabilities framework builds a general framework around the social model of disability inclusive of its central tenets, the social approach itself provides “a

61 thorough‐going application of the capabilities framework” (p. 735). Trani et al. highlighted that the capabilities approach “helps to overcome some of the limits and reduce the potential of contrasting results of the disability models” (2011, p. 156). The

CA, accordingly, redirects focus towards an endeavor to establish equality in terms of possibilities and choices. Consequently, as an operational tool, it recognizes crucial tenets of wellbeing—its inhibitors and facilitators within the community. Thus it provides policy decision-makers with relevant knowledge towards implementing inclusive policies. (Trani, Bakhshi, Bellanca, Biggeri & Marchetta, 2011).

At this point, it is imperative to mention the International Classification of

Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF, Figure 2-4), which was formulated by the World

Health Organization as a revised version of the erstwhile ICIDH model of impairment, disability and handicap (1980), and which defines disability as a consequence of interplay between bodily impairment and functioning, and social conditions—“the interactive model of disability” (Hurst, 2003, p. 574). The interactive model of disability, she further explained, is the same as the social model of disability: “A rose by any other name smells as sweet!” (p. 575). The mention of the ICF is important here since it is the international standard for disability and functioning collection; bringing together the capabilities approach and the ICF is recommended by Bickenbach (2014) as a strong basis for gathering and evaluating data to monitor policy implementation to align with the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, for example.

Mitra (2006) elaborated that the ICF “is the only conceptual model of disability that also comes close to offering a concrete classification system of individuals” (p.

238). With two scales that individually measure a person’s individual capacity to carry

62 out tasks or perform actions in a standardized environment disregarding the impact of different environments on his abilities (capacity qualifier), and a person’s actual lived experience in the actual settings or context (performance qualifier), Mitra (2006) concluded that the ICF framework defines disability in closest terms to what the capabilities approach recommends.

Conceptualizing provisions and entitlements in terms of the capabilities approach, especially in communication policy, allows for surpassing the traditional and often-used “superficial indices of access and usage” (Garnham in Calabrese &

Burgelman, 1999, p. 121). In this sense, Garnham urged policymakers and researchers alike to think of media—print and broadcast—as enablers of a variety of functionings rather than as providers of content, which is to be consumed. Media and communication policy, therefore, is to be evaluated in terms of its effectiveness in serving social needs and distributing relevant capabilities. Media, print and broadcast, thus “contribute to a state of belonging to a given cultural group or society” (Calabrese & Burgelman, 1999, p. 121). The scholars concluded that an individual is not, and does not feel like, a full citizen if he or she is unable to access relevant information provided by media.

Deafness as a Disability: The Sociocultural Model of Deafness

Cultural identity arises as a construct from the Minority Identity Development theory. “One’s cultural identity provides one means of understanding one’s psychological relationship to cultural communities with which one has ties,” wrote

Glickman (1993). Fitzgerald (1993) emphasized that culture provides identity at both individual and group levels.

For people who can hear, deafness is singularly comprehended as a disability, a condition that disables persons to function normally in audiological terms. However, for

63 many Deaf people, deafness is defined not so much in terms of physical impairment as with respect to “linguistic, social, and cultural issues” (Reagan, 1995, p. 240). About two decades back, the Deaf community began to offer themselves as a cultural minority as opposed to a group with a disability. Much like the shift in disability perspective from the medical model to the social model, the view on deafness also started changing from a pathological perspective, the then dominant model, to a sociocultural one. Shapiro

(1993) highlighted that the pathological perspective on deafness views it as a deficit to be fixed; the sociocultural perspective, on the other hand, focused on the issue of civil rights, steering efforts towards assist the Deaf to “function fully in the dominant culture”

(cited in Reagan, 1995, p. 242).

Being Deaf as understood in the cultural sense, wrote Young and Temple (2014), varies around the world. Variance in legal rights, social practices, and prevalent attitudes in different societies leads to differences in the conception. They further elaborated with examples of how the American with Disabilities Act (1990), discussed earlier, focused on the rights-based definition of Deafness, providing Deaf Americans equal rights, access and citizenship. They then contrast the American view of Deafness with that of Zimbabwe’s, as an example, where Deaf or the disabled are referred to using the pronoun ‘it’, reducing disabled humans to possess a ‘thing-like quality, and thus, different from full humans” (Young & Temple, 2014, p. 15). Cultural differences in comprehending Deafness aside, they surmised that understanding Deafness beyond physical impairment merges it with specific social contexts, arbitrating “its significance and consequences for people who are Deaf” (p. 15).

Understanding Deafness as a sociocultural construct may work well towards

64 advancing the cause of social justice and equality for the Deaf in the way that when the

Deaf identify themselves as a cultural group, they work towards social change. Bat-

Chava recalled that via the route of social change, “deaf people may assume a culturally deaf identity,” consequently grouping together with other deaf people using, for instance, American Sign Language (ASL), and “participating in social, civic, and political organizations and networks” (2000, p. 420). The mention of ASL here leads to the insight that Corker so relevantly highlighted in Disability Politics, Language Planning and Inclusive Society: Citizenship is both a status encompassing a range of rights, and a practice, which involves obligations as well as participation. Lister (1997) further elaborated that such citizenship involves enjoying citizenship rights necessary for interaction, and social and political participation, “for which ‘voice’, language and knowledge are necessary” (in Croker, 2000, p. 457). In this sense, with the value sign language offers to the Deaf community as a mark of identity for a separate cultural minority (Deaf), and as much as it is valuable as a tool for the Deaf in their everyday visual and spatial experience, sign language by itself may relocate the idea of disability rather than eliminating it. Corker argued that the need for the hour is not to identify and seclude the Deaf as a cultural minority and encourage language as a panacea for social exclusion. Rather, she advocated for more collective and interdependent disability politics, which seeks radical social transformation ensuring for the Deaf community the right to social and political participation—“the right to voice and the right to be understood” (emphasis in original, 2000, p. 459).

65 Herein lies the merit of considering a capability approach to disability (Deafness for the purpose of this study) and offering assistive technologies as possible removers of access disability, and enablers of participation.

Assistive Technology and Policy for Disabled

Assistive technology is defined as any product or service that is designed to enable the disabled and older people to be independent (Freeman, Meadmore and

Burridge, 2011). Sharma and Wasson (2012) further defined assistive technology in

American federal legislation terms as any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities (p.

86). This definition, explained Shinohara and Wobbrock (2011), is used to describe any technology created specifically to help people with disabilities, enabling their access to

“environment, technology, information, and services” (p. 705).

Closed Captioning: Definition and Metrics

With this broad definition of assistive technologies, closed captioning as an assistive ICT is designed to enable the Deaf/HoH to access television. Looms (2014, p.

48) drew up a list of five components, which when coupled with viewer capability, have a direct impact on television viewing:

 The intrinsic intelligibility of television content  Television access services  Television meta-content  The television service interface  Interfaces with other assistive technologies used by television viewers with functional impairments

With a focus on television access services, Li and Looms (2013) identified that most impetus for advocating accessible services comes from disability rights

66 organizations. Liachowitz argued in 1988 that without considering disability as a social construct, explanations of how modern legislation affects the disabled are incomplete.

Bickenbach et al. (1999) reinforced further, quoting Barnes (1991) and Silvers (1994) that far from pity or a predisposition towards “fixing” people, there is a need for promoting legal human rights protection, representation in policymaking and the political process, and holistic inclusion disablement issues in public policy. As has been discussed earlier, for example, when viewed as a matter of civil rights, closed captioning of television first started out as a service in America based on the US government's larger commitment towards ensuring the right of persons with disabilities to full social participation (Jaeger, 2006). Though her study did not specifically look at closed- captioning of television but that of online videos in the American context, and more generally at information communication technologies for the disabled, Ellcessor (2012) built a case seeking advancement of closed captioning services with a civil rights perspective rather than a neoliberal market-oriented one. An inclination to promote television accessibility for the mainstream benefit of education to children, illiterate

Americans, immigrants, and to deaf and hard of hearing audiences had led campaigns for installing caption decoders in all American television sets. But despite the facility providing for a legitimate benefit, there was a glaring neoliberal focus on market profitability by justifying the provision of accessible television for people with disabilities as a move that would gather a larger customer base with its inclusion of non-disabled customers (Ellcessor, 2012). According to Ellcessor, such solutions are unreliable in addressing the requirements and civil rights of the Deaf and hard of hearing (2012).

67 Citing the examples of Spain and the UK, Looms (2014) observed that once the case for accessible television is made and accepted by public broadcasters, national legislations, standards and regulations followed. In New Zealand, for example, many public and private television channels are closed captioned. Many prime time programs on free-to-air channels and local channels are captioned, totaling more than 250 hours of captioned programming, according to The National Foundation for the Deaf Inc. In addition, in 2012, SKY TV, New Zealand’s prominent pay-TV operator rolled out closed captioned services for 13 channels, following concentrated efforts by the Captioning

Working Group whose membership included representatives from the National

Foundation for the Deaf (NFD) and Deaf Aotearoa (Infonews). Looms recommended advocacy for assistive television according to a SWOT diagram (Table 2-3).

Based on this SWOT analysis, Looms (2014) concluded that initiatives for assistive television need to consider both the perceived needs of the disabled as well as all the prominent stakeholders who are required to make the plans for and visions of accessible television a reality. Looms highlighted that a “credible and compelling case” for action is the first step towards promoting accessible television. Such a case then needs to illustrate the contribution of various stakeholders in the process, with each of them “can contribute to accessible TV rather than defend the status quo.” (2014, p. 57).

Tongia, Subrahmanian and Arunachalam (2005) suggested development of metrics for success, efficacy, scale, and sustainability to evaluate funding, research and development initiatives and strategies for implementation. In keeping with this suggestion, Li and Loom (2014, p. 567) listed metrics to assess the viability and

68 success of accessible television for the Deaf/HoH after drawing examples from countries in which closed captioning has been successfully implemented.

For the supply side, they list the following metrics:

 Applicability: broadcasters, channels and content genres: This metric evaluates accessible television on the distribution network, i.e. terrestrial, cable, satellite or Internet.

 Minimum thresholds for each access service: This metric evaluates access service provision as a percentage of the output of a given channel or in terms or the number of hours of programming per day, week or month.

 Scheduling: This metric evaluates accessible television on when the service is made available—during live programming, for particular hours etc.

 Quality metrics for each access service: To measure, at the consolidation phase, the quality of the service such as closed captioning, offered.

For the demand side metrics, Li and Looms (2014) highlighted awareness of closed captioning and other television access technology among the target population and the society at large, with adoption, usage and satisfaction to be assessed once the service is made available.

The Digital Divide, Access and Opportunity

With all the merits of assistive technologies that have been documented earlier, a danger in investing too much faith in them as facilitating inclusion and as enablers, however, is that they may exacerbate the digital divide—the gap between technology haves and have-nots, based on the two different concepts—access and opportunity. In case of developing countries such as India, in particular, opportunity or existence of an

ICT may not necessarily translate into access. Borg, Larsson and Östergren (2011) rightly noted that despite their facilitating role in creating opportunities for disabled people to exercise their basic human rights, people in many countries have limited access to assistive technologies.

69 In India, the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012 mandates inclusive provisions with regards to access to ICTs (Figure 2-5). But it is important to note here that access to assistive technologies varies with economic means, gender, age, culture and disabilities (Francois, Lambert, Salort, Bertrand & Tonglet, 1998, Matsen, 1999,

May-Teerink, 1999, and Joseph, 2003). Women and children, for instance, are less likely to access assistive technology, noted Borg, Lindström and Larsson (2011). Yet,

Samant, Matter and Harniss (2013) reiterated that the disabled in developing countries face considerable barriers to socioeconomic participation, which assistive technologies or ICTs can mitigate to a large extent. The authors highlighted that technological advancements by themselves are not enough to promote penetration, affordability, or scalability of ICT-based development for the disabled; that availability and access are determined by a range of factors including “individual, social, financial, and government actors and systems”. In low- and middle-income countries, in addition, “supportive legislation, policy, infrastructure and financing” are key determinants (Samant, Matter and Harniss, 2013, p. 11-20).

For planning and implementing any assistive technology policy, therefore, including one for closed captioning, care also needs to be taken to factor in demographic distinctions such as age, type of disability, and socioeconomic status, as scholars have time and again reminded us (Hafkin and Huyer, 2007; Best and Maier,

2007; Dalal, 2006).

Language Policy Planning for the Deaf and Closed Captioning

Apart from the barriers to access to ICTs, if viewed particularly with regard to closed captioning, perhaps the biggest barrier in ICT policy planning for the Deaf/HoH in

India can be language. Ruiz (1994) emphasizes that language is one the most

70 fundamental freedoms of a civilized society, and therefore language must be taken into consideration while planning policy. The transformation of language from being a means to a medium, from the positivist to the post positivist tradition in the social science, notes

Hajer, highlights the shift in perception of the role of language in political life. When from a neutral system of signs and symbols, language turned into “a system of signification through which actors not simply describe but create the world”, policy analysts got new and relevant tools to “analyze how certain relations of dominance are structured and reproduced” (Hajer in Forester, 1993, p. 44, 45). Kennedy (1983, p. iii) wrote that “the close relationship between the use of a language and political power, socioeconomic development, national and local identity and cultural values has led to the increased realization of the importance of importance of language policies and planning in the life of a nation”.

In this regard, Reagan (2010) distinguished four types of language planning: status planning, corpus planning, acquisition planning, and attitude planning. Of interest for this study is the first one, status planning. Status planning refers to “efforts by a government or institution to determine what language or languages are to be used in particular spheres of use” (p. 51). In a multilingual country like India, then, “the question for policymakers is not so much as how to develop languages as which language to develop for which purposes” (Hornberger, 2006, p. 27). This observation is apt in the face of India being a “crucible for the drama of language conflict” with no single language as the official medium (Laitin, 1989). India has two official languages—English and Hindi, with 41.03 per cent (422 million, 2011 census) of the population speaking

Hindi, and around 125 million English speakers (The Times of India, 2010). These

71 numbers are closely followed by 83.3 million, or 8.11 per cent, of the people speaking the scheduled language Bengali. For the Deaf/HoH population in India, specifically, the choice of language for closed-captioning then becomes an issue of access.

In India, same language subtitling (SLS) of some entertainment programs has, to a certain extent, made them accessible to the Deaf/HoH. SLS is the process of subtitling video/ visuals in the same language as the audio, with the audio track reproduced verbatim and synchronously. Closed captioning, a form of subtitling, works in a different manner. Closed captioning “does not have a binding relation between the audio track and the language of subtitling. Rather, the relationship of the CC language is with the language that a hearing-disadvantaged viewer is expected to read and understand” (Kothari, Pandey & Chudgar, 2004, p. 27). While closed captioning requires different television set capabilities, and Indian television sets larger than 13 inches (as mandated in the United States) do not necessarily have built-in decoders, it can be claimed more useful than SLS. Closed-captioning, unlike SLS, can paraphrase the audio and provide caption sounds. Pereira recommended that subtitles should reproduce “not only what is said, but also how it is said (emphasis, tone of voice, accents, foreign languages, different noises, etc.) and who says it” (2005, p. 162). Also, closed captioning, unlike open SLS, can be switched off and on according to the hearing capabilities of the viewer. Given the advantage closed captioning has over SLS in terms of language dependence, in India, attention needs to be given to the language most Deaf/HoH can interpret.

Ruiz (1994) notes that English has traditionally been “considered a language of political, economic, and social power and prestige; its preeminence in the United States,

72 as elsewhere, has been reinforced in recent times by its establishment as a language of technology”. Herein may lie a substantial barrier to television closed captioning access in India. Reagan notes that in formerly colonized countries, the language of the colonial power continues to function as the official language even though this may translate into

“disempowering large numbers of people in the society, largely as a consequence of social class and education” (2010, p. 44, 45). In India, the majority of English speakers belong to the well-educated, upper social class. To enable television access to a bigger and wider population, closed captioning of Indian television policy must consider the far larger number of people who speak and understand Hindi, or one of the 22 scheduled

Indian languages. Attempts towards real-time closed captioning language translation based on the end-user’s language preference, such as one made by Abramson and

Hale (2013), or translation apparatus, which can translate CC text “into a language of choice on the fly so that CC text is displayed in the chosen language instead of in the transmitted language” (Ayoub & Chen, 2008, p. 9) are yet pending patents. Therefore access to closed-captioning of Indian television for the Deaf/HoH population, and others, may depend on technology advancement and policy to implement the assistive technology in a language accessible to the majority of Indians.

73 World Health Organization, 2001 “Umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations or participation restrictions,” conceiving “a person’s functioning and disability . . . as a dynamic interaction between health conditions (diseases, disorders, injuries, traumas, etc.) and contextual factors,” including the social, attitudinal, and physical environments and personal attributes.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 1990 §3(2) “The term ‘disability’ means, with respect to an individual—(A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; (B) a record of such an impairment; or (C) being regarded as having such an impairment.”

ADA Regulations (28 CFR Part 36, §36.104) “Major life activities include such things as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.” To be substantially limited, an individual’s important life activities must be “restricted as to the conditions, manner, or duration under which they can be performed in comparison to most people.”

Social Security Administration, 2003 “Inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment(s) which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.”

American Medical Association, 2001 “An alteration of an individual’s capacity to meet personal, social, or occupational demands because of an impairment.”

Figure 2-1. Definitions of Disability. [Iezzoni, L. I., & Freedman, V. A., 2008. Turning the disability tide: the importance of definitions (Box: Definitions of Disability, p.333)].

74

Social norms, beliefs, and Individual's physical or

mainstream preferences mental trait (for example,

(for example, oral a gene associated with

communication) deafness

Built environment choices Individual's functional (for example, telephone impairment (for example, networks) in ability to hear)

Individual's disadvantage (for example, economic, social, political status)

Figure 2-2. A Social Model of Disability. [Samaha, A. M., 2007. What good is the social model of disability? Figure 2, p. 9].

75

Commodities (e.g. Environmental Personal food) (Physical, social, Characteristics economic, cultural, (e.g. age, political impairment)

Characteristics

Capabilities of a Person to Function (practical opportunities)

Choices

Functionings (actually achieved)

Figure 2-3. The Capability Approach. [Mitra, S. (2006). The capability approach and disability. Figure 2, p. 240]

76

Health Condition (Disorder or disease)

Body functions and Activities Participation Structures

Environmental Personal Factors Factors

Figure 2-4. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. [Mitra, S. (2006). The capability approach and disability. Figure 2, p. 239].

77 (1) Appropriate governments and establishments shall take measures to ensure that: a. All content in whichever medium whether audio, print or electronic shall be made available to persons with disabilities in accessible format; b. Persons with disabilities have access to electronic media by providing for audio description, sign language interpretation and close captioning; c. Accessibility to telecommunication services where telecommunications will include any kind of transmission of information of the user’s choosing without change in form or content of information as sent or received; d. Electronic goods and equipment of everyday use shall follow the principles of universal design; e. Schemes are formulated or amended to ensure affordable access to Information and Communication Technology & Electronics for persons with disabilities in rural as well as urban areas; f. Incentives and concessions are provided to support existing websites to make them accessible to persons with disabilities. (2) All government websites and private websites providing consumer services, shall be made accessible, in accordance to the regulations formulated by the National Commission, within a maximum period of one year from the date of notification of such regulations.

Figure 2-5. Access to Information and Communication Technology [The Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, p. 37, accessible from http://socialjustice.nic.in/pwd2011.php]

78 Table 2-1. Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living Activities Dependence Independence

Points (1 or 0) (1 Point) (0 Points) No supervision, direction With supervision, or personal assistance direction, personal assistance or total care Bathing (1 Point) Bathes self completely (0 Points) Needs help Points:______or needs help in bathing only a with bathing more single part of the body such as than one part of the the back, genital area or disabled body, getting in or out extremity. of the tub or shower. Requires total bathing. Dressing (1 Point) Gets clothes from (0 Points) Needs help Points:______closets and drawers and puts on with dressing self or clothes and outer garments needs to be complete with fasteners. May completely dressed. have help tying shoes. Toileting (1 Point) Goes to toilet, gets on (0 Points) Needs help Points:______and off, arranges clothes, cleans transferring to the genital area without help. toilet, cleaning self or uses bedpan or commode. Transferring (1 Point) Moves in and out of bed (0 Points) Needs help Points:______or chair unassisted. Mechanical in moving from bed to transferring aides are acceptable. chair or requires a complete transfer. Continence (1 Point) Exercises complete self (0 Points) Is partially Points:______control over urination and or totally incontinent defecation. of bowel or bladder. Feeding (1 Point) Gets food from plate into (0 Points) Needs Points:______mouth without help. Preparation partial or total help of food may be done by another with feeding or person. requires parenteral feeding. Total Points =__ 6=High (patient independent) 0=Low (patient very dependent)

Katz, S., Down, T.D., Cash, H.R., & Grotz, R.C. (1970) Progress in the development of the index of ADL. The Gerontologist, 10(1), 20-30.

79 Table 2-2. The Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale A. Ability to use telephone Score E. Laundry Score 1. Operates telephone on own initiative; 1. Does personal laundry completely 1 looks up and dials numbers, etc. 1 2. Launders small items; rinses stockings, 2. Dials a few well-known numbers 1 etc. 1 3. Answers telephone but does not dial 1 3. All laundry must be done by others 0 4. Does not use telephone at all 0 F. Mode of transportation B. Shopping 1. Travels independently on public 1. Takes care of all shopping needs transportation or drives own car 1 independently 1 2. Arranges own travel via taxi, but does not 2. Shops independently for small otherwise use public transportation 1 purchases 0 3. Travels on public transportation when 3. Needs to be accompanied on any assisted or accompanied by another 1 shopping trip 0 4. Travel limited to taxi or automobile with 4. Completely unable to shop 0 assistance of another 0 5. Does not travel at all 0 C. Food preparation 1. Plans, prepares, and serves adequate G. Responsibility for own medications meals independently 1 1. Is responsible for taking medication in 2. Prepares adequate meals if supplied correct dosages at correct time 1 with ingredients 0 2. Takes responsibility if medication is 3. Heats and serves prepared meals, or prepared in advance in separate dosages 0 prepares meals but does not maintain 3. Is not capable of dispensing own adequate diet 0 medication 0 4. Needs to have meals prepared and served 0 H. Ability to handle finances 1. Manages financial matters independently D. Housekeeping (budgets, writes checks, pays rent and bills, 1. Maintains house alone or with goes to bank), collects and keeps track of occasional assistance (e.g., "heavy work income 1 domestic help") 1 2. Manages day-to-day purchases, but needs 2. Performs light daily tasks such as help with banking, major purchases, etc. 1 dishwashing, bed making 1 3. Incapable of handling money 0 3. Performs light daily tasks but cannot maintain acceptable level of cleanliness 1 4. Needs help with all home maintenance tasks 1 5. Does not participate in any housekeeping tasks 0

Scoring: For each category, circle the item description that most closely resembles the client’s highest functional level (either 0 or 1).

Lawton, M.P., & Brody, E.M. (1969). Assessment of older people: Self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. The Gerontologist, 9(3), 179-186.

80 Table 2-3. SWOT factors for accessible television Strengths Weaknesses

 Increased reach  The cost of improved accessibility  Increased Share outweighs the ratings benefit  Improved satisfaction ratings  The cost of delivering access among viewers with disabilities services on new platforms  Improved channel image (additional broadcast and IP (Corporate Social Responsibility) networks to TVs, PCs and mobile devices

Opportunities Threats

 Reduced program or channel  The loss of broadcast license as a churn result of noncompliance with  Synergies (using subtitles and regulator targets TTS to create access services for  Financial penalties as a result of new groups) noncompliance  Public procurement rules (having  Escalating costs of offering to provide access services as a accessible TV prerequisite for receiving public  Increased competition for elder funding) viewers from competing broadcasters offering access services

Looms, P. (2014). 3 Making TV Accessible in the 21st Century. p.56

81 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This dissertation explores and develops a topic of study that has not been academically studied before in the particular context of India. Scholars have previously highlighted the need for changes in, or implementation of, public policy and legislative mandates to ensure equality of access to telecommunication services for the hearing impaired (Simpson, 2009; Jaeger, 2006; Strauss, 2006; Peterson, 1998; Ransom,

1994). Kuo (2004) discussed both open and closed captioning as ways of promoting media access equality. Downey (2007) in Constructing closed‐captioning in the public interest: from minority media accessibility to mainstream educational technology, found mandatory CC of television content in unison with universal decoder distribution necessary to bring about broadcast equality for the hearing impaired in the US.

A naturalistic paradigm was adopted for the proposed research design. Krauss

(2005) explains that commonplace events and activities, when viewed from an analytical, naturalistic perspective, allows for generation of significant meaning. A qualitative methodological approach is followed by the naturalistic paradigm, epistemologically interlocking the researcher and the participant in a meaning-making process that yields findings that are co-created (Guba & Lincoln, 1994; Al Zeera, 2001).

Since the study involved exploring the reasons and procedures for the proposed implementation of CC on Indian television as a means of equitable media access for the hearing impaired, a case study approach was used to highlight the considerations for the policy’s implementation. To recall, the research questions guiding the study were:

82 Research question 1: What are the considerations for implementing a policy of mandatory closed captioning for Indian television as recommended in the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2012?

Research question 2: How do policymakers and disability rights advocates view closed captioning policy as a means of media access for the hearing impaired in India?

This study follows an approach frequently used by scholars undertaking research on public policy. Links between academic study and policy practice first developed in the London School of Economics and Political Science: the study of policy practice with an aim to contribute to policy reform was defined as social policy. Social policy research has since developed to explore not only the effects of policy intervention but also the why, how and where of policy formulation and implementation (Alcock & Ferguson,

2012). In policy studies, Tierney & Clemens (2011) noted, qualitative research can lend social urgency to issues that are not necessarily mandatory:

…the focus here is not on issues of implementation, but we are mindful that any research undertaking not only involves identifying a problem, designing a study, analyzing data, and reaching conclusions, but it also needs to help decision-makers reach some sort of conclusion about what actions should be taken (Tierney & Clemens, 2011, pp. 21)

Such qualitative research can, in particular, offer policymakers a theory of social action based on the experiences of those who the policy decision may affect, as well as of those that are considered to be a part of the problem (Walker, 1985).

Mansell (1993) mandated two contrasting models for adoption of any public policy: the idealist model and the strategic model. According to the idealist model, emphasis is placed on the technology, and the policy that influence technological adoption, and considers these two as panacea for eradicating all the world’s problems.

The strategic model, on the other hand, focuses on the more realistic action of

83 scrutinizing the policy-decision process. Gregg (2006) explained the strategic model as one which considers that while supporters of the passing of a legislation focus on the positive aspects of it through media and thus gain public support, opponents, on the other hand, try to exacerbate the possible contribution of economic forces in hindering the passage of the legislation turning “the debate into one of government partisanship”

(p. 538). Further, Bowen and Zwi (2005) noted that research evidence often falls behind political, ideological, and economic factors that affect policy development and decision- making. Local control of decision-making and evidence-based policy and practice are often at conflict. In such a scenario, it is advisable to combine the researcher’s academic expertise of theory and method with non-academic participants’ practical knowledge and lived experiences (Cargo & Mercer, 2008).

For this study, therefore, the case study approach was used. This research orientation, in which key participants in a policy’s development, and those most likely to be affected by the implementation of the policy were approached for data, allowed for deliberate muting of “the distinction between who does the studying and who gets studied (or decides what gets studied)” with an aim to integrate knowledge and action for social change and community development (Minkler & Wallerstein, 2008, p. 6). This method is most used by scholars to explain and evaluate public policies (Stafford, 2012;

Galaway, 2011; Brownell & Frieden, 2009; Coote, Allen & Woodhead, 2004).

Particularly, Pawson, Greenhalgh, Harvey and Walshe (2005) recommended the realist view for explanatory case study of policies that aim to distinguish “what works for whom, in what circumstances, in what respects and how” (p. 1). This approach does not provide policymakers with observations about if a policy works or not. Instead, it offers

84 them a comprehensive practical understanding of intricate social mediations, which they can use for informed planning and implementation of local, regional or national policies

(Pawson et al., 2005).

All these studies, however, have explored health, social, telecommunication or educational policies in Western developed countries, and not policies in the context of developing democracies such as India. The uniqueness of this study comes from the exploration of the experiences and views of the key actors involved in India’s Draft

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012 (http://socialjustice.nic.in/pwd2011.php) in which closed captioning (CC) was included to ensure equality of television media access for the hearing impaired population. While the latest version of the draft Bill which includes mandating CC as well (Draft RPD Bill 2014 introduced in the Rajya

Sabha, (http://www.dnis.org/news.php?issue_id=8& volume_id=6&news_id=914&i=0), is yet to be enacted, an explanation of the complexities involved in the development and enactment process, is aimed to provide an objective analysis for the use of policymakers.

Sampling Strategy

Yin (2014) highlights that stating some propositions in a case study helps the researcher move in the right direction by reflecting an important theoretical issue

(participation in the public sphere), and also points to the direction of where to explore for relevant evidence. This study was based on the philosophical assumptions that 1) implementation of closed captioning in Indian television news will enable the country’s hearing impaired (Deaf/Hard of Hearing) population to participate in the public sphere by giving them access to public information, and 2) with focus on the elements of the strategic model, two distinct groups of people—policymakers and representatives of the

85 hearing impaired population—needed to be approached to explain the case in its entirety.

Identification of the key participants for the study was based on Walt and Gilson’s recommendation of focusing on the actors involved in policy reform, the processes that are dependent upon the development and implementation of change, and the policy’s context, and not just its content (1994, emphasis in original). In their study of various health policies in Mexico, Trostle, Bronfman and Langer (1999) further noted that such a focus on these key elements is also critical to understand how research specifics inform policymaking. Tansey, in Process Tracing and Elite Interviewing: A Case for Non- probability Sampling, suggested the selection of participants as key political actors who are involved, to the biggest extent, in the particular policy making process (2007). The aim here, Tansey argues, is not to focus on selecting a random sample representative of the population of policymakers, but in fact, to draw a definite sample that reduces the possibility of chance exclusion of the the most important players involved in the case

(2007).

Non governmental organizations, on the other hand, noted Brown and

Kalegaonkar (2002), are another set of actors that play a crucial role in “social and sectoral change and development processes”, and some among them contribute strategically towards a country’s development goals in their role as “self-authorized change agents” (p. 232). Despite not being representative bodies with elected officials in the conventional sense, Kamat noted that non governmental organizations, typically considered a part of civil society, are instrumental in “remaking of state institutions and state processes, as much as they are part of reconfiguring civil society” (2010, p. 159).

86 Simmons (1998) elaborated four ways in which NGOs affect governments—by “setting agendas, negotiating outcomes, conferring legitimacy, and implementing solutions”— and propel important public matters to the top of policymakers’ agendas (p. 84). In addition, Batliwala (2002) stated that advocacy groups at both local and global levels, are one of the several “citizen formations” involved in change making, and possess different degrees of “power and privilege in shaping the debate, speaking for the affected, and gaining entry into policy-making arena” (p. 395).

The researcher, based on these recommendation and observations, identified the key actors in the formulation and further reforms in the Draft Rights of Persons with

Disabilities Bill 2012. The key actors who were identified were mentioned in the draft bill itself as those who are responsible for policy formulation, and additional participants in the proposed Central Advisory Board on Disability (Figure 3-1).

The first group included representatives of the concerned Ministries, and the second group included advocates for the hearing impaired representing non- governmental organizations concerned with disabilities. In a case study such as this one, Aberbach and Rockman (2002) recommended that respondents should be selected “on the basis of what they might know to help the investigator fill in pieces of a puzzle or confirm the proper alignment of pieces already in place” (p.1).

Using the technique recommended by scholars to examine crucial parameters guiding elites’ definition of the problem and responses to them (Aberbach & Rockman,

2002; Aberbach & Rockman, 2000; Aberbach, Putnam & Rockman, 1981), lists of top administrators were drawn from the two distinct participant groups identified for study: 1)

Ministry of Social Justice Empowerment, and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

87 and 2) Non Governmental Organizations that work for the welfare of the disabled including the Deaf/ Hard of Hearing in India. Top officials at the MOSJ and MIB are identified and listed on the Ministries’ websites (http://socialjustice.nic.in/) and

(http://mib.nic.in/) respectively. Organizational chart for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is included for reference in Appendix C.

Selecting the NGOs involved with the Deaf/Hard of Hearing population in India was done through The National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled

People (http://www.ncpedp.org/), which provides the most comprehensive list of NGOs for the hearing impaired in India. Of these NGOs, those located in New Delhi were selected for location convenience given that Ministry officials are also present in the

New Delhi area and its vicinity. The interviewees were then selected from the lists based on their hierarchical positions in their respective organizations. Individuals choses were 1) primarily concerned with domestic policy and, 2) who were at a level where they could influence policymaking in accordance with the sampling procedure employed by Aberbach and Rockman (2002). Brief profiles of the selected non governmental organizations is included for reference in Appendix D.

The next step was to reach out to the selected participants for appointments.

While bureaucratic elites are not often studied by social scientists and therefore usually have high response rates (Aberbach & Rockman, 2002), it is prudent to realize that access to bureaucratic elites may sometimes be difficult. To manage a field study in policy settings and gain desired access to bureaucratic elites, Catherine Marshall, in

Elites, Bureaucrats, Ostriches, and Pussycats: Managing Research in Policy Settings

(1984, p. 14), recommended approaches to address key issues at the focused/

88 analyzing research stage (Table 3-1). These included how to address ethical considerations, ways to reach potential participants, and ways to obfuscate findings among others.

With these pointers in mind, and following Goldstein’s (2002) recommendations, letters were sent out to potential participants. The letters sent via email (Appendix A) clearly mentioned the basic outline of the research study without specifying details, and the amount of time requested from the participants. Contact details of the researcher were included. Follow-up phone calls for appointments were made with prudent persistence until the appointments were arranged.

To be available “in-country” is recommended for making relevant connections and being able to schedule or set up interviews (Goldstein, 2002); in addition to ensuring that the researcher be available for an interview at short notice, since elites often change their schedules last minute (Saldaña, 2009). Therefore, the researcher was present in New Delhi, India, between October and December 2014. As a strategy to reach the maximum numbers in the target sample, the researcher followed a snowball sampling method where particular interviewees were approached for help in getting access to other elites in the sample list, as recommended by Tansey (2007) and

Goldstein (2002).

Case Study

The case study approach is best suited when a how or a why question is being asked about a contemporary set of events over which the investigator has little or no control (Yin, 1994, p. 9). Gerring (2004) explained that a case study, which must be understood as an ideal type and not as a method with set rules, displays certain observable characteristics. These characteristics pertain to seven key indicators:

89 1) The type of inferences drawn is descriptive, not causal, 2) The proposition’s scope is narrow, that is, the breadth of the argument that the researcher makes is not spread across a wide spectrum, the inferences drawn do not have well-defined boundaries, and depth of the analysis is valued over its width, 3) Trade-off between case comparability and representativeness being intrinsic to the research design, unique case studies offer the possibility of case comparability than claim that their findings are true for a larger set of units, 4) Greater emphasis on identifying causal mechanisms that highlight connections between the motivations of the actors involved in the process and the effects of such motivations than on the effects themselves, 5)

Deterministic propositions are made compared to probabilistic ones (chance variations),

6) The research strategy is exploratory rather than confirmatory, and 7) A specific context—case studies explore an event in a particular setting because in the social sciences, causal inferences even if proved empirically by quantitative research, are contingent upon the context of the process or event. In consensus with Gerring (2004),

Wimmer and Dominick also highlighted that case studies are conducted when the aim of the researcher is to decipher or elucidate an event (2013). According to Yin (2014), interest in unraveling intricate social aspects drives the researcher’s choice of a case study approach since it allows the researcher to focus on a particular case and “retain a holistic and real-world perspective” (p. 4). Davey (1991) defined case study as an exercise in systematically investigating an event or process, gathering information about it, analyzing the information, and subsequently reporting what is observed.

Yin (2014) noted the importance of case study research in its contribution to knowledge about “individual, organizational, social, political, and related phenomena”

90 thereby making it a good fit to explore topics in psychology, sociology, political science, anthropology, community planning, and education, among others (p. 4). Additionally, the choice of explanatory, descriptive or exploratory case study, Yin specified, depends on three factors: the type of research question the study aims to address; the degree of control the researcher has over ‘actual behavioral events’; and the extent the study focuses on contemporary events, and not on completely historical ones (2014). In case study research, the researcher surveys in detail the setting for the case, followed by gathering many forms of qualitative data, since a single data source is not typically capable of providing an in-depth understanding of the case (Creswell, 2013). In an explanatory single case study such as this one, Yin (2014) observed that in addition to primary and secondary documents which tell us what occurred, the researcher has two other sources of data as evidence: direct observation of the event as it is happening, and interviews with the people involved in the events. This lends the case study its unique strength, which is “its ability to deal with a variety of evidence—documents, artifacts, interviews, and observations” (p. 12). Following Yin’s case study research design, this study examined policy documents, and secondary data such as news media coverage on the formulation of, and responses to, the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012 (revised 2014), in addition to an analysis of data from intensive interviews with the relevant persons involved in the case. The researcher also observed and noted the opinions, explanations and responses of the key actors involved in India’s disability policymaking process as they participated in the first international public forum on the topic.

91 Documents are useful in case study research to 1) verify spellings and titles or names of people and organizations that might be mentioned in an interview; 2) provide other specific details to corroborate information from other sources to ensure that the documentary evidence is not contradictory; and 3) allow the researcher to make inferences from the documents which can be used as cues to investigate the case further (Yin, 2014, p.107). Multiple sources of evidence, argued Yin (2014) helps in developing convergent evidence by triangulation, which in turn improves the quality of the study and contributes towards strengthening the construct validity of the study.

Data Collection

Primary data was collected via semi-structured in-depth interviews with elites while secondary data was collected via exploration of the websites of the relevant

Ministries, the website of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities, online newspaper reports, op-eds and commentaries on the Draft Rights of

Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012 (and its revisions till 2014), published between 2009 to 2014. The online newspaper reports were found by using the search terms Draft

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012, RPD Bill 2012, Draft RPD Bill India,

UNCRPD India, United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

India, India’s new disability law, closed captioning in India, subtitling of news in India, subtitling of DD news. A list of the links to the articles was made (Appendix F), and the text of the articles was copied and saved in document form for analysis. Observations and field notes were also made during United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization’s first international conference on the Role of Information and

Communication Technologies for Persons with Disabilities, held in New Delhi between

24 and 26 November 2014.

92 When the purpose of the study is to elicit knowledge about “what a set of people think, or how they interpret an event or a series of events, or what they have done or planning to do”, interviews are useful (Aberback and Rockman, 2002). Interviews are also a powerful way of gaining insight into social issues by understanding the experiences of individuals involved with those issues. An aim of elite interviews is to gather, from a sample of officials, information that can elicit inferential claims about the characteristics and decisions of such officials (Goldstein, 2002). Tansey (2007) argued that one of the biggest advantages of elite interviews is to enable researchers gather narratives from direct observers of the event of interest. Evidence from other sources such as documents cannot substitute for direct interaction with key participants; interviews enable the researcher to gather experiential attestation from immediate participants related to vital events and processes. They also enable the researcher to explore beyond formal reports and descriptions, and ask pointed theory-driven questions about the event or process specific to the study’s objective (Tansey, 2007).

Yin (2014) warned the researcher of the methodological issue of reflexivity created due to the conventional nature of the interview: the perspective of the researcher may unwittingly influence the responses of the interviewee and vice-versa, which may, in turn, result in “undesirable coloring of the interview material” (p. 112). While it is not entirely possible to overcome the threat, being aware of it works towards minimizing it.

Member checking and triangulation are two ways recommended by scholars to reduce such inadvertent bias and increase credibility (Cho & Trent, 2006; Creswell &

Miller, 2000; Merriam, 1998). Member checking increases the goodness of interpretive analysis by reducing the possibility of misinterpretation or misrepresentation of the

93 interview data. According to Lincoln and Guba (1985) member checking is “the most critical technique for establishing credibility” (p. 314). Member checking for this study involved “pre-determining the use of narratives in the final report” recommended by

Carlson (2010, p. 1112). The participants were informed during the interview process that their responses, where applicable and relevant, would be used exactly as they appeared in the interview transcripts. Following the completion of the final research report, participants were contacted via email and phone, and feedback solicited on the parts of their narratives as placed in the final draft, a procedure recommended by

Creswell (1998). Alongside member checking, triangulation was employed as a strategy to enhance the reliability of the findings. Denzin (1978) made explicit four types of triangulation: data, investigator, theory, and methodological. Of these, data triangulation was employed, in which several sources were used to “maximize the range of data” in the attempt to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the concept (Krefting,

1991, p. 219). In addition to the two strategies for enhancing the reliability or dependability of qualitative studies such as this one, Miles and Huberman (1994) list some relevant queries for the researcher to address. Among these queries are checking if the research questions are clear and match the research design, if findings display meaningful parallels across the data sources used in the study, if the basic concepts, clearly etched out connect to the theoretical framework, and if peer or colleague reviews were conducted for the study (p. 278). This study, having addressed the first three questions elaborately and succinctly, was also exposed to four expert reviews for comments and dependability checks before final presentation.

94 Ultimately, Miles and Huberman suggested that “triangulation is a state of mind”; the researcher, consciously using various sources to collect data, and double checking the findings, needs little more to do than report the procedure in detail to ensure validity

(1984, p. 235).

A good case study presents an in-depth understanding of the case. Kumar

(2005) detailed two types of interviews. The first is flexible, where the researcher is at the freedom to formulate relevant questions extempore; the second, inflexible, in which a strict set of questions formulated beforehand guide the interview. In this investigation, neither extreme was followed: a semi-structured, open-ended, evolving, but directional questionnaire was used for this investigation. Some guiding questions were compiled and used to provide direction to the expert interviews. This was to ensure that the interviewees, during the interview process, address primarily the issues that are focused on in the relevant subject of the investigation. These questions were only intended to provide a structure for the discussion with the experts, and not to standardize the data collection procedure. For the final list of interviewees, see Appendix B.

The interviewees were contacted initially via email for appointments. Regular follow-up telephone requests and in-person visits to the concerned Ministries for appointments were made. All interviews were conducted in person in New Delhi, the centers for Government organizations, and rights/advocacy groups identified for this study. The interviews were conducted between October and December 2014 on the dates and times fixed by the interviewees or their staff. Systematic searches of pertinent documents were conducted primarily using the Internet prior to, during, and after the interview process at the convenience of the researcher (Yin, 2014). Field notes

95 comprised of recording the key proceedings of the UNESCO conference in which the researcher was an invited attending delegate.

The interviews were tape-recorded using a digital voice recorder. Seidman

(2012) noted that even though it is inevitable for the consciousness of the researcher to reflect in interpretation of the interview data, “that consciousness must interact with the words of the participant recorded as fully and accurately as possible” (p. 117).

Additionally, to refer back to the original data for accuracy, and for the researcher to claim accountability for authentic representation of the interview data, recording interviews is recommended. Transcription of the recorded interviews creates the text for analysis.

Some disability scholars have argued over the inadvisability of the non-disabled to carry out research on the disabled; that researchers of a specific community should be experienced in the lived culture, in this case, disability (Dewsbury, Clarke, Randall,

Rouncefield & Sommerville, 2004). The argument that the disability scholars offer is that unless one experiences disability, it is impossible for one to advance the interests of the disabled via, as in this study, seeking inclusive technology for the Deaf/HoH. But

Dewsbury et al., while agreeing that understanding culture requires a certain level of competence on the researcher’s part to deliver accounts that find synchrony with the members of that culture, refuted this argument. They stated that this position implies a culture specific to the disabled, and which is inaccessible to those outside of the community. But they argued that such a position is more of an a priori principle than a research finding; “an assumption, not a discovery” (2004, p. 12-13). Sharrock and

Anderson (1982) reinforced the line of thought that non-disability does not necessarily

96 make a researcher incompetent to do disability research. According to them, experience is confused with understanding when such a claim is made, for it suggests research to be flawed when the non-disabled investigator, with a different construction of meaning or experience, is incapable of acknowledging the verisimilitude of disability.

Nevertheless, in order to focus research efforts on the key issues faced by the

Deaf/ Hard of Hearing, the researcher, who is not hearing impaired, conducted a pilot study of four hearing impaired individuals who shared the characteristics of the identified sample, prior to conducting the elite interviews. Yin (2003) recommended a pilot study before data collection to refine the data collection procedures. Additional guiding questions were created for the pilot interviews. The interviewees, two of whom who were also interviewed for their comments on the Draft Bill, were appropriately debriefed following the pilot study. These brief discussions informed the research efforts with relevant foci, and helped prepare a good quality, well-rounded report at the conclusion of the study.

Data Analysis

According to Yin (2003), data analysis consists of “examining, categorizing, tabulating, testing, or otherwise recombining both quantitative and qualitative evidence to address the initial propositions of a study” (p.109). Patton and Appelbaum (2003) argued that, “the ultimate goal of the case study is to uncover patterns, determine meanings, construct conclusions and build theory” (p. 67). One of ways case studies are analyzed, especially in political science, is through process-tracing, as explained extensively by George and Bennett in Case Studies and Theory Development in the

Social Sciences (2004), and by Checkel (2008) and Tansey (2007). Process-tracing aims to detect associations between likely rationales and noticeable consequences.

97 George and Bennett (2004) elaborated that process-tracing involves the investigator scrutinizing archival documents, interview transcripts, and other sources to find if the order and values of the variables involved in the case point towards a plausible link between the implications of a theory and causal processes in that case. The value of process-tracing lies in its possible heuristic function of “generating new variables or hypotheses on the basis of sequences of events observed inductively in case studies”

(George & Bennett, 2004, p. 7). This method is primarily applicable to explanatory case studies such as this one in which data analysis was done by building an explanation about the case in narrative form; specifying the how or why of an occurrence (Yin,

2014). Further, wrote Yin (2014), these causal links may reflect important insights into the process of policy making; correct policy propositions have the potential to inform future policy actions. Tierney and Clemens (2011) also claimed that while it is not prudent to expect extraneous data generated from case studies such as this one to contribute very significantly to decision making at the political level, but to assume that

“a series of interviews, or observations or case studies will not heighten policymakers’ understanding of the problem at hand is to overlook the importance of reflection for decision-making” (p. 32). While for explanatory case studies, the explanation-building process has not been well operationalized, Yin (2004) stated that the explanation provided eventually results in inceptive explanatory propositions or theoretical statements. This study utilized a strategy for analysis that relies on theoretical propositions to eventually provide explanations. Yin (1994) noted that such propositions stemming from how and why questions have a significant role in guiding case study analysis. For this study, the basic theoretical proposition on which the analysis relies on

98 was the use of information communication technologies for equitable media access for the hearing impaired to enable their participation in the public sphere as mandated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

(http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/ conventionfull.shtml).

The data collected from the elite interviews and text from relevant documents were content analyzed qualitatively. Denzin and Lincoln (2000) elaborated that the term qualitative suggests accentuation of characteristics of entities, processes and meanings that are not calculated experimentally on “quantity, amount, intensity, or frequency” (p.

8). Qualitative content analysis, Hsieh and Shannon (2005) further elaborated, provides for intuitive analysis of textual data by coding, and finding themes and patterns.

Kohlbacher (2006) pointed out that “a careful description of the data and the development of categories in which to place behaviors or process have proven to be important steps in the process of analyzing the data” (p.n.a). Therefore, qualitative content analysis was used in this study to scrutinize the textual data collected as interview transcripts, newspaper reports and policy documents, to identify broad themes and categories for subsequent systematic coding.

Coding

Coding is defined as “the process of organizing the material into chunks or segments of text before bringing meaning to the information” (Rossman & Rallis in

Creswell, 2009, p. 186). Saldaña (2009) defines a code in qualitative inquiry as “most often a word or short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence- capturing, and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language-based or visual data.”

(p.3). Coding can be both a priori, and data-driven, or emergent. In this study, a combination of the two techniques, as recommended by Fereday and Muir-Cochrane

99 (2006) was used. Such an approach adds to research by meaning-making from the theoretical background and research questions in the process of deductive thematic analysis, in addition to letting themes emerge directly from the data by inductive coding

(Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006, p. 83).

The impetus for this study was India’s ratification of the United Nations

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) on October 1, 2007, which prompted the Indian government to create a Draft Rights of Persons with

Disabilities Bill 2012 to ensure compliance with the provisions of the UNCRPD.

At the start of the study, a priori codes were derived from the research questions and the theoretical framework, to develop a codebook or template as illustrated by

Crabtree and Miller (1999). King (2004) has suggested that template analysis, which rests on the creation of an initial codebook that can be modified and/or verified through collecting data, “works particularly well when the aim is to compare the perspectives of different groups of staff within a specific context” (p. 257). Template analysis in qualitative studies such as this one is preferred when the researcher is interested in studying the case from a contextual constructionist position, that is, a position which believes that there exist multiple interpretations of any given reality, and interpretation is incumbent upon the context of the case and the position of the researcher. With this stance, reflexivity of the researcher, thick description of the case, and approaching the case from different perspectives become important; coding reliability becomes more or less irrelevant (King, 2004; Madill, Jordan & Shirley, 2000). The advantage of this technique lies in its flexibility, where the researcher can tailor the technique to suit the study, and its demand from the researcher to handle the data with a well-structured

100 approach makes it easy to present an organized, unambiguous final account of the study (King, 2004).

For this study, therefore, sections of the text were marked out at the outset identifying themes considered important to the study and the research questions.

Following King’s (http://www.hud.ac.uk/hhs/research/template-analysis/) recommendation, parts of the transcripts that were relevant to the research questions and theoretical framework, were coded. Hierarchical coding was emphasized, with sub codes, finally categorized under the broad a priori codes (Appendix G).

Coding separates the data into groups of similar items that share common attributes. It enables organizing and grouping similar data, prior to commencing on in- depth analysis, into categories or “‘families’ because they share some characteristic–the beginning of a pattern” (emphasis in original, Saldaña, 2008, p. 8).

Two of eight scrutiny techniques recommended by Ryan and Bernard (2003)—

Repetitions, Indigenous Typologies or Categories, Metaphors and Analogies,

Transitions, Similarities and Differences, Linguistic Connectors, Missing Data, and

Theory Related Material—were used to identify themes. Joffe and Yardley (2004) elucidate that themes, or patterns in the data of interest can be both manifest, that is,

“directly observable”, or latent, that is, bearing a suggested meaning in context of the data (p. 57). Regardless, the focus of content analysis in qualitative studies remains on the interpretation of these themes or patterns (Joffe & Yardley, 2004).

At the initial observational stage, data derived from all relevant documents—two policy papers, 12 elite interview transcripts, and 43 newspaper reports were read through multiple times in order to mark repetitions or “recurring regularities” (Guba,

101 1978, p. 53). These words or phrases identified which concepts occurred most frequently in the texts thus generating a theme of significance based on its connection to the original research questions. Field notes from a transcript generated from the concluding session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization’s first international conference ‘From Exclusion to Empowerment: The

Role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Persons with

Disabilities’ (http://www.unesco-ci.org/ict-pwd/) was consulted to draw parallels between the opinions of policymakers expressed during the interviews, and those expressed during the Conference.

Ryan and Bernard stated that “The more the same concept occurs in a text, the more likely it is a theme” (2003, p. 56). Additional themes, not in direct relation to the research questions but which illustrated recurring concepts, were allowed to emerge.

One organization and the related interview of its representative were excluded from the dataset since the data obtained was not substantive. During the course of the interview, the interviewee identified himself as a businessman and not as an Indian Foreign

Service officer as mentioned on the organization’s website. In addition, the interviewee expressed complete unawareness about the draft RPD bill 2012, and was unable to comment on a majority of the questions. The organization was also found to be a school for Deaf children, and not involved in disability rights advocacy work.

A number of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS) software, such as Atlas.ti, MAXqda, Dedoose and NVivo (e.g. Franzosi, Doyle, McClelland,

Rankin, & Vicari, 2013) are available to help code and categorize large amounts of narrative text such as those generated from open-ended interviews and newspaper

102 articles (Yin, 2014). They serve as useful assistive tools in locating all the words and phrases matching predefined codes in the text, and determine the frequency of occurrence (Yin, 2014). The CAQDAS Dedoose was used in analysis of the data to generate themes that reflected the what and how of the case under study. Since

Dedoose is an online CAQDAS, all documents and analyses were encrypted with a password to secure confidentiality and prevent reproduction.

CAQDAS, however, are not useful in generating meaningful patterns from the data, which is the primary aim of a case study research endeavor. (Yin, 2014; Patton,

2002). Saldaña reminded us “a theme is an outcome of coding, categorization, and analytic reflection, not something that is, in itself, coded…(emphasis in original, (2009, p. 13). Boyatzis (1998), using the terms code and theme interchangeably, summarized that a relevant code accurately expresses the “qualitative richness” of the case (p. 1).

Theory related material scrutiny, a technique to identify themes from rich narratives listed by Ryan and Bernard, examined “the setting and context, the perspectives of the informants, and informants’ ways of thinking about people, objects, processes, activities, events, and relationships” (2003, p. 93). The key consideration for defining the final themes through theory-related material scrutiny was the degree to which they “accurately reflect the meaning of the retrieved words and phrases” and how they connect to the original research design (Yin, 2014, p. 134). The stages of data coding followed in this study were as recommended by Fereday and Muir-Cochrane,

2006, and are presented in Figure 3-2.

Stage 1: Developing the Coding Manual

For this study, 6 initial codes were identified from the research questions and the theoretical framework prior to studying the collected data. Phenomenological

103 approaches aim at understanding “subjective experience, gaining insights into people’s motivations and actions, and cutting through the clutter of taken-for-granted assumptions and conventional wisdom” (Lester, 1999, p. 1). The initial codebook provided a starting point towards the study’s ultimate aim. The initial codes were Access to Information, Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, Policy Implementation, Hearing

Impaired, Equal Rights, and Participation. These codes were identified as presented in

Table 3-2 by 1) Name of code or label, 2) Defining the code, and 3) Point of occurrence of code in the data (adapted from Fereday and Muir-Cochrane, 2006).

Stage 2: Testing the Reliability of the Initial Codebook

The following texts were used as test pieces to check for reliability of the initial codes: Seven Articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities protocol—Article 2 (Definitions), Article 5 (Equality and Non-Discrimination),

Article 8 (Awareness Raising), Article 9 (Accessibility), Article 21 (Freedom of

Expression and Opinion), Article 29 (Access to Information), and Article 34 (Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), Chapter 1:51 of the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012, and two interview transcripts, one of a policymaker and one of a disability rights advocate. To check for any necessary modifications to the initial codebook, an independent coder was invited to look for initial themes in the same data set. No modifications were found necessary to the initial codebook following the exercise (Table 3-3).

Stage 3: Summarizing Data and Identifying Initial Themes

The data were summarized by creating and filling up document summary forms

(Appendix E). In studies that include document reviews, collating and organizing data in summary forms is a useful way to gather all relevant information for later analysis

104 (Bloomberg & Volpe, 2008). Making summary notes for each interviewee “creates a profile for each document and/ or individual research participant” (Bloomberg & Volpe,

2008, p. 101). Each transcript was summarized by creating a list of the key points gleaned from the responses of the interviewees. Guiding questions for the interviews were as below:

For policymakers and representatives from the Ministry of Information and

Broadcasting, and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

 1. Can you tell me about some of your most recent policy work? How did this (example) policy come about?

 2. What are some of the key considerations you take into account while making a policy decision?

 3. What can you tell me about the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012? What is the goal of the Bill?

 4. Where do you think the Act is in terms of implementation?

 5. Can you give me a feel of where the issue of equitable media access for the disabled stands?

 6. How would you describe your experiences with media accessibility issues for the disabled?

 7. What are the key considerations that may be taken into account for implementing closed-captioning? What do you think will happen with closed-captioning in the near future?

 8. What are your thoughts about equality in news accessibility for all?

Representatives of dedicated non-governmental organizations concerned with

Deaf/ Hard of Hearing

 1. How did you become involved in advocacy work?

 2. What efforts has your organization made till now in advocating equality and inclusion for the disabled to the government?

105  3. How would you describe your or your organization’s experiences with the Government/ policymakers on inclusive policy for the disabled?

 4. How do you perceive the representation of Deaf/ HoH in the inclusive policy making process?

 5. What do you see as the role of the Deaf/HoH in the policy making process?

 6. What do you consider some key issues for consideration when advocating for an inclusive policy for the Deaf/HoH?

 7. What do you think is the goal of the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012?

 8. Revisions to the draft bill have been made consistently since 2011. Where do you think is the Act in terms of implementation?

For Deaf/HoH who hold prominent positions within advocacy groups/NGOs:

 1. Tell me about some of the television news programs you watch.

 2. Closed-captioning, or text translation of all dialogues, and revelation of sounds and effects, is not currently available for those programs. What do you think about that?

 3. Can you tell me about your experience with the sign-language news bulletin on Doordarshan?

 4. Can you tell me about your experience with subtitled movies?

 5. Can you talk about some of your experiences with anyone among your family or friends who have accessed closed captioned television in other countries?

To identify initial themes, or “short-hand versions of themes or categories”

(Bloomberg & Volpe, 2008, p. 106), the data was run though the CAQDAS Dedoose to search for repetitions of words and phrases (Table 3-4).

Stage 4: Applying Template of Codes and Additional Coding

Separate from the a priori codes, codes were assigned to parts of the data that highlighted a new theme in the text (Table 3-5) (Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006).

These additional codes were either separate from the a priori codes or they expanded a

106 code from the codebook.

Stage 5: Connecting the Codes and Identifying Themes

The next step was to connect the codes, that is, identifying patterns in the data (Table

3-6). As suggested by Fereday and Muir-Cochrane (2006), this process elicits the similarities and differences between the separate groups of data, and helps to identify

“areas of consensus in response to the research questions and areas of potential conflict” (p. 89).

Stage 6: Corroborating and Legitimating Coded Themes

In the last stage, the findings were confirmed by carefully scrutinizing the previous stages to avoid fabricating evidence during interpretation, an unconscious and unintentional act that may result from the researcher focusing on identifying what they expect to find (Crabtree & Miller, 1999).

107 In accordance with the United Nations General Assembly’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), of which India is a signatory and which India ratified in 2007, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India has drafted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (2012, updated 2014). The latest Bill, which has been revised from its 2012 version, replaces the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995.

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (2012, updated 2014) mandates that appropriate governments and establishments take steps and measures to ensure that people with disabilities in India will have equitable access to information and communication, and related technology.

The Act mandates that in relation to equal access to information and communication for persons with disabilities, appropriate governments shall take measures to ensure that: (i) all contents available in audio, print and electronic media are in accessible format; (ii) persons with disabilities have access to electronic media by providing audio description, sign language interpretation and close captioning; (iii) electronic goods and equipment which are meant for every day use are available in universal design.

Under the Act, appropriate government means (i) in relation to the Central Government or any establishment wholly or substantially financed by that Government, or a Cantonment Board constituted under the Cantonments Act, 2006, the Central Government; (ii) in relation to a State Government or any establishment, wholly or substantially financed by that Government, or any local authority, other than a Cantonment Board, the State Government.

The Cabinet passed a version of the Bill in December 2013. The Bill was reintroduced in the Upper House of the Parliament in January 2014. The Bill proposes that the Central Government set up a body called the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities to exercise the powers conferred upon and to perform the following functions, among others:  Monitor implementation of the provisions of the Act and schemes, programmes meant for persons with disabilities.  Formulate regulations for the persons with disabilities laying down the standards of accessibility for the physical environment, transportation, information and communications, including appropriate technologies and systems, and other facilities and services provided to the public in urban and rural areas.

The Bill sets the time limit for all service providers to comply with the defined accessibility duties, and provide services in accordance with the regulations on accessibility formulated by the National Commission within a period of two years from the date of notifications of such regulations. But the Bill does not specify by what time the National Commission is required to formulate such regulations. Subject to the provisions of this Act, people currently employed in the Office of Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities constituted under the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, “immediately before the date of establishment of the National Commission shall, on and from such date, becomes an employee of the National Commission”.

The Act also mandates the setting up of a Central Advisory Board on Disability, which will comprise of representatives of the concerned Ministry (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for accessibility issues about information and communication), experts in the field of disability and rehabilitation; and a particular number of members, as far as practicable, themselves persons with disabilities, to represent non-Governmental organizations concerned with disabilities, or disabled persons organizations.

Figure 3-1. Key points relevant to study synthesized from the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012. [http://socialjustice.nic.in/pwd2011.php]

108 Table 3-1. Approaches to address issues Research Issue Research Stage

Role (What front do you show?) Cool and competent, savvy but not threatening; “Passing”.

Entrée and access (How do you get Having pull, connections. in and stay in?) Knowledgeable but unobtrusive.

Data Gathering (How do you get Focused interviewing and information? What sorts of observation. Mapping; Counting; information?) Observing lines of communication, forms of power, norms, activities. Compiling Histories. Document Analysis.

Ethics (How do you stay honest and Protection of confidentiality; prevent harm?) Protection through vagueness plus alternate sources.

Reporting (What do you tell people?) Obfuscation; Resisting pressure to give tentative findings by giving harmless reports of insignificant findings.

[Marshall, C. (1984). Elites, bureaucrats, ostriches, and pussycats: Managing research in policy settings. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 15(3), p. 14]

109

Stage 1: Developing the coding manual

Stage 2: Testing the reliability of codes

Stage 3: Summarizing data and identifying the initial themes

Stage 4: Applying template of codes and additional coding

Stage 5: Connecting the codes and identifying themes

Stage 6: Corroborating and legitimizing coded themes

Figure 3-2. Diagrammatic representation of stages undertaken to code the data. [Fereday, J., & Muir-Cochrane, E. (2008). Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: A hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development. International journal of qualitative methods, 5(1), p. 84]

110 Table 3-2. Example of a priori code Code Explanation Code 1 Label Hearing Impaired [HRI]

Definition Impairment is individual and private; disability is structural and public. While doctors and professions allied to medicine seek to remedy impairment, the real priority is to accept impairment and to remove disability. (Shakespeare, 2006, p. 199)

The social model is distinguished from the medical or individual model. Social model defines disability as a social creation—a relationship between people with impairment and a disabling society. Medical model defines disability in terms of individual deficit. (Shakespeare, 2006, p. 199)

Point of occurrence While drafting an inclusive policy empowering D/HoH to participate in public sphere. Raising awareness about disabled/ hearing impaired. Code 2 Label Access to information [ACC]

Definition Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers ((United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19)

Point of occurrence ICTs enable the existence of this ‘genuinely questioning’ voice, which “has access to information about the context in which decisions were taken, including the legal requirements governing the actions of power-holders and the public promises made prior to action” (Goetz & Jenkins, 2005, p. 10) While considering equal rights for all citizens, adoption of ICT, and empowering D/HoH to participate in public sphere

111 Table 3-3. An example of codes developed a priori from the template of codes Data from UNCRPD, Draft RPD 2012 and Draft RPD 2012 and Interview transcripts Interview transcripts Access to information [ACC] UNCRPD Recognizing importance of accessibility to the physical, social, economic and cultural environment, to health and education and to information and communication, in enabling persons with disabilities to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms

DRAFT RPD ACT All content in whichever medium whether audio, print or electronic shall be made available to persons with disabilities in accessible format Persons with disabilities have access to electronic media by providing for audio description, sign language interpretation and close captioning

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS Sign language communication in news

UNCRPD Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act States Parties recognize that all persons are 2012 [RPD] equal before and under the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection and equal

DRAFT RPD ACT Discrimination on the basis of disability’ means any distinction, exclusion or restriction on the basis of disability which has the purpose or effect of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal basis with others, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field and includes all forms of discrimination, including denial of reasonable accommodation

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS Direction towards accessing disabilities in our country in a different manner

112 Table 3-4. Summarizing the data from interviews under guiding question headings Guiding Question for Summary of Responses Policymakers Act implementation No fixed timeline, draft is with Standing Committee

Key considerations for  Awareness of issues faced by disabled implementing inclusive  Identification and awareness of issues faced by policy disabled  Reports from public, officials and disabled rights groups  Bill in place

Guiding Question for Summary of Responses Advocacy groups

Experience with the  Policymakers are unaware of the needs of the government on inclusive disabled. policy  They are insensitive; decisions are made for political gain.  Not very positive

 1 Outlier: Positive experience, policymakers

helped

 Absent or very little Representation of Deaf/HoH in  Comments are invited, not acted upon policymaking process  Patronizing attitude: We know what is best for them Guiding Question for Deaf/HoH (Pilot study) Summary of Responses

Experience with the  Inconvenient time of broadcast sign-language news  Signing not standardized or easy to understand, bulletin attention divided between visual and signing  Dissatisfaction because of single weekly bulletin

Experience with  Ticker on news channels subtitling  Only Western movies have it

113 Table 3-5. Example of theory-driven codes with segments of text from all four data sets Name of Theory-driven Code Access to Information Explanation of Code Right to freedom of expression, to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, ICT as enablers of access to information, closed captioning, signing, participation in public sphere

Policymakers From both points of view, the media are important. Those who can’t hear, can’t speak, there should be provisions definitely made for them in the media

Advocacy groups And there should be interpreters. Access to television, there should be interpreters for TV shows

Subtitles

Policy documents Promote other appropriate forms of assistance and support to persons with disabilities to ensure their access to information

Newspaper reports In India the awareness has been so low that policymakers and decision-makers did not even think of it. The demand for subtitling television programmes was first raised by the National Association of the Deaf about two years ago, but the government did not take it very seriously. Aim is to ensure that the entire programming on television, at least public broadcasters, is made accessible. Also aim to extend this dialogue with the private sector

114 Table 3-6. Example of data-driven codes with segments of text from all four data sets Name of Data-driven Code Reservation Explanation of Code Percentage of posts in government organizations set aside for employing persons with disabilities. Seats reserved in educational institutions for the persons with disabilities

Policymakers Then we have increased the percentage of reservation of PWD in higher education and jobs, government jobs from 3 per cent to 5 Advocacy groups per cent

I am saying that somewhere the government will realize that even in that 1% reservation for employment, my deaf, the people who are Policy documents profoundly deaf, never get those jobs

Reservation of Posts for Persons with Newspaper reports Benchmark Disabilities

Provides for a 5 per cent reservation in government jobs and reservation in higher educational institutions

115 Table 3-7. Connecting the codes and identifying themes using the research questions as headings: Considerations for implementing closed captioning Advocacy Group Policy Documents and Policymakers Representatives Newspapers

*Technology: awareness, *Awareness and training *Accessible multimedia availability, accessibility of policymakers as well as written, audio, (cost) and adaptability *Equality and level plain-language, human- playing field reader and augmentative *Awareness and *Law/policy and alternative modes, advocacy *Representation means and formats of *Government priority and communication, including *Sound policy, action accessible information government priority, *Private company priority and communication government initiative technology

*Initiative by private *All content in whichever media companies medium whether audio, print or electronic shall be *Incentivize private made available to sector persons with disabilities in accessible format *Should be implemented *Ensure that persons with disabilities have access to electronic media by providing for audio description, sign language interpretation and close captioning

*The demand for subtitling television programmes was first raised by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) about two years ago, but the government did not take it very seriously.

116 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS

This chapter presents the results of the research. The purpose of this single explanatory case study was to explore with a sample of policymakers and disability rights advocates their perceptions about the feasibility and effects of closed captioning of television, particularly news and current affairs programs, in India. In addition, the study sought to understand the sample’s perceptions about the key considerations for an inclusive media access policy with closed captioning as a focus. The researcher believed that a better understanding of the possibilities and limitations of a policy mandating closed captioning for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in India would help policymakers to proceed with a more informed perspective while finalizing the provisions for equitable media access in the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act

2012. Revisions to the draft bill have been made since 2011, and the bill is yet to be enacted into legislature.

Layout of the Chapter

First a brief description of the study’s settings is given. Describing the settings of the study makes it easier for the researcher to explain the context and nuances of the case to the intended readership. Next, a description of the interview participants sketches a profile of the elite sample, and justifies its selection for the study. In the section that follows, first the research questions are recalled to guide the reader’s viewing and comprehension of the results. The key findings, which answer the research questions follow, elaborated with relevant quotations from the interview transcripts.

Other important findings not directly related to the research questions are presented with descriptive charts of summarized themes where relevant.

117 Finally, the findings of the study are summarized in a capsule version of the detailed findings.

The Case Setting

India ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities on 1 October 2007 (http://www.un.org/disabilities/countries.asp?id=166 - I).

The Convention set out guidelines for signatories to adopt with the aim of ensuring equal rights for disabled citizens. Following the ratification, and in keeping with the guidelines of the UNCRPD, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of the

Government of India, in 2009, set up a committee to draft a bill to this effect (Daily News and Analysis). After the committee submitted its recommendations to the Ministry, the latter released a draft bill in 2012 (available at http://www.socialjustice.nic.in/pwd2011.php). The bill, according to disability rights advocates and activists, is not inclusive, or in keeping with the guidelines of the

UNCRPD, which have led to continued protests on issues that “ranged from the definition of disability aligning with the medical model, the schedule speaking of

‘specified disabilities’ [emphasis in original], focus on welfare and not empowerment of women with disabilities, among others” (The Hindu).

The draft bill, in its 2014-revised form, was with the Parliamentary Standing

Committee during the study period according to those interviewed. A holistic study of the case was required for the purpose of stipulating a presumed set of causal links which may reflect substantive insights into the process of policy making (Yin, 2014), thereby if correct, leading to recommendations for future policy actions. The policymaking process with regard to the draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act

2012 was studied with a focus on the purpose of the study: causal links for the

118 implementation of closed captioning of Indian television news and current affairs. The investigation was based on the mandate for providing equitable media access to the disabled by State signatories as enshrined in the Preamble, and Article 21 of UNCRPD.

While the Preamble urges the signatory States to recognize the importance of accessibility to the physical, social, economic and cultural environment, to health and education and to information and communication, in enabling persons with disabilities to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms

(http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml), Article 21 encourages

“the mass media, including providers of information through the Internet, to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities”

(http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml). Article 21 pointedly decrees that provisions must be made by State signatory parties to enable persons with disabilities to exercise their right to freedom of expression and opinion, “including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice”

(http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml).

Description of Interview Participants

As described in Chapter 3, the interview participants for this study included senior officials and representatives from the relevant organizations who are directly involved with drafting or substantially knowledgeable about the provisions, and their implementation with respect to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012, and/or in advocacy for the rights of the disabled in India. The organizations they represented were identified as follows: the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MOSJ),

Government of India; the Department of Disabilities, MOSJ; the Office of the Chief

119 Commissioner for Disabilities, Government of India; Indian Institute of Mass

Communication, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India; and 6 non-profit advocacy organizations for the disabled, most of which focus on the Deaf/

Hard of Hearing, as relevant to the purpose of this study. These non-profit organizations were identified as the National Association of the Deaf; the Noida Deaf Society; All India

Federation of the Deaf; National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled

People; Delhi Foundation of Deaf Women; and Society for Disability and Rehabilitation

Studies.

The final interviewees consisted of four senior-level decision-makers from the

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, one from the Ministry of Information and

Broadcasting, one senior leader or representative each from the National Association of the Deaf; the Noida Deaf Society; All India Federation of the Deaf; National Centre for

Promotion of Employment for Disabled People and the Delhi Foundation of Deaf

Women, and two representatives from the Society for Disability and Rehabilitation

Studies. One interview from a representative of a non-profit was discarded from the final data set since it was not substantive.

Description of Documents

Interview transcripts from 12 in-depth elite interviews were the primary documents for this study. Among the other relevant documents included in the final data set were 43 newspaper reports from various Indian news sources collected between

2011 and 2014, the period in which the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act was drafted and revised. For the specific focus of this study, which is the feasibility of and considerations for a closed captioning policy for Indian broadcast news, one article from

2009 was included, it being the only one to report on the government’s intention to

120 include subtitles for its public service news channel Doordarshan. No other news reports were found on this announcement within the study time frame since the government did not pursue its intent later, and subtitling or closed captioning was not implemented.

Two policy papers were included in the final data set, which were: the United

Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities protocol, the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2012. Two other documents, Outcome Document—The

New Delhi Declaration on Inclusive ICTs for Persons with Disabilities Making

Empowerment a Reality gathered from the first International Conference on the topic titled From Inclusion to Empowerment: Role of ICTs for Persons with Disabilities held in

New Delhi between 24 and 26 November 2014 was referred to in addition to a transcript from the concluding session of the Conference, but were not a part of the study sample.

Data Analysis

Data analysis for this study followed six steps as described in Chapter 3. In

Stage 1, initial codes were identified from the theoretical framework and research questions. This formed the initial codebook. Table 4.1 lists the six a priori codes, which were identified by Name, Definition and Point of Occurrence.

The next step was to test the reliability of the codes. Seven Articles from the

UNCRPD protocol, two elite interview transcripts—one each of a policymaker and disabled rights advocate, and Chapter 1:51 of the Draft RPD Act 2012 were used to check for reliability of the initial codebook. The researcher and an independent coder simultaneously coded the documents in different locations to check for required modifications to the initial codebook. The results were compared, and no modifications to the initial codebook were required. Table 4.2 lists the initial codes that were

121 applicable while examining the documents.

The third stage comprised of summarizing the interview data and identifying initial themes. Document summary forms were created for each of the 12 elite interview transcripts and four pilot interview transcripts. The CAQDAS Dedoose was used to identify initial themes in the 43 newspaper reports to search for repetitions of words or phrases. 19 initial codes emerged (Appendix G), which were categorized under the six a priori codes. Figure 4-1 and Figure 4-2 present graphic representations of the Dedoose analysis. Reponses from the 12 interview transcripts were summarized under the guiding question headings. Table 4-3 lists the summary of responses from the interviews.

The fourth stage consisted of applying the template of codes to all four datasets.

Additional coding was carried out by assigning inductive codes to parts of the data that highlighted new themes in the texts (See Table 4-4 and 4-5).

In stages five and six, patterns and themes were identified by connecting the codes, and finally, findings were corroborated and second-order themes identified.

(See Table 4-6 and Table 4-7).

Findings

This chapter presents the key findings from 12 in-depth elite interviews, 43 newspaper reports, two policy papers, and one conference concluding session outcome, which was not a part of the study sample.

Five key findings emerged from the study. The first two findings relate directly to the research questions while the rest of the critical findings are included to explain the case holistically. For reference, the two research questions were:

122 RQ 1: What are the considerations for implementing closed captioning for Indian television as recommended in the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012?

RQ2: How do policymakers and disability rights advocates view closed captioning policy as a means of media access for the hearing impaired in India?

Finding 1 in response to RQ1: A majority of the participants cited various aspects of technology such as affordability, adaptability, and their awareness among policymakers as the most important consideration for the implementation of closed captioning in India. Other key considerations were political will, advocacy efforts, government policy and law, and support and/or initiative by private media companies.

Finding 2 in response to RQ 2: Fewer policymakers than disability rights advocacy group representatives were familiar with closed captioning as an assistive information and communications technology for media access for the D/HoH. A majority of policymakers indicated their interpretation of equitable television news access for the

D/HoH as bulletins with sign language interpretation service. A majority of the advocacy group representatives were familiar with closed captioning and desired its implementation. There was, however, unanimous agreement about the need for equitable media access for the hearing impaired to ensure their access to news and public information.

Other Key Findings

Finding 3: Most of the participants assumed hearing impaired to include only those born deaf when they spoke of equitable media access or an inclusive policy. Hard of Hearing persons, or those with acquired deafness, were not mentioned.

Finding 4: Inclusion was indicated primarily in terms of equitable access to employment, education, and access to public infrastructure. Most of the participants

123 mentioned equitable access to, or reservation in jobs, or economic empowerment, equitable access to education or reservation in educational institutions, and equitable access to public infrastructure as key considerations for an inclusive policy. A clear majority of the newspaper reports also mentioned these three areas of focus. Access to news and information as a tenet of inclusion was not highlighted by the interview participants or in the newspaper reports.

Finding 5: In the policy decision-making process for persons with disabilities, representation from persons with disabilities was reported to be lacking or absent by a majority of the advocacy group representatives; most of the policymakers, in contrast, indicated participation from various stakeholders including persons with disabilities.

Since this is an explanatory case study, the details that explain each of the findings are mentioned. Such a “thick description” gives the context and meaning of social actions, as elaborated by Denzin (1989), states the intentions and meanings that organize the action, traces the evolution and development of the act, and presents the action as a text that can then be interpreted (p. 33). Following is a discussion of the findings, in which the researcher documents a wide range of experiences thereby providing the intended readership with an opportunity to subjectively place itself within the research context. In this chapter, illustrative quotes from the interview transcripts coupled with highlights from the newspaper reports and conference proceedings attempt to present the viewpoints of multiple participants with an aim to encapsulate the complexity and richness of the case. Relevant and explanatory critical policy document data are included where necessary to reinforce the observations and discussion.

124 Finding 1: Ten out of the 12 participants cited technology as the most important consideration for the implementation of closed captioning in India. Various aspects of technology were mentioned: Affordability, adaptability to the Indian context, and awareness among policymakers. Among other key considerations were political will, advocacy efforts, government policy and law, and support and/or initiative by private media companies towards implementing the technology in their service offerings.

The primary and overriding consideration for the implementation of mandatory closed captioning in India was found to be various aspects of technology. Based on participant statements, there was a pronounced need to consider all aspects of the CC technology for its implementation, including awareness, affordability (cost), effectiveness (“smart”), availability, adaptability to the Indian context, expertize in handling, and a well-informed policy that mandates the implementation of CC. These aspects, mentioned in varied frequencies by the interviewees indicated what the interviewees considered important when considering the feasibility of closed captioning in India.

Availability, Access, Effectiveness and Affordability

An overwhelming majority of the policymakers mentioned availability of technology as the starting point for implementing closed captioning in India. Among the notable comments were those of Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Joint Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities at the Ministry of Social Justice and

Empowerment, who said: “It is a question of access to smart technology. Smart technology is the answer, smart and cheap technology.” Citing information technology as a key factor in improving accessibility for the disabled, K.V.S Rao, Director,

Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities at the Ministry of Social

125 Justice and Empowerment stated: “With the help of IT, we can solve a number of life problems.” The Deputy Chief Commissioner at the Office of the Chief Commissioner for

Persons with Disabilities, T.D. Dhariyal, highlighted awareness, availability and affordability of technology as key factors for implementing CC. He noted that while CC is mentioned in the Draft Bill, and the technology is in operation in many countries,

“probably that kind of awareness and enforcement is not actually happening (in India).”

Surrendar Saini, President, All India Federation of the Deaf (AIFD) indicated that financial resources and technical expertise are important elements to be considered. In a newspaper report from 2009 when the government had agreed on paper to subtitle prime time news for the benefit of the hearing impaired, Javed Abidi, Honorary Director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People and Global

Chair of Disabled People’s International had, however contended that cost is a negligible factor: “What is needed is awareness and sensitivity and a certain sociopolitical will on the part of the decision-makers” (IANS). Supporting his statement during the interview for this study, P.R. Ramanujam, Honorary Executive President,

Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies agreed that funds may not be an issue as demonstrated by the allocation of an initial 25 crore rupees (approximately 5 million dollars) for setting up the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre

(http://socialjustice.nic.in/pdf/orderISLRTC.pdf) for the benefit of the hearing impaired:

“If the executive is not sensitive, not well aware, and I would not even say paucity of funds, it’s not the lack of resources, resources are there.”

Adaptability to the Indian Context

A noticeable concern for the policymakers was adaptability of closed captioning to Indian television and to the country in general. The policymakers cited various

126 reasons for this concern, which included linguistic diversity, population size, and priorities and efficiency of the government.

Elucidating the concern about linguistic diversity as a possible and prominent barrier, Sunit Tandon, Director General of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting highlighted that when even websites are not available in most Indian languages, implementing closed captioning for the numerous Indian television channels that are aired in equally numerous languages will be a pronounced challenge. Citing an example of the country’s public service broadcaster Doordarshan’s Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha channels, which broadcast in two languages, English and Hindi, he expressed concern over the choice of output language if CC is implemented:

Tandon Now the moment you start CC in one of these channels for instance, (MIB): how many languages are you going to do it in? Which languages? Is the technology there for doing it in 20 languages? 22 languages? 28 languages? (Continues) There are about 800 channels in various languages, how many of them will be able to close caption and in how many languages?

A majority of the interviewees highlighted that India is different from model countries where the CC technology is in operation, or which have a more inclusive media access policy for the disabled. Rao of MOSJ compared India with the United

States in the former’s level of development. He also pointed to India’s population as a possible concern. With multiple television broadcast systems in India, he said that implementing CC on each outlet system was a tall task, not to mention the need for strong campaigning towards its implementation:

Rao But definitely these issues will be taken up by the proposed National (MOSJ): Commission. Because there are many things which come much later, for various reasons. Logistically, financially, or if the priorities

127 of the government are different where we are even tackling the basic issues like housing, clothing, shelter, food and those are the main issues rather than only one small spectrum of hearing impaired, which will get its due priority. Using the example of the slow mobile phone penetration owing to the geographical spread of the country, Rao drew attention to the time it may take for closed captioning to reach most areas of the country: “Since it’s a huge country, definitely some time will take but we are hopeful of achieving our goals.” Ruma Roka, founder of the Noida Deaf Society, reinforced this observation stating that India is a “big huge white elephant” which takes substantial time to bring about changes. She, however, mentioned one television channel (no name recalled), which apparently offers closed captioning for some important national events.

A Policy in Place and Political Will

A majority of the participants highlighted that a policy mandating CC, coupled with having CC on the priority list of the government, and the government’s efficiency are crucial considerations. Eight of the 12 respondents conveyed this opinion. Abidi of

NCPEDP said that the first step was to have a law in place. He reasoned that once there is a law, positive change is inevitable. He lamented that in the past 60 years, the neglect of the Indian government towards considering implementing assistive technologies such as CC, for example, has been a result of not having an inclusive policy. Therefore, according to him, such negligence on the part of the government has resulted in disabilities rights groups’ passion and efforts towards demanding an inclusive law and policy. He expressed optimism for having CC on Indian television thus:

Abidi Have no doubt in your mind that the change will occur, that the (NCPEDP): change has to occur because that’s the law of the land. Now it may occur automatically if the government of the day takes it seriously, if

128 the Ministry takes it seriously, if television industry takes it seriously, or it may require struggle and efforts and going to the courts. It may happen in one year, it may happen in 5 years but it will happen.

Dhariyal of the MOSJ agreed. According to him too, an inclusive policy is the first step. He stated that once a law or policy is in place, it becomes easy for the government to mandate implementation. Citing the example of accessible websites, which are required to be made accessible by law, he said, “We have sent letters to all departments that they are required to do it. And if they don’t, we can issue a show- cause notice and summon them”. According to G.N. Karna, President of the Society for

Disability and Rehabilitation Studies (SDRS), political will is a decisive factor when considering an inclusive policy that aligns with the provisions of the UNCRPD. Political will and effort are equally important when policies in violation of the UN protocol need to be rectified:

Karna And that could happen only if a thorough exercise, a meticulous (SDRS) exercise, a genuine exercise is carried out by the politicians. So that is why, in my opinion, the politicians in this country (long pause) have become completely handicapped in their thinking, in their outlook.

Ramanujam of the SDRS spoke of his experience with the government in a way to indicate that ministerial commitment and initiative is essential for change in the positive direction. Speaking about his experience, A.S. Narayanan, General Secretary of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) lamented government apathy and ignorance about issues concerning the Deaf. He indicated that his perception of the government changed after him getting involved with NAD. Eventually, the organization’s and other disability rights groups’ efforts apprised the government of issues concerning the hearing impaired. He said about the government: “NAD tried and tried, their friends

129 tried to push them (government), so now they (government) have started to learn certain things about them (the Deaf). So now they hope that they will get somewhere.”

The Need for Advocacy

Despite agreeing that first a robust and inclusive law needs to be put in place for positive change to happen, and that not much progress has been made in this direction,

Rao of MOSJ, focusing on the D/HoH population, expressed the government’s intent to be of help. But he claimed that since those representing the hearing impaired have not raised the issue of closed captioning over the years, and have campaigned for sign language interpretation only, the government too has focused on providing the latter. He suggested that the greater the efforts on the part of advocacy groups to push for implementing CC, the more the chance that the government would understand its urgency and importance, and make its implementation a priority. He said:

Rao Okay, the proposed National Commission will be there to hear them; (MOSJ) government with all (its) priorities could not hear, but the associations can also be active and keep telling us from time to time, and to the extent possible, technically, financially, we will do our best. But we are not closed to these ideas.

His comments were echoed by Sudarshan Bhagat, Minister of State for Social

Justice and Empowerment, who stated that following consultation with the Ministry officials, the government was willing to do the best for the hearing impaired in terms of implementing closed captioning. Awasthi acknowledged that more work needs to be done for the benefit of the hearing impaired in India.

This need for advocacy for implementation of an inclusive policy, which would have mandates to ensure the disabled’s access and participation via specific provisions, stood out as a decisive theme as reflected in the participant responses. Nine out of 12 elite interviewees mentioned that policymakers need to be apprised of specific needs

130 and demands for provision of accommodations, rights and entitlements. A clear majority of the policymakers stated that positive change can be brought about if issues are brought to the Ministry’s notice or are campaigned for.

Awasthi of the MOSJ stated that the Ministry will make a decision based on the

Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre’s suggestion. He insisted that the onus of bringing issues concerning the hearing impaired to the government lay with the

ISLRTC, which he sees as the organization responsible for both sign language interpretation related issues as well as closed captioning. Tandon of the MIB pointed out that the reluctance of the private sector towards providing closed captioning citing financial non-feasibility has not been opposed vocally by Deaf interest groups either.

The Minister of State, MOSJ, however, while agreeing that non governmental organizations and advocacy groups need to step up efforts, said that identification of the hearing impaired in the country was a concern:

Bhagat The government must work towards it, and NGOs also must work (MOSJ) towards it. Both should work in tandem. First they need to be identified, recognized, then… till the time a (disabled) person is not identified, what problem that person is facing, how can we formulate solutions?

Among the advocacy groups, there was similar consensus on the need for making policymakers aware of the issues the deaf face for the former’s consideration for inclusive provision. Participants spoke of the need to be assertive in various ways:

Roka: Because see, also, let’s not blame everybody. If the policymakers (NDS) have no idea, there’s no enemy here, there is no bad guy good guy here, the policymakers have never been aware! You know, how would they have been made aware.

Uma Kapoor, General Secretary of the Delhi Foundation for Deaf Women

(DFDW) claimed that the causes of the hearing impaired have been taken up only in

131 recent years. In the last few years, she has seen greater awareness as the hearing impaired themselves have come forward to demand their needs, and fight for their rights: “Now deaf gives their opinions openly through protest, writing letters to governments and also using social media,” she said. Another participant, Saini of AIFD, recalled that former Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, when first apprised of the problems of the D/HoH, was welcoming about the inputs since she claimed that the problems had never been brought to her notice before. Following this process, the first sign language news bulletin was started in the country in 1987. In addition, Saini recalled numerous agitations seeking equal rights for the disabled, which led to the introduction of the first ever law—The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities,

Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act in 1995

(http://socialjustice.nic.in/pwdact1995.php).

Another paramount change, according to Abidi of NCPEDP, was brought about following rigorous campaigning:

Abidi Disabled people had never been included in the census. But what is (NCPEDP) funny is that the census goes back more than a hundred years. And until the time of the British, there was a question on disability but in Independent India, the first census being 1951, then 1961, ‘71, ‘81, ’91, no question on disability. It was after great fight, a big fight that a question of disability was finally included in the 2001 census.

Demonstrating that a proactive approach regarding equitable media accessibility for the Deaf has resulted in favorable change with sign language interpretation provided for two events of national importance, Narayanan of the NAD said:

Narayanan So in 60 years never before in Republic Day parades there was (NAD) never an interpreter there. Just in the past January 26 parade, there was an interpreter. So 10 days before they sent a letter to the government asking for an interpreter there. At first they decided to postpone it, I mean just ignore it. So the deaf people protested,

132 conducted strikes for 7 days they protested at different places and eventually government accepted. DD National and DD Bharat, they showed interpreters and in 4 private channels also they showed it. So it was for the first time for the deaf people.

Industry Players

Initiative by private media companies and/or government incentives to them for providing closed captioning was mentioned as a consideration for its implementation by a few participants. Ramanujam of the SDRS, for example, cited the example of a regional television channel that provides captioned services on its own initiative. While claiming no surety over the quality or correctness of the captioned services, he said that

Puthiya Thalaimurai (literally, New Generation), provides closed captioning for most of its programs despite no mandate given to them for providing the service.

According to Abidi of NCPEDP as well, the television industry taking closed captioning seriously would enable the implementation of the technology. Dhariyal of

MOSJ recommended incentivizing the implementation of closed captioning for private media companies: “Incentivize it, because there may be issues… Say, by having what you call a national award just as we have a national award for accessible websites. So similarly we can have this kind of incentivization by providing some national award or by providing some financial help”. Tandon pointed out that the private television industry is

“remarkably reluctant to spend anything extra”, therefore making legislating mandatory implementation and penalization for non-compliance would be useful.

Finding 2: Only one policymaker was familiar with closed captioning as assistive information and communication technology for media access for the D/HoH. Most of the policymakers indicated their interpretation of equitable television news access for the

D/HoH as bulletins with sign language interpretation service. In contrast, a clear majority

133 of the hearing advocacy group representatives, and both the Deaf representatives were familiar with closed captioning and desired its implementation. There was unanimous agreement among the participants—policymakers and advocacy rights groups—about the need for equitable news media access for the hearing impaired to ensure access to news and public information.

The other primary and pivotal finding of this study was that policymakers did not recognize closed captioning as a significant information and communication technology that can assist in making television news content accessible to the Deaf/Hard of

Hearing population in India. A majority of the policymaker study sample was not familiar with the technology of closed captioning, having never seen it, or only seen it once in operation. This finding is very significant in terms of the lack of knowledge about the technology, with only one of the five policymakers showing indications of being familiar with it. Moreover, a clear majority of the policy decision makers indicated their interpretation of equitable television news access for the hearing impaired as providing bulletins with sign language interpretation service. Based on the decision makers’ responses even to specific mentions of how closed captioning works, there was an overwhelming inclination towards promoting sign language interpretation service as the means to make broadcast news accessible to the D/HoH. Awasthi of MOSJ cited the many ways in which sign language interpretation service is being emphasized by the

Indian government, including the “first experiment” at the 2014 Republic Day parade, the intent to start the ISLRTC, starting courses on sign language, and ensuring sign language is “standardized for the Indian context”. On being asked how sign language is useful to those with acquired deafness or those hard of hearing, he said:

134 Awasthi Obviously, if they are not born deaf, and they have acquired (MOSJ) deafness, obviously it makes it easier for them to understand (sign language content). So sign language will be required by them in any case because if they can’t hear, they would require sign language. So it will be as good for anyone.

Dhariyal of MOSJ counted the efforts made by the Department of

Disability Affairs towards media inclusivity for the hearing impaired with the

examples of sign language interpretation of news, interpreter services for the

2014 Republic Day, for conferences and presentations, and by making an

increased quota of free short message service (SMS) available to the Deaf/Hard

of Hearing with support from the department of communication. Tandon of the

MIB stated that while currently the only service that exists for news access for the

hearing impaired is one bulletin a week, of late “pressure from various interest

groups” has increased for provision of sign language interpretation of at least

major public interest events. He, however, said of closed captioning: “I haven’t

seen anything apart from movie channels, which in any case get subtitled, films,

foreign films, not the Indian ones.” When asked why the provision for closed

captioning was put into the draft RPD bill to start with, the Minister of State for

Social Justice and Empowerment said:

Bhagat Actually India has ratified the UNCRPD. India is a member of the (MOSJ) UNCRPD. So UNCRPD mandates that recreation facilities must be accessible to persons with disabilities. Because India is a party to that convention, in order to implement that convention in the Indian context, we have included closed captioning.

Among the advocacy group representatives interviewed, mandatory implementation of policy for an assistive ICT such as closed captioning was welcomed.

A clear majority of the hearing representatives of the advocacy groups were familiar

135 with the technology, one did not comment, and those familiar with CC used the term interchangeably with subtitling. Ramanujam of SDRS highlighted the absence of assistive media access technology for the hearing impaired, while citing the example of other countries where closed captioning is in operation. He highlighted that a robust media policy, which mandates captioning at least for “every important program”, and software that allows translation are key:

Ramanujam And there is a software, I think it is practiced in Japan, in many (SDRS) countries, you can have captions, you can have signing, other formats, alternative formats of delivering the content. That has to be done as a policy.

For the Hard of Hearing or those with acquired deafness, contradicting Awasthi’s

(MOSJ) claim that sign language must be learned by both the Deaf as well as the Hard of Hearing, Ramanujam argued that it is not possible for the HoH to learn sign language at an advanced age: “I think the possibility is to send some experts and see how these things are subtitled.”

Yet, all of the hearing impaired interviewees in the pilot study, two of who were also interviewed later as official representatives of advocacy groups, were familiar with closed captioning, and hoped for its availability on Indian television in the near future.

But all of them used closed captioning and subtitling as interchangeable terms.

Narayanan of the NAD, an organization that has been for campaigning for accessible television in India for 8 years now, for example, highlighted the demand for captioned television: “There are some shows that teach you (cookery, fashion) how to do it, if you are hearing, you could easily understand. But if you are deaf, there are no subtitles. So it’s very hard for them (us). If there is a joke, they (we) could laugh on it… closed captioning should be there.” His interpreter explained further that Narayan feels while

136 for movies, “subtitles is enough”, there is a pronounced need for subtitles as well as an interpreter for news owing to the importance of news in apprising people of what is happening around the world.

Equitable Media Access a Right

The elite interviewees were unanimous in stating that the D/HoH population in

India has the right to equitable access to news and information, which enables it to be aware of current affairs, and participate in civic society. This aligns with the Preamble of the Outcome Document-The New Delhi Declaration on Inclusive ICTs for Persons with

Disabilities Making Empowerment a Reality, which affirms that “Access to information and knowledge using Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and assistive technologies (AT) for persons with disabilities is an inalienable human right”

(http://www.unesco-ci.org/ict-pwd/).

Policymakers added that provisions such as closed captioning must be made to enable such access. Tandon of MIB stated the importance of access to information with the explanation that the multifarious nature of “what is going on in the world, what are policies, what is happening, how they infringe upon your daily life” makes it imperative that a person with a disability who is “no different, is a citizen of the country” is given access.

Tandon Apart from that, knowledge is important; anything, which imparts (MIB) knowledge apart from information, also is important. So as a fellow citizen if there is a technology, which enables more and more citizens to benefit from this explosion of media, then obviously one must try to make it available to them.

Dhariyal of MOSJ was more vocal in stating that closed captioning “will have to be implemented because it is a question of rights.” He stated that people should not be deprived of their basic right of access to news and information, and therefore, with the

137 implementation of the RPD bill, he sees CC too being implemented though “it may take some time”. His colleague Rao of the MOSJ reasoned that broadcasting of news in an accessible format must be there, even though whether to consume it or not is a choice the hearing impaired will inevitably make. According to him, the option must exist: “Just as the normal person has so many choices. Now they (D/HoH) do not have the choice.

So certain policies and technology have to be developed, certain IT solutions. So that they have as much choice as a normal citizen, to access.” Both Awasthi of the MOSJ and the Minister of State Bhagat too conceded that to be aware of what is happening in the country, and equitable media access on the whole is a fundamental right for everyone, and provisions must be made for the hearing impaired to ensure the same.

Among the comments made by the representatives of the advocacy groups,

Surrendar Saini recalled a trip to the United States many years back where she saw closed captioning in action for the first time: “They (deaf colleagues) saw there were television programs being shown (with CC) and other facilities that they were getting. So

I would always come and report to the Prime Minister Mrs. Gandhi. Then it was her initiative, her initiative on our request, but with her help that this television program (sign language news bulletin) started for the hearing impaired.”

Narayanan believes that access to news is important to one’s life. He pointed out that a deaf person watching and absorbing news would learn a lot in the topic of politics, and would be well informed in the general knowledge, business, and sports. He spoke of one of his favorite programs on a private news channel, NDTV, called The Big Fight thus: “They just debate on important topics, but for deaf people, they don’t understand a thing. They would feel like they’re just talking, that it’s useless, but it may be useful.

138 They put forward good and bad opinion… deaf people should (could) learn from it so that they could put (have) their own opinions, they could put more interest in these topics. But closed captioning is not there.” Kapoor of the Delhi Foundation for Deaf

Women (DFDW) lamented that the “deaf miss out on a lot” because of non-availability of captioning. She emphasized that implementing captioning should be considered important at least for some programs such events of national importance, news other than the weekly bulletin for the hearing impaired on national television, documentaries and some popular movies, and programs on Discovery Channel.

Opinions, however, were divided among the participants on how effectively such access to news and current affairs broadcasts is presently provided. While the policymakers emphasized the provision of the single weekly sign language news bulletin on national television as having fulfilled the hearing impaired community’s demand for accessible television, and highlighted the effort of the government in providing a sign language interpreter for two recent events of national importance—the

2014 Republic Day parade and the Prime Minister’s swearing-in ceremony—the representatives of the D/HoH were appreciative of the steps but skeptical of the provisions at the same time. A majority of them was dissatisfied at the provision of just one sign language news bulletin on national television. Narayanan (NAD) and

Ramanujam (SDRS) both vocalized their dissatisfaction at the time of broadcast and frequency of the bulletin on the country’s public service television Doordarshan, while

Roka of the Noida Deaf Society contended the two interpreted national events to be a small but positive move: “it is a step forward towards the big goal of making news and

139 knowledge accessible to this entire gamut of the Deaf community, which is not just the deaf.”

Additional Findings

Finding 3. During the course of the interview, an overwhelming majority of the participants assumed Deaf/ Hard of Hearing to include only those born deaf when they spoke of equitable media access or an inclusive policy. Hard of Hearing persons, or those with acquired deafness were not included instinctively. This indicated a mindset wherein disability is perceived as a medical impairment in India, even though some of the participants from the advocacy groups later used terms other than deaf, which indicates the pathological impairment.

Despite references to the social model of disability wherein disability is considered a social construct, and indicating that mindsets may be slowly changing in

India, a clear majority of the participants assumed the hearing impaired population to consist of the medically deaf. Among advocacy group representatives, terminology ranged from ‘deaf community’, ‘hearing impaired’, ‘deaf’ (the most used terminology),

‘person with deafness’, ‘linguistic minority’, and ‘hearing impaired’. Less than half of the advocacy group interviewees referred to the Hard of Hearing but categorically defined them as “different” from the medically deaf. They distinguished the Hard of Hearing from the deaf from birth at three instances: in not knowing sign language (while speaking of sign language interpretation of two national events in 2014, and access to news media without captioning), and in representation at the first committee for drafting the Rights of

Persons with Disabilities Act (citing agitation by the deaf to include a representative from “their category” in the committee).

Among policymakers, terminology ranged from ‘deaf’ to ‘persons/people with

140 deafness’, and ‘hearing impaired’ (primarily echoing of the use of the term by the researcher). No policymaker referred to the Hard of Hearing or those with acquired deafness. One participant, when subtly directed to give his opinion on television news access for those with acquired deafness, indicated that those who are not born deaf must also learn sign language.

When asked for criteria for the government to define disability, two of the policymakers stated that according to the government, those with 40% and above impairment, or benchmark disability are the focus for provisions such as reservations in education, employment, and equipment “such as wheelchairs”.

This finding is pertinent since by including only those born deaf and not those with acquired deafness or the Hard of Hearing, the participants indicate contradiction to the foundation of the UNCRPD. In ratifying the Convention, and drafting the new legislature, India is bound by mandate to adopt the social construct of disability, which does not view it with a physical or mental impairment lens. Barriers for persons with impairments to full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others, according to the UNCRPD, consist of their interaction with attitudinal and environmental limitations.

In contrast, the Draft RPD Bill 2012 (Part 1 Section 2) categorizes persons with disabilities for the purpose of rights provisions as:

 ‘person with benchmark’ disability means a person with not less than forty percent of a specified disability, as certified by a competent authority;

 ‘person with disability’ means a person with long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder his full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others;

 ‘person with disability having high support needs’ means a person with benchmark disability who is certified under section 44 to require high support on

141 an ongoing basis, and may, in particular, include such persons confined to their homes or living in institutions, or who may be concealed, neglected or segregated, or destitute or homeless

In defining disability with regard to equitable access, two of the five policymakers responded with statements that portrayed disability in terms of percentage of impairment. Rao of MOSJ explained that disability ranges from 0% to 100%, and the

Ministry is presently focusing on persons with disabilities above 40%, which it has set as the benchmark for provisions. He said that in any of the seven categories in the present

Act (the Persons with Disabilities Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full

Participation Act 1995) or in any of the 19 categories in the present (RPD) Bill, persons with above the benchmark disability “deserve more attention”. Dhariyal of MOSJ too defined disability in terms of percentage. He elaborated that disability has been divided into three categories by the government: “For example, we say, a person with benchmark disability, person with specified disabilities—any person having one of those

19 types of disabilities—will be called a person with specified disabilities, these have been specified in the schedule. And benchmark disability means 40% or more”.

Two of the advocacy group representatives expressly stated their observation that disability is still viewed in India as a medical impairment. They expressed their opinion on this observation when they said:

Abidi As I said, there is no dearth of idiots especially in a country as big as (NCPEDP) India with one billion people, so there are people who still see disability as a medical issue. For that matter, I am sure there are still people in India who would look at disability as perhaps a Karma issue.

Roka Deafness is… still considered a medical problem, (it is) an (NDS): impairment that needs to be corrected. Being an invisible disability, awareness has been minimal.

142 These observations seemed to be corroborated by the newspaper reports. There were frequent mentions of the hearing impaired, with reference to the term with phrases such as medical conception of disability, classification on medically defined degree of disability, certifications and identity cards based of medical classification, and the number of disabilities included in the Draft RPD Act 2012 were present with reference to the provision of benefits, certification, definition, categorization and mindset. This theme was the second most frequently occurring theme after the Draft Rights of Persons with

Disabilities Act 2012 among the 41 themes identified in the reports, subsequently categorized (into 19) and re-categorized in the final codebook. While frequency of occurrence is not pertinent as an indicator of relevance in an interpretive qualitative study such as this one, numerous mentions in the form of excerpts from the newspaper reports pointed to a significant pattern relevant to the study. Newspapers elucidated opinions and observations with phrases and statements such as “disability is a condition, not a disease” (The Hindu, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/budget-

201314-disability-sector-deeply-disappointed/article4463094.ece), “certificates are not given to persons with less than 40 per cent disability” (The Hindu, http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kolkata/only-40-per-cent-of-indias-disabled-have- access-to-disability-certificates/article6657745.ece), “We want the government’s understanding of disability to evolve. It is no more the focus on impairments of the body and mind but to the social model of recognition and empowerment” (Deutsche Welle),

“definition of persons with disability takes us back to a medical model” (PTI, http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Disability-Rights-Group-Shocked-Over-

Changes-in-Bill/2014/02/01/article2032497.ece), and

143 The RPD bill adopts this definition selectively — for clauses related to non-discrimination — but where positive benefits are involved, such as reservation in education and employment, a medical definition of ‘benchmark disabilities’ is used. The RPD bill has expanded the number of benchmark disabilities from seven to 18 and has retained the 40 per cent requirement— blindness, low vision, hearing impairment, locomotor disability, mental illness, mental retardation and leprosy. This definition stems from a medical model of disability and is highly problematic. (Indian Express accessible at http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/at- a-standstill/).

Figure 4-1 presents a visual representation of the frequency of occurrence of codes in newspaper reports. 41 inductive codes were assigned to the most frequently occurring themes, which were then re-categorized under the 6 preset codes for subsequent interpretation.

In the rest of the data, the theme ‘Hearing Impaired’ occurred 40 times, the third most frequently occurring theme after Equal Rights and Access to Information.

Figure 4-2 illustrates the frequency of occurrence of codes in the remaining three data sets: the interview transcripts, the UNCRPD Protocol and the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2012.

Finding 4: Inclusion was indicated primarily in terms of equitable access to employment, education, and access to public infrastructure. A clear majority of the elite interviewees mentioned equitable access to, or reservation in jobs, or economic empowerment, equitable access to education or reservation in educational institutions, while less than half of them mentioned equitable access to public infrastructure as key considerations for an inclusive policy. An overwhelming majority of the newspaper reports also mentioned these three areas of focus. Access to news and information was not mentioned as a key focus by the interview participants or in the newspaper reports.

144 Citing the proposed increase in reservation in government jobs and educational institutions in the draft bill, a majority of the participants mentioned these two provisions as an effective way to ensure inclusion. Participant responses indicated economic empowerment via employment, and equitable access to education as basic rights.

Comments illustrated the importance of these provisions for both the policymakers and the advocacy group representatives. Awasthi of MOSJ highlighted education and employment as the two areas of focus by stating that the government “as well as all- round effort is needed by all stake holders to increase participation in these areas” while providing avenues for employment. He explained further that economic empowerment entails training, support for skill development, and providing access to appropriate jobs in the industry, or providing funds for self-employment. He summed up the key focus areas thus: “First, getting the Bill in place, two, educational empowerment of students with disabilities, three economic empowerment of persons with disabilities. These are the basic considerations,” he said. His colleague Rao further elaborated that the

Ministry looks at persons with benchmark disability and above for reservation in jobs, for seats in education institutions, and in terms of providing assistive equipment such as wheelchairs. According to him, persons with and above the benchmark disability of 40%

“deserve more”. Dhariyal highlighted that the hearing impaired have been considered at par with persons with other disabilities while setting aside reservation quotas:

Dhariyal But as far as the importance of the hearing impaired, as I said, the (MOSJ) present 1995 Act, has 3% reservation for the disabled in government jobs. You find 1% each who are physically impaired, 1% for the visual, 1% for hearing impaired. So they are at par with visual and ortho (paedic). So the government does not discriminate against the hearing impaired. We give equal importance to the hearing impaired also.

145 Among disability advocates, Uma Kapoor of the Delhi Association for Deaf

Women (DFDW) mentioned the most important consideration for an inclusive policy to be jobs “especially for deaf women”. Ramanujam indicated his conception of inclusion as “inclusion in every sphere, for example education… First education, and then, employment, and social inclusion.” Speaking of the goal of the bill, Saini listed the essential requirements, which she perceives to bring a sense of social equality for persons with disabilities:

Saini The goal is that every handicapped, maybe of any disability, they (AIFD) must feel that as citizens of the country, they are being looked after. All facilities for their education, livelihood, treatment, old age pension, the provision is there. That’s what life requires.

Narayanan of the NAD and Roka mentioned sign language recognition, in addition to education as key considerations for an inclusive policy. Narayanan stated his views when he said that his organization’s main goals are recognition of signing as a language in India, and providing education to all. He added, “And there should be interpreters. Access to television, there should be interpreters for TV shows. And accessibility to college.” Roka spoke on similar lines:

Roka Whenever they have a kind of a… meeting, government bodies for (NDS) disabilities and showing strength, or my kids, we encourage all the kids to go and be part of the advocacy rights groups and say yes, we do need sign language, yes we do need equality in education, yes we do need equality in employment. So yes we do, we take part as a resource organization.

Focus on education and employment was a recurring theme in the newspaper reports as well. Mentions of access to employment and reservation in jobs appeared a cumulative 23 times, access to education and educational institutions 15 times, access to public infrastructure, six times, and access to media only four times.

146 This finding is relevant since it may demonstrate the pressing needs of persons with disabilities in India. In the newspaper reports, mentions of the Draft Rights of

Persons with Disabilities Act 2012 were followed by references to these provisions in the following order: access to employment, or reservation in jobs, or economic empowerment in 23 of the 43 articles, and access to education in 14 of the 43 articles.

Access to media or access to information was mentioned in three of the 43 articles.

Finding 5: In policy decision making for persons with disabilities, representation from persons with disabilities was reported to be lacking or absent by all but two of the advocacy group representatives. In describing the policymaking process, all but one policymaker indicated participation from various stakeholders including persons with disabilities.

Opinion was divided on the representation and participation of persons with disabilities in the inclusive policy making process. While the majority of policymakers suggested that they see fair representation, a majority of the advocacy group representatives indicated that there was little or no participation. The advocacy group representatives expressed their opinion in various ways.

Roka expressed her displeasure at the lack of representation, and her perception of a consequent lack of awareness among policymakers about issues when she said:

Roka You know, we as a society have put ourselves in a patronizing role. (NDS) We know what is better for this community (sarcastic). So community representation is not there at the policy level, it has (emphasizes) to be there! (Continues) So at all levels deaf representation—that is the crux. And then take into account people who are working for the deaf? Instead of just passing them off as one NGO as doing something, we understand the grassroots. We understand the community. So take our opinion, which they do at times but not too much.

147 Other advocacy group representatives observed the lack of representation of persons with disabilities in the inclusive policy making process and its perceived consequences in various ways. Kapoor of the DADW recalled that while earlier no efforts were made towards including the Deaf community in policymaking, in the past few years, the community has started to make its voice heard via protests, writing letters and via social media. Indicating a pronounced absence of persons with disabilities holding positions as decision makers in the government, Karna of SDRS asked the researcher if she had met any official who was a person with a disability: “Yesterday you went to Shastri Bhavan to meet the Minister, the Secretary, the Joint Secretary… Could you find anyone with disability holding any official, any senior position?” he asked. He suggested that in constituting departments concerned with making policies for persons with disabilities, the government should recruit representatives from the community. He argued that when Ministries such as Finance, Science and Technology, which require relevant technical knowledge, are constituted of experts in the respective subjects, departments dealing with disabilities must also be comprised of persons with disabilities

“with vast knowledge”. He further lamented: “But our politicians are disabled. Their mind is disabled. I think the judges of this country are also disabled. They all need to be sensitized.” Abidi of NCPEDP explained further:

Abidi No, no, no representation at all. I mean representation in the sense (NCPEDP) that after all these years when we broke into the Planning Commission, we made sure that one deaf person was also there on the Committee. So when the committee was constituted for the 11th Five Year plan, out of the five disabled people who represented the Indian disability movement, one of them certainly was a deaf person. So to that extent, yes.

148 He further elaborated that persons with disabilities must decide provisions in the policy for their respective disabilities. He stated that in alignment with the disability rights movement’s slogan Nothing About Us Without Us, “anything to do with disabled people should be decided by disabled people, not by parents and certainly not by professionals.” He spoke of the Deaf community in the same terms and insisted that in a policy discussion concerning the Deaf/HoH, “sign language, or on the universalization of sign language or the Indianisation of sign language, or on the setting up of the sign language institute, or on how much of television to make accessible etc.,” the Deaf should primarily be at the helm of decision-making. He insisted that despite being a cross-disability leader, even he was not qualified to make substantive claims regarding the Deaf/HoH since he did not belong to the community: “I would not dare to put myself in their shoes. It would be wrong. It would be ethically, morally wrong.

Not all advocacy group representatives, however, conceded that there was under- or no representation of the disabled in policy discussions. Saini of AIFD supported efforts by the policymakers in inviting participation from persons with disabilities, while Ramanujam of SDRS indicated ineffective participation. According to

Saini, in recent years, persons with disabilities have greater representation. “Yes, yes, they participate,” she said, adding: “The Ministry of Social Welfare and even the

Planning Commission, when they make the plans, not only the hearing handicapped, but other disabled people, they call them, want to hear their problems, discuss with them, that’s how the future program is made.” Ramanujam on the other hand explained that while according to him, there is enough representation the concern is about its effectiveness: “Representation is not that bad. Representation is (emphasizes) there.

149 But then, the representatives, their ability to achieve things in concrete terms, that is the question,” he said.

A majority of the policymakers expressed the government’s consideration for, and/or inclusion of various stakeholders including communities of persons with disabilities in the policymaking process. The Minister of State for Social Justice and

Empowerment highlighted the government’s efforts towards inclusion by stating that in addition to reports from the lower levels of the Ministry, and the State governments, the

Ministry considers suggestions from advocacy groups or non governmental organizations. Awasthi of the MOSJ explained that in particular reference to the Draft

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012, the Standing Committee has an arrangement to seek feedback from all stakeholders: “They have already notified in the newspapers, that has already come out, people are giving their feedback, now on this feedback we have to give our replies, then the Standing Committee may also call them for personal hearing and then they will take a decision on this (RPD bill),” he said.

According to his colleague Rao, the general policymaking process under the existing

Act of 1995 consists of a Central Coordination Committee headed by the Union Minister in-charge of the MOSJ, and various stakeholders from various departments of the central and state governments, and members of the civil society. He noted that, “the

Committee is the main policymaking body on various issues relating to disability; certain directions are given on what is to be implemented.” Dhariyal expressed his opinion thus:

Dhariyal On the general policymaking process and inclusion of various (MOSJ) stakeholders: “I should be very frank that the representation of persons with deafness is there, I mean the number of people. To what extent they were able to communicate and present their case is a different matter. I always observe that hearing impaired people have issues to present their case for whatever reason. They are

150 able to explain their problems but the problem is with other people who don’t properly understand.

This finding is pertinent since it directs attention towards the government’s lack of focus on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the policymaking process itself as perceived by the representatives of persons with disabilities. Article 34 of the UNCRPD, which lays out guidelines for the formation of a Committee on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities, underlines the obligation for State signatories to:

In the development and implementation of legislation and policies to implement the present Convention, and in other decision-making processes concerning issues relating to persons with disabilities, States Parties shall closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through their representative organizations (UNCRPD Article 4 General Obligations).

In addition to the token representation of disabled rights advocacy groups or persons with disabilities in the drafting of RPD bill as indicated by the advocacy group representatives, little consideration was given to their suggestions, as portrayed in a majority of the newspaper reports. Protests by disabled rights advocates and persons with disabilities against the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2012 made available to the Parliament for legislative consideration was an overriding theme.

According to the reports, the protesters were contending that the version of the bill, which was finally presented to the Parliament in 2014 bore little resemblance to the one which was prepared by the Drafting Committee in 2011 in consultation with some disabled group representatives and persons with disabilities. In close to half of the newspaper reports, violation of the UNCRPD on various counts in the Draft Rights of

Persons with Disabilities Act 2012 was categorically mentioned. 25 mentions of protests were also found to indicate dissatisfaction over the violation of the tenets of UNCRPD in the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2012 (revised in 2014). The protesters

151 who were representatives of advocacy groups or persons with disabilities themselves, were, according to newspaper reports, “shocked at how not only had it completely changed the 2012 draft, it was also oscillating between lip service and absolute violations of the UNCRPD” (DNA, http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/standpoint-what-is- the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-bill-1957974). Statements such as “the Bill in the current form is not just a negation of already won rights and the recent judgment of the

Supreme Court in the matter of jobs for persons with disabilities but militates against the

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which it claims to harmonise with” (PTI, http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Disability-Rights-Group-

Shocked-Over-Changes-in-Bill/2014/02/01/article2032497.ece), “In its present form the bill is not what it intended to be. It fails the UN Conventions and binges in a lot of existing rights of the differently-abled people” (DNA, http://www.dnaindia.com/india/ report-why-are-disability-rights-activists-divided-over-the-disability-bill-1968271), and

“Speaking of several provisions that go against the principles of the United Nations

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), they called the Bill

“flawed”, and urged the Bill not be passed in its current form” (The Hindu, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/disability-rights-activists- condemn-flawed-bill/article5637289.ece) further portrayed the dissent.

Summary of the findings

This chapter presented five key findings from this study. The first two findings referred to the two research questions that guided this study. The other three key findings were pertinent in their contribution to informing the policymaking process in

India, which has a direct bearing on the focus of this study—considerations for and feasibility of implementing closed captioning on Indian television. Data from elite

152 interviews revealed participants’ perceptions in relation to closed captioning as an assistive information and communication technology for equitable media access for the

Deaf/Hard of Hearing population in India. Newspaper reports, in addition to the theoretical contribution of pertinent documents, further informed the study’s main focus.

Extensive sample quotations from interview transcripts, as is ubiquitous to qualitative research, were included in the report. By using the elite sample’s own words, which reflect informed opinions given their positions in the policymaking and advocacy processes, the researcher aimed to present an authentic representation of the reality of the situation investigated.

The primary finding of this study is that various aspects of the CC technology are the most important considerations for implementing a policy for mandatory closed captioning in India. This finding was derived from the expressed opinions of a clear majority of the elite interviewees, as they discussed the feasibility of implementing closed captioning as a mandatory policy for India television. In their discussion about the various aspects of technology, they mentioned affordability, adaptability of the technology to the Indian context, and awareness among key stakeholders as the main considerations. Participants also mentioned related considerations such as political will for implementing a technology for the benefit of the target population, advocacy efforts by disability rights groups, a robust inclusive policy with closed captioning as a mandatory tenet, and incentives for, and initiatives by private media companies to provide the service.

The second pivotal finding of the study was that there was unanimous agreement among the participants about the need for an equitable media access policy for the

153 benefit of all citizens of the country, regardless of issues of physical or mental impairment. Very few among the policymakers, however, were aware of the working of closed captioning, and mentioned sign language interpretation of media as the familiar means of accessibility for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. A majority of the disability rights advocates, and all of the Deaf participants however, were not only familiar with closed captioning, but also desired its implementation.

The third finding pertained to the definition and/or conception of disability in the minds of the participants. All but one of the interview participants perceived access to the media for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing as provision for a service benefiting the medically hearing impaired. The latter category was not identified voluntarily. This finding corresponds with the medical definition of disability prevalent in India, also visible from the definition of disability contained in Draft Rights of Persons with

Disabilities Bill 2012 (revised 2014), and in opposition to the social construction of disability as mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disability which India has ratified indicating allegiance to its principles.

The fourth finding emanated from mentions by all but two of the elites of access to employment, access to education and access to public infrastructure as the most important provisions to be considered in an inclusive policy for the disabled. A clear majority of the newspaper reports also focused on these three provisions, indicating their prominence as rights for an inclusive society. Access to news and information was not mentioned as a key focus by the interview participants or in the newspaper reports.

The final prominent finding from the study was that there is perceived inequitable representation and participation of disabled rights advocates, activists and persons with

154 disabilities in the decision-making process at the government level. Inclusion of persons with disabilities especially for making policies regarding their welfare is primarily absent according to more than half of the representatives of the advocacy groups, but present as portrayed by all of the policymakers from MOSJ (Tandon from MIB did not comment, not being directly involved in the policymaking process). Findings from newspaper reports corroborated the little consideration given to inputs by disability rights advocates and activists or by persons with disabilities themselves, if they are invited to participate in the policymaking process.

155 25

Access to 2121 Information

20 RPD Bill

Implementation 15 14 Hearing Impaired 11 11 11 1010 10 9 9 Equal Rights 8 8 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 Participation 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 333 2 2 Totals 11 11

0

Article 1 Article 3 Article 5 Article 7 Article 9 Article

Article 11 Article 17 Article Article 15 Article 19 Article 21 Article 23 Article 25 Article 27 Article 29 Article 31 Article 33 Article 35 Article 37 Article 39 Article 41 Article 43 Article Article 13 Article

Figure 4-1. Number of times a priori codes present in newspaper reports published between 2011 and 2014.

For full list of newspaper article links, see Appendix F

156 Number of Times Codes Present in Rest of Data

UNCRPD relevant articles.docx Parts of the Draft Bill relevant to the study.docx Interview transcripts of policymakers.docx Interview transcripts of advocacy groups.docx 26 27 24 21 20 18 18 15 1616 13

8 6 5 4 3 4 1 1 2 1

Figure 4-2 Number of times a priori codes present in rest of the data

157 Table 4.1. A priori codes derived from theory and research questions Code Explanation Code 1 Label Access to information [ACC] Definition Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers ((United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19)

ICTs enable the existence of this ‘genuinely questioning’ voice, which “has access to information about the context in which decisions were taken, including the legal requirements governing the actions of power-holders and the public promises made prior to action” (Goetz & Jenkins, 2005, p. 10)

From the premise that public opinion is to be formed in an arena of open debate, it follows that the effectiveness of all this will be profoundly shaped by the quality, availability and communication of information. Bluntly, reliable and adequate information will facilitate sound discussion while poor information, still less, tainted information, almost inevitably results in prejudicial decisions and inept debate” (Webster, 2007, p. 168). Point of occurrence While considering equal media access rights for all citizens, adoption of ICT, and empowering D/HoH to access media Code 2 Label Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill [RPD] Definition Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment had, through its OM dated 30.4.2010 constituted a Committee under the chairpersonship of Dr Sudha Kaul, Vice Chairperson, Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Kolkata, to draft a new legislation for persons with disabilities, replacing the present Persons with Disabilities (Equal Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. India signed the UN Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on 30th March, 2007, the day it opened for signature. India ratifies the UN Convention on Ist October, 2007 (www. http://socialjustice.nic.in/) Point of occurrence Non-discriminatory policies towards the disabled are required to ensure complete inclusion of disabled people in society, and their acceptance with equal rights, entitlements and responsibilities (Oliver, 1996; Thomas, 1992). Code 3 Label Policy Implementation [POL] Definition Bringing into force a new law for persons with disabilities in India, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. Point of occurrence Timeline for passage of Bill into legislature.

158 Table 4-1. Continued Code Explanation Code 4 Label Hearing Impaired [HRI] Definition Impairment is distinguished from disability. The former is individual and private, the latter is structural and public. While doctors and professions allied to medicine seek to remedy impairment, the real priority is to accept impairment and to remove disability. (Shakespeare, 2006, p. 199)

The social model is distinguished from the medical or individual model. Whereas the former defines disability as a social creation—a relationship between people with impairment and a disabling society—the latter defines disability in terms of individual deficit. (Shakespeare, 2006, p. 199) Point of occurrence While drafting an inclusive policy empowering persons with disabilities to participate in society. Raising awareness about persons with disabilities including Deaf/HoH. Code 5 Label Equal Rights [EQR] Definition Civil rights, rather than charity or pity, are the way to solve the disability problem. (Shakespeare, 2006, p. 199) Point of occurrence Provisions in policy for to ensure equality Code 6 Label Participation [PAR] Definition Inputs from different stakeholders since “public policy is not one single actor’s brainchild” (Kingdon, 1997, p. 71). Point of occurrence During the drafting of the RPD Bill and revisions

159 Table 4-2. Applying the template of codes to raw data Theory-driven Code Data from UNCRPD, Draft RPD 2012, Interview transcripts and newspaper reports Access to information UNCRPD Recognizing importance of accessibility to the physical, social, economic and cultural environment, to health and education and to information and communication, in enabling persons with disabilities to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms

Accessible multimedia as well as written, audio, plain- language, human-reader and augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including accessible information and communication technology

Identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility to Information, communications and other services Providing information intended for the general public to persons with disabilities in accessible formats and technologies appropriate to different kinds of disabilities in a timely manner and without additional cost Accepting and facilitating the use of sign languages, augmentative and alternative communication, and all other accessible means, modes and formats of communication of their choice by persons with disabilities in official interactions Urging private entities that provide services to the general public, including through the Internet, to provide information and services in accessible and usable formats for persons with disabilities; Encouraging mass media, including providers of information through the Internet, to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities Recognizing and promoting the use of sign languages Draft RPD Bill All content in whichever medium whether audio, print or electronic shall be made available to persons with disabilities in accessible format

160 Table 4-2. Continued. Theory-driven Code Data from UNCRPD, Draft RPD 2012, Interview transcripts and newspaper reports Persons with disabilities have access to electronic media by providing for audio description, sign language interpretation and close captioning

The National Commission shall make regulations relating to:  Standards for accessibility to information and communication technologies including appropriate technology and systems and other facilities and services with due consideration to the diversity of disability and principles of universal design  Train and employ teachers, including teachers with disabilities, who are qualified in sign language and Braille  Promote the use of appropriate augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including Braille and sign language  Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), New Delhi

Interview transcripts Sign language communication in news Sign language interpreter for national events Making websites accessible, use mobile phones for communication, news access Fundamental right for everyone to know what is happening in the country, extremely important Provisions should be made for it Giving choice with accessible formats must be there

Newspaper reports Proposed provision of subtitled news

161 Table 4-2. Continued. Theory-driven Code Data from UNCRPD, Draft RPD 2012, Interview transcripts and newspaper reports

Draft Rights of Persons with UNCRPD Disabilities Act 2012 States Parties recognize that all persons are equal before and under the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law States Parties shall prohibit all discrimination on the basis of disability and guarantee to persons with disabilities equal and effective legal protection against discrimination on all grounds In order to promote equality and eliminate discrimination, States Parties shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided “Reasonable accommodation” means necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms Draft RPD Bill Discrimination on the basis of disability’ means any distinction, exclusion or restriction on the basis of disability which has the purpose or effect of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal basis with others, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field and includes all forms of discrimination, including denial of reasonable accommodation

Appropriate governments and local authorities shall, subject to the provisions of this Act and any other laws for the time being in force, take all necessary steps to secure for persons with disabilities the following:  Non discrimination  Full and effective participation and inclusion in society  Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity  Equality of opportunity  Accessibility  Equality between men and women

The appropriate government shall take all necessary steps to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy the right of equality guaranteed by Article 15 of the Constitution of India, on an equal basis with others.

No person with disability shall be discriminated, unless it

162 Table 4-2. Continued. Theory-driven Code Data from UNCRPD, Draft RPD 2012, Interview transcripts and newspaper reports

can be shown that the impugned act, provision, criterion, practice, treatment or omission is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Interview transcripts  Tone for inclusivity set by Bill  Direction towards accessing disabilities in our country in a different manner  Economic employment  Access to education  Expanding the categories of disability  Legal provisions  Implementation of provisions and legal implications for non compliance

Newspaper reports  Reservation in jobs, education  Recognition of more disabilities  Equal rights  Legal redress  Social construction of disability  Non discrimination

UNCRPD N.A. Draft RPD Bill N.A.

Interview transcripts No fixed timeline, draft is with Standing Committee

Newspaper reports If it was not tabled in Parliament soon, it would never become a law

If the law is to be enacted in the current session then one can say with complete certainty that there will be no time for a draft to be circulated

Government said that there was no definite timeframe envisaged for passing the Right to Persons with Disabilities Bill at this stage

Asking this bill to be referred to a standing committee does not mean delaying the bill. In fact, we try to strengthen the bill

163 Table 4-2. Continued. Theory-driven Code Data from UNCRPD, Draft RPD 2012, Interview transcripts and newspaper reports Hearing Impaired UNCRPD Recognizing that disability is an evolving concept and that disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others

Provide forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including guides, readers and professional sign language interpreters, to facilitate accessibility to buildings and other facilities open to the public

Accepting & facilitating the use of sign languages, Braille, augmentative & alternative communication, & all other accessible means, modes & formats of communication of their choice by PwD in official interactions

Recognizing and promoting the use of sign languages

States Parties undertake to adopt immediate, effective and appropriate measures  To raise awareness throughout society, including at the family level, regarding persons with disabilities, and to foster respect for the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities  To combat stereotypes, prejudices & harmful practices relating to PwD, including those based on sex & age, in all areas of life  To promote awareness of the capabilities and contributions of persons with disabilities

Draft RPD Bill ‘Hearing Impairment’ refers to loss of 60 decibels hearing level (HL) or more in the better ear in the conversational range of frequencies

Person with ‘benchmark disability’ means a person with not less than forty percent of a specified disability, as certified by a competent authority

‘Person with disability’ means a person with long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder his full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others

‘High support’ means an intensive support – physical, psychological and otherwise, which may be needed by individuals for activities of daily living; independent and informed decision-making; accessing facilities and participating in all areas of life including education; employment; family and community life; treatment and

164 Table 4-2. Continued. Theory-driven Code Data from UNCRPD, Draft RPD 2012, Interview transcripts and newspaper reports

therapy; recreation and leisure

‘Specified disability’ means (among others) hearing impairment

Every appropriate government shall reserve, in every establishment under them, not less than 5% of the vacancies meant to be filled by direct recruitment, for persons or class of persons with benchmark disability, of which 1% each shall be of all posts reserved for persons with following disabilities hearing impairment & speech impairment

Appropriate governments and local authorities shall ensure that all educational institutions funded or recognized by them, provide inclusive education, and towards that end: Ensure that education to persons who are blind, deaf or deafblind is delivered in the most appropriate languages and modes and means of communication for the individual

Appropriate governments, in consultation with the National or State Commission, as the case may be, shall conduct, sponsor, encourage, support or promote on a regular and continuous basis information campaigns and sensitization programmes to ensure that the rights recognized in this legislation are respected, protected and promoted

Interview transcripts  Technology: awareness, availability, accessibility (cost) and adaptability  Awareness and advocacy  Sound policy, government priority, government initiative  Initiative by private media companies  Incentivize private sector  Should be implemented  Awareness of issues faced by disabled  Identification and awareness of issues faced by disabled  Awareness and training of policymakers  Awareness and sensitization  Providing expert inputs  Bringing issues to the knowledge of policymakers  Policymakers are unaware of the needs of the disabled.  They are insensitive; decisions are made for political gain

165 Table 4-2. Continued. Theory-driven Code Data from UNCRPD, Draft RPD 2012, Interview transcripts and newspaper reports

Newspaper reports Role of media in creating awareness on disability issues

In India the awareness has been so low that our policymakers and decision-makers did not even think of it (CC)

What is needed is awareness and sensitivity and a certain sociopolitical will on the part of the decision- makers

A disability certificate — issued to persons with over 40% disability — is required for availing government benefits Disability is now actively no longer being looked at under the shroud of charity, but as a right

Even America’s disability bill came out because of protests Broaden the ambit of disability from existing seven to nineteen categories

Defines for the first time the meaning of disability and extended it from seven to 19 categories The definition of disability in the Bill is a big departure: it means all long-term physical, mental, intellectual and sensory impairments in interaction with barriers in the environment, hinder persons’ effective participation in society on an equal basis

Equal Rights UNCRPD States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas

166 Table 4-2. Continued. Theory-driven Code Data from UNCRPD, Draft RPD 2012, Interview transcripts and newspaper reports

Promote actively an environment in which persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs Accessible multimedia as well as written, audio, plain- language, human-reader and augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including accessible information and communication technology

Identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility to Information, communications and other services, including electronic services and emergency services Accepting and facilitating the use of sign languages, augmentative and alternative communication, and all other accessible means, modes and formats of communication of their choice by persons with disabilities in official interactions Encouraging the mass media, including providers of information through the Internet, to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities Draft RPD Bill ‘Communication’ includes languages, display of text, Braille, tactile communication, signs, large print, accessible multimedia as well as written, audio, plain-language, human-reader and augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including accessible information and communication technology

‘Barrier’ means any factor including attitudinal, communicational, cultural, economic, environmental, institutional, political, religious, social or structural factors which hampers the full and effective participation, of persons with disabilities in society

Appropriate governments and establishments shall take measures to ensure that  All content in whichever medium whether audio, print or electronic shall be made available to persons with disabilities in accessible format  Persons with disabilities have access to electronic media by providing for audio description, sign language interpretation and close captioning  Accessibility to telecommunication services where telecommunications will include any kind of transmission of information of the user’s

167 Table 4-2. Continued. Theory-driven Code Data from UNCRPD, Draft RPD 2012, Interview transcripts and newspaper reports choosing without change in form or content of information as sent or received

Interview transcripts  Inclusive education  Employment ISL as language   Law/policy  Government priority and action  Categories increased from 7 to 19  CC would make them feel equal  Not at par with the hearing in knowledge and information  Have a right to know  Patronizing attitude: We know what is best for them  Fundamental right for everyone to know what is happening in the country, extremely important  Provisions should be made for it  Giving choice with accessible formats must be there  Penal provisions for non-implementation of Bill  Inclusive education  Empowerment and inclusion  Make rights real, earlier entitlement, now rights  Stigma attached to disability

Newspaper reports  Disability is now actively no longer being looked at under the shroud of charity, but as a right  We no longer want pity  Penalties need to be more specific  Establishing a special government body to protect the rights of people with disabilities  Legal protections would go a long way to promote their full participation in society as equal members

Participation UNCRPD Promote actively an environment in which persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs

Forming and joining organizations of persons with disabilities to represent persons with disabilities at international, national, regional and local levels

The members of the Committee shall be elected by States Parties, consideration being given to equitable

168 Table 4-2. Continued. Theory-driven Code Data from UNCRPD, Draft RPD 2012, Interview transcripts and newspaper reports geographical distribution, representation of the different forms of civilization and of the principal legal systems, balanced gender representation and participation of experts with disabilities

Draft RPD Bill The National Commission shall formulate the regulations, in consultation with experts, by adopting or adapting prevailing international standards on physical environment and information and communication technologies and systems to local conditions

Members to be nominated by the State Government to the Central Advisory Board: Five persons who are either experts in the field of disability and rehabilitation to represent interests, which in the opinion of the Government ought to be represented

Members to be nominated by the State Government to the Central Advisory Board: Ten persons, as far as practicable, being persons with disabilities, to represent non-governmental organizations concerned with disabilities or disabled persons organizations

Members to be nominated by the State Government the State Advisory Board: Five persons who are either experts in the field of disability and rehabilitation to represent interests, which in the opinion of the Government ought to be represented

Members to be nominated by the State Government the State Advisory Board: Ten persons as far as practicable, being persons with disabilities, to represent non- governmental organizations or associations which are concerned with disabilities

Interview transcripts Reports from public, officials and disabled rights groups Absent or very little Comments are invited, not acted upon Representation

Newspaper reports Bill breach of trust and an act of impropriety on part of the Central government, and alleged that it was sought to be passed in secrecy without consultations

Appealing for due considerations of the amendments proposed on behalf of the Alliance, based on the inputs received from different disability organisations

169 Table 4-3. Summary of responses from interviews with guiding questions Guiding Question for Policymakers Summary of Responses Key considerations for implementing inclusive  Awareness of issues faced by disabled policy  Identification and awareness of issues faced by disabled  Reports from public, officials and disabled rights groups  Bill in place  Provisions of the UNCRPD to be put in place  Empowerment and inclusion Draft RPD Bill 2012 (revised in 2014) and  Make rights real, earlier entitlement, now Goal of the Bill rights  Increase in reservation in public sector jobs from 3% to 5%  Penal provisions for non-implementation of Bill  Inclusive education  Categories increased from 7 to 19 Act implementation No fixed timeline, draft is with Standing Committee Equitable media access for disabled  Sign language interpretation of television news and specific events of national importance  Making websites accessible, use mobile phones for communication, news access  Fundamental right for everyone to know what is happening in the country, extremely important  Provisions should be made for it  Giving choice with accessible formats must be there Experience with media accessibility issues for  One weekly news bulletin with sign disabled language interpretation  CC or subtitling not present Key considerations for implementing closed  Because India ratified UNCRPD, provision captioning is there in Bill. Not yet implemented, will decide.  Sign language broadcast on Republic Day and PM swearing-in ceremony  Provision for ISLRTC Future of closed captioning  Technology: awareness, availability, accessibility (cost) and adaptability  Awareness and advocacy  Sound policy, government priority, government initiative  Initiative by private media companies  Incentivize private sector  Should be implemented  If there is demand and advocacy, it will be considered  Legislation will decide  It will take time

170 Table 4-3. Continued Guiding Question for Advocacy groups Summary of Responses Experience with the government on inclusive policy  Policymakers are unaware of the needs of the disabled.  They are insensitive; decisions are made for political gain.  Not very positive  1 Outlier: Positive experience, policymakers helped Representation of Deaf/HoH in policymaking  Absent or very little process  Comments are invited, not acted upon  Patronizing attitude: We know what is best for them  Nothing about us without us Role of the Deaf/HoH in the policymaking process  Awareness and sensitization  Providing expert inputs  Bringing issues to the knowledge of policymakers Key considerations for inclusive policy/ CC for  Awareness and training of policymakers Deaf/HoH  Equality and level playing field  Law/policy  Representation  Government priority and action  *Private company priorit Goal of the RPD Bill  Inclusive education  Employment  ISL as language Act implementation  Can’t say/ Hope for implementation soon if government is proactive  1 Outlier: It will be implemented by next year

Guiding Question for Deaf/HoH (Pilot study) Summary of Responses Experience with the sign-language news bulletin Inconvenient time of broadcast Signing not standardized or easy to understand, attention divided between visual and signing Dissatisfaction because of single weekly bulletin Closed captioning not available Issue because cannot access news or entertainment programs, instructional programs Not at par with the hearing in knowledge and information Should be made available at least for important programs, documentaries, news and current affairs Have a right to know Lack of interpreters CC would make them feel equal Experience with subtitling Ticker on news channels Only Western movies have it Experience of self or friends/family with closed None captioning

171 Table 4-4. Coding all four data sources by applying codes from codebook Name of Theory-driven Code Access to Information Explanation of Code Right to freedom of expression, to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, ICT as enablers of access to information, closed captioning, signing, participation in public sphere Policymakers  From both points of view, the media are important. Those who can’t hear, can’t speak, there should be provisions definitely made for them in the media  It’s extremely desirable to provide equal access to everybody for news, current affairs, entertainment, whatever, electronic media and yes, it (CC) should be implemented  After all, a person with a disability is no different. He or she is also a citizen of the country. And the multifarious nature of what is going on in the world, what are policies, what is happening, how they infringe upon your daily life, information should be made available, information is important  All spectrum, A to Z has to be made available to them. It is not for us to decide what is good or bad for them, so much to the extent possible also to ensure that financially it is not too costly

Advocacy groups  And there should be interpreters. Access to television, there should be interpreters for TV shows  By resources I mean financial resources, the technical expertise required and what is available  There was one little step towards the whole close captioning, was during the Republic Day parade and the swearing in.  If this Bill gets passed, the deaf people would gain a lot from these Bills. They demand that not just certain channels, but all the popular channels should have subtitles

172 Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code Policy documents  Promote other appropriate forms of assistance and support to persons with disabilities to ensure their access to information  Promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet; Promote the design, development, production and distribution of accessible information and communications technologies and systems at an early stage, so that these technologies and systems become accessible at minimum cost

Newspaper reports  Our aim is to ensure that the entire programming on television, at least as far as public broadcasters are concerned, is made accessible. We also aim to extend this dialogue with the private sector  The bill – which includes making captions or sign-language interpreters available for electronic media – was "perfect" for the country's 18 million hearing impaired

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012 Explanation of code A new legislation drafted by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India for persons with disabilities, replacing the present Persons with Disabilities (Equal Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. The new legislation follows India’s ratifying the UN Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on I October, 2008

Policymakers The overall goal of this bill is to make rights real; penal provisions for non-implementation of mandates, includes large number of other provisions, which are absent in 1995 Act. Purpose is to ensure that the various provisions of the UN convention are fully put in place for the empowerment of persons with disabilities. Not only empowerment but also inclusion. Provide whatever the necessary benefits to bring persons with disabilities to a kind of level field, so that they can compete and participate equally with the normal citizens. Has more rights for persons with disabilities. Also increases the scope of facilities for PWD because the number of disabilities has increased from 7 to 19

173 Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code Advocacy Groups  A completely new law. The goal is that every handicapped, maybe of any disability, they must feel that as citizens of the country, they are being looked after. All facilities for their education, livelihood, treatment, old age pension, the provision is there.  After ratification of the UNCRPD, now it has become mandatory for the government to harmonize our own disability related legislative and policy provisions in keeping with the ethos of the UNCRPD. When we have become a party to the International treaty, the UNCRPD, then it becomes morally incumbent on us at the largest democracy to have a comprehensive overhauling, complete overhauling of our disability policy

Policy Documents A Bill to give effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Newspaper reports  Oscillating between lip service and absolute violations of the UNCRPD  Unsatisfactory on the point of reservations  India's international obligations following the ratification of UNCRPD  Legislation related to the rights of disabled is already under the consideration of Parliament  Bill crucial to empower disabled people to take action to challenge society's misconceptions  Use Bill to fight discrimination across all areas  Refining the policy framework, it is essential to reinforce efforts to put better delivery mechanisms  A new disability rights bill which will have a bearing on their lives  Eagerly awaited bill, which is still pending in parliament  Whether the new law reflects the aspirations of this minority population is up for debate  Bill in its current form militates against the norms of UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities  Bill required more than 100 amendment

174 Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code  The Bill was introduced in fulfillment of the country`s commitment to bring a law in conformity with the CRPD which India has since ratified  India waits for a new law to empower its disabled people  In its present form the bill is not what it intended to be. It fails the UN Conventions and binges in a lot of existing rights of the differently-abled people  Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill is not a meaningful improvement on its precursor  The Bill, which will replace the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunity Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995, covers a whole spectrum of problems, from physical disabilities to mental illness and multiple disabilities  This Bill confers several ‘rights’ and entitlements to disabled persons, including disabled-friendly access to all public buildings, hospitals, modes of transport and polling stations

Policy Implementation Timeline for implementation of the Bill into Explanation of code legislature

Policymakers  Attempts are towards (getting it done), the Parliamentary session is about to convene, will try, when the Winter session of the Parliament is in motion. Will do it then  The bill is in Parliament or has been referred to the particular standing committee. Now the standing committee is examining it, they have to submit a report. And since the government has been recently formed, the committee also has been formed only in September. Now they have already gone through the bill, they have already put up an ad in the newspapers seeking comments from the general public. Now they are going to compile all the comments, call them for discussion, and also call them for discussion, on the basis they will submit the report. Once the report is submitted to the government, government will look into it and see what recommendations can be accepted or rejected. And on the basis of the decision of the cabinet, we may have to introduce a revised bill in the parliament

175 Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code

 that will be again debated in the Parliament. It will not go again to the standing committee, only in the Parliament, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha it will be debated  The draft has already been submitted to the Parliament, in the Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha Standing Committee has already issued a notification for getting public inputs for the draft bill. They already have got a large number of representation, we have already received a large number of representations, we have already given our views to the Standing Committee, the Standing Committee will be holding its meetings very soon

Advocacy Groups  Hopes that it will get implemented soon  Unless there is a monitoring system… there has to be some kind of monitoring cell in the President’s house  Certainly in 2015  Maybe it will take one year or so. If the government is proactive, is guided by willpower, then it may not take more than one year  Has been referred to a standing committee and after that the government changed. So we are back in the same state, back to square one  No idea

Policy Documents N.A.

Newspaper reports Eagerly awaited, still pending in Parliament

176 Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code Hearing Impaired Explanation of code Definition of disability, empowering persons with disabilities to participate in society. Raising awareness about persons with disabilities Policymakers  Zero to 100% disability is there. Focusing on disabilities that are more than 40%. In any of the 7 categories in the present Act or any of the 19 categories in the present Bill. These people deserve more attention. But 40%. Below 40% also there is pension scheme, who is below 10% can also get pension, there’s no problem. But focusing more on 40 and above for jobs, education seats, seats in education institutions, for even providing equipments, wheelchair and these kinds of thing because focus on those people who deserve more  Who is a person with disability? 40% or more. Have three categories. For example, a person with benchmark disability, person with specified disabilities—any person having one of those 19 types of disabilities—will be called a person with specified disabilities, these have been specified in the schedule. And benchmark disability means 40% or more. And persons with high support needs, those who need this kind of support—for example, if a person says I am a person with high support need, that person’s requirement, condition will be examined by the Committee, which will then determine which facilities, what support the government should be providing him and at what cost  We need awareness. Until people are aware—campaigning, broadcast, some awareness, and especially for the deaf, family members, villagers, don’t take (the disability) seriously. Compared to other disabilities, people think it’s slight. As opposed to orthopedically handicapped, hearing impaired are taken lightly  But more than that, you make such arrangements that a person with deafness or any disability is able to do that, is able to acquire that qualification. That is empowerment. Instead of…yes, increase their competence, have those accommodations, have those facilities

177 Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code  Devising a method to assess disability, their advantages and disadvantages

 What is the disadvantage… unless you have a major disadvantage perhaps it is not considered to be a disability

Advocacy Groups  Even if some comments or suggestions are invited from the civil society, our Parliamentarians are not so well trained, so much sensitized with regard to disability related issues  Stigma attached to disability per se. That is the Indian context. Families are embarrassed to openly admit that they have a disabled child. So for blindness, it is obvious. For physically challenged, it is obvious. But for deafness, it’s an invisible disability  In India, deafness is, still in the mainstream, that is the problem, it is still considered a medical problem. It is an impairment that needs to be corrected  We have to think differently. We say right now disabled means unable to do anything. Very annoying  Somewhere there is a stigma, it’s the change here (points to the temples) it has to come thinking differently. It has to come saying every one of us is disabled in some way of the other. Are we perfect? Why are we fixated on the word “disability”  In India, there are people who still see disability as a medical issue. For that matter, there are still people in India who would look at disability as perhaps a Karma issue

178

Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code Policy Documents  Person with benchmark disability means a person with not less than forty per cent of a specified disability where specified disability has not been defined in measurable terms and includes a person with disability where specified disability has been defined in measurable terms, as certified by the certifying authority;  ‘person with disability’ means a person with long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment which hinder his full and effective participation in society equally with others;  ‘person with disability having high support needs’ means a person with benchmark disability certified under clause (a ) of sub- section (2 ) of section 57 who needs high support  Recognizing that disability is an evolving concept and that disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others  Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others

Newspaper reports  The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014, defines for the first time the meaning of disability and extended it from seven to 19 categories. It includes sickle cell disease, thalassemia and muscular dystrophy besides autism spectrum disorder, blindness, cerebral palsy, chronic neurological conditions, mental illness and multiple disability  Disability is now actively no longer being looked at under the shroud of charity, but as a right  Disability is a condition, not a disease  Ignorance about disability  Discrimination and stigma are daily occurrences  A lot of families keep their disabled children behind closed doors because they are embarrassed

179

Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code Equal Rights Explanation of code Civil rights, not charity or pity, creating avenues for equal participation in society for persons with disabilities Policymakers Right now our efforts are geared towards making ID cards for every disabled person. We are attempting that everyone (disabled) is identified. And after identifying everyone, we issue them ID cards. This is our focus for now. Yes, the focus is on equality.

A Right has also been included, first it used to be Entitlement, now it’s a Right.

The disabled people are also equal citizens. So they should have equal access to information, news, education, therefore what the normal citizen is getting, they also have to get.

Even the hearing impaired people, their choice has to be increased. Just as the normal person has so many choices. Now they do not have the choice. So certain policies and technology have to be developed, certain IT solutions.

Most important is the economic empowerment Economic empowerment involves training, support for getting skills, then getting them appropriate jobs in the private sector or otherwise, and getting them enough funds so that they can start self- employment. So economic empowerment is also one of the major issues

In order to promote equality and eliminate discrimination, States Parties shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided

In past no efforts were done for deaf but since last few years the deaf awareness has increased, since then deaf have come forward to demand their needs and fight for their rights. Now deaf gives their opinions openly thru protest, writing letters to governments and also using social media

I think inclusion should mean inclusion in every sphere. For example, education. Now up to the highest level, you call it the hearing impaired, I call them deaf community

180

Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code Advocacy Groups America and India are very different countries basically. In America, HoH and deaf people are like, they treat each other as equals, they communicate, they don’t treat each other as inferior. But in India, it’s different. They don’t think that they are supposed to be equal to us (deaf)

Perspectives are pretty much fixed. Perspectives are still very much fixed that, you know, “apang” “goonga-behra”, understood? Somewhere there is a stigma, it’s the change here (mind) it has to come thinking differently. It has to come saying every one of us is disabled in some way of the other. Are we perfect? Why are we fixated on the word “disability”? So it is here (mind). It’s impairment. It is tough.

We have to THINK differently. We say right now disabled means unable to do anything. Very annoying

I think in India,… deafness in the mainstream is …still considered a medical problem. It is an impairment that needs to be corrected.

The social environment in the country especially in these (rural, economically backward) areas there is a stigma attached to disability per se. That is the Indian context. I think families are embarrassed and to openly admit that they have a disabled child

So I have seen all the key political parties both in their role in the government when they are in power as well as when they are out of power. And somehow they have not recognized disability as a core issue. It’s not on their radar screen. Now my hunch is that it’s not on their radar screen because it’s not a vote bank issue yet. They don’t see disabled people. They all come to our events, and they all make appropriate noise, they all say the right things, they all make the same promises, and their heart bleeds when they are in the opposition, and when they come into power, God knows what happens to them and they forget all about disability.

181

Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code There was no law. We finally got the law in 1995. India became independent in 1947, from 1947 to 1995 is an exact 48 years. Half a century wasted. Disabled people had no rights. Zilch. Whatever was available, whatever little was by way of charity or pity. But you know the numbers? In the 90s, until the mid 90s, until the late 90s, if you asked the government of India or the Planning Commission or anybody as to how many disabled people are there in the country, nobody knew. Disabled people had never been included in the census. But what is funny is that the census goes back more than a hundred years. And until the time of the British, there was a question on disability but in Independent India, the first census being 1951, then 61, 71, 81, 91…no question on disability. It was after a big fight, that a question of disability was finally included in the 2001 census

Promote actively an environment in which persons Policy Documents with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs, including: Participation in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country, and in the activities and administration of political parties

Appropriate governments and establishments shall ensure that the all persons with disabilities have the right on an equal basis with others to the physical environment, transportation, information and communications, including appropriate technologies and systems, and other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas

Newspaper reports  Differently abled  Identity cards to all persons with disabilities so that they can avail government benefits  Hoping the Finance Minister would be more generous with the allocations for the disability sector  Equal rights  Legal redress against discrimination  Others are very sympathetic  Budgetary allocation for persons with disabilities,  A new law that guarantees civil and political rights

182 Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code  With the simmering discontent over the apathy towards them, the last decade has especially seen several protests springing from the stakeholders themselves

Participation Explanation of code Inputs from different stakeholders in policymaking

Policymakers  We have to ensure that they are provided

with all these additional benefits so that

they participate equally without much

problem along with the normal citizens. So

that is where the role of the State lies.

 Other stakeholders also come and meet

us, suggestions come from NGOs also

 I should be very frank. As far as the government is concerned, as far as the Committee is concerned, the representation of persons with deafness was there, I mean the number of people.

To what extent have they been able to communicate and present their case is a different matter  Advocacy Groups  We as a society have put ourselves in a patronizing role. We know what is better for this community (sarcastic). So community representation is not there at the policy level, it HAS to be there!   If there is a Department of Disability Affairs, ideally, symbolically, the government should have a minister, a disability affairs minister, ideally, a full- fledged secretary from the disabilities sector.My impression is that the government should be guided by pragmatic ideas while constituting this newly-created Department of Disability Affairs taking into account the technical nature of the committee. It should have some representation from the persons with disabilities at the level of Joint Secretary, at the level of Additional Secretary  I think that even if some comments or suggestions are invited from the civil society, our Parliamentarians are not so well trained, so much sensitized with regard to disability related issues.

183 Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code This country does not have a dearth of experts on disability related issues in all categories. It could be orthopedically handicapped, visually impaired, hearing impaired, in all categories we have experts. So despite the fact that there is no lack of expertise in this area, the committee was….(pause), a non-disabled person was equipped to head the committee which is against the principle of Nothing About Us Without Us

The committee was constituted basically to drafting a Bill to replace the existing RPD Act. But at the first meeting itself, the committee took the decision of outsourcing its responsibility to some expert which members like myself objected very vociferously. Firstly, the basic ethos of the UN Convention on the RPWD Nothing About Us Without Us was not properly adhered to in formation of the Committee. The GoI could not find any suitable person from our group to head the Committee.

They participate in that when they are called for the meetings, they give their ideas. Yes, yes, they participate. The Ministry of Social Welfare and even the Planning Commission, when they make the plans, not only he hearing handicapped, but other disabled people, they call them, want to hear their problems, discuss with them, that’s how the future program is made. Earlier it was difficult but that period is over now

The bottom line is that the disabled people should be intergrally involved in all aspects of life at all levels. So whether it is at the Central government, at the state government, whether it is at the district level, whether it’s at the village level, and it’s not a question of either-or

Policy Documents Full and effective participation and inclusion in society;

Promote actively an environment in which persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs, including: Participation in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country, and in the activities and administration of political parties

184 Table 4-4. Continued. Name of Theory-driven Code The members of the Committee shall be elected by States Parties, consideration being given to equitable geographical distribution, representation of the different forms of civilization and of the principal legal systems, balanced gender representation and participation of experts with disabilities.

They must have opportunity, and it must not be limited. There must be unlimited opportunity. Free access.

Considering that persons with disabilities should have the opportunity to be actively involved in decision-making processes about policies and programmes, including those directly concerning them

Newspaper reports Committee set up in 2009 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, headed by Sudha Kaul

Committee included different people with disabilities

Calling for the involvement of people with disabilities into the national framework

185 Table 4-5. Data-driven codes with segments of text from all four data sets Name of Data-driven code Reservation Percentage of posts in government organizations Explanation of Code set aside for employing persons with disabilities. Seats reserved in educational institutions for the persons with disabilities Policymakers  Then we have increased the percentage of reservation of PWD in higher education and jobs, government jobs from 3% to 5%  We are bringing in some of the rights which will accrue to persons with disabilities, we are changing the reservation from 3% to 5% for educational institutions as well as for jobs in the government sector: the government of India state government and the local bodies Advocacy groups  I am saying that somewhere the government will realize that even in that 1% reservation for employment, my deaf, the people who are profoundly deaf, never get those jobs  Much is being done, even reservation in jobs, scholarships are being given Policy documents  Reservation of Posts for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities  Appropriate governments shall, within a period of one year from the commencement of this Act, provide incentives to employers in the private sector to ensure that at least 5% of their work force is composed of persons with benchmark disabilities  Every appropriate government shall reserve, in every establishment under them, not less than 5% of the vacancies meant to be filled by direct recruitment, for persons or class of persons with benchmark disability, of which 1% each shall be of all posts reserved for persons with following disabilities:- i. blindness & low vision (with reservation of 0.5% of the vacancies for each of the two disabilities). ii. hearing impairment & speech impairment iii. locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured and muscular dystrophy iv. autism, intellectual disability and mental illness v. multiple disabilities from among i to iv above including deafblindness

186 Table 4-5. Continued. Name of Data-driven code Newspaper reports  A long-awaited bill introduced into parliament this month aims to give more disabled people equal rights – including access to education, employment and legal redress against discrimination  The bill seeks to provide five per cent reservation for disabled persons in public sector jobs and reserved seats for them in higher educational institutions  Provides for a 5 per cent reservation in government jobs and reservation in higher educational institutions.  The reservation quota has been increased from three per cent to five per cent  They need education and employment. But the country is far from reaching there.  A new law, The Right of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014, is pending in Parliament. This Bill confers several ‘rights’ and entitlements to disabled persons, including disabled-friendly access to all public buildings, hospitals, modes of transport and polling stations  A recent example of an inclusive policy was the announcement of Braille-enabled railway coaches to help the visually challenged find their seats and toilets as well as enabling e-ticket booking for disabled in Northern Railway

187 Table 4-6. Connecting the codes and identifying themes using the research questions as headings: Considerations for implementing closed captioning Policymakers Advocacy Group Policy Documents and Representatives Newspapers *Technology: awareness, *Awareness and training *Accessible multimedia as availability, accessibility of policymakers well as written, audio, (cost) and adaptability *Equality and level playing plain-language, human- field reader and augmentative *Awareness and advocacy *Law/policy and alternative modes, *Representation means and formats of *Sound policy, *Government priority and communication, including government priority, action accessible information and government initiative *Private company priority communication technology

*Initiative by private media *All content in whichever companies medium whether audio, print or electronic shall be *Incentivize private sector made available to persons with disabilities in *Should be implemented accessible format

*Ensure that persons with disabilities have access to electronic media by providing for audio description, sign language interpretation and close captioning

*The demand for subtitling television programmes was first raised by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) about two years ago, but the government did not take it very seriously

188 Table 4-7. Corroborating and legitimating coded themes and identifying second-order themes First-order Theme Clustered Themes Second-order Themes Access to Access to news and Need for awareness, information [ACC] information is a right for political will, policy every citizen in the process, sound policy country. Technology awareness, availability, accessibility (cost) and Welfare-based adaptability are primary policymaking Draft RPD Bill considerations for [RPD] implementing closed captioning. Sign language

bulletin, signing of events of national importance (ACC, HRI) Hearing Impaired [HRI] No timeline for implementation of bill. Policymaking driven by vote bank politics (EQR, POL, RPD)

Policy Disability is viewed as a Implementation medical impairment in [POL] India. Inclusivity focuses on right of access to employment and education. Disability certificates determine Equal rights [EQR] eligibility for access to provisions (HRI, EQR, RPD, ACC)

Participation of persons with disabilities is absent Participation [PAR] or minimal in the policymaking process in India. There is lack of awareness and sensitivity

about persons with disabilities. Charity and pity. Draft RPD bill violates the mandates of the UNCRPD (PAR, EQR, HRI)

189

Following Page:

Figure 4-3. Number of code applications to all newspaper articles categorizes under preset codes

190 Code ACC RPD POL HRI EQR PAR Totals Article 1 2 1 2 8 Article 2 3 1 9 Article 3 2 1 4 Article 4 4 2 6 Article 5 1 1 3 Article 6 1 4 Article 7 1 3 Article 8 1 1 4 Article 9 1 2 3 Article 10 3 1 3 11 Article 11 1 1 3 Article 12 1 1 Article 13 1 1 Article 14 2 1 8 Article 15 2 1 3 Article 16 1 5 Article 17 2 5 1 14 Article 18 1 1 2 4 Article 19 2 1 3 7 Article 20 2 2 2 6 Article 21 1 1 Article 22 1 1 Article 23 1 2 Article 24 1 1 7 Article 25 2 5 Article 26 2 2 Article 27 1 4 6 Article 28 1 1 1 2 5 Article 29 1 1 7 Article 30 2 3 2 11 Article 31 1 1 1 3 Article 32 1 4 Article 33 4 1 1 9 Article 34 1 6 Article 35 1 1 2 1 10 Article 36 1 1 7 Article 37 3 1 2 1 10

Figure 4-3. Number of code applications to all newspaper articles categorizes under preset codes

191 Code ACC RPD POL HRI EQR PAR Totals Article 38 7 1 4 5 21 Article 39 1 2 11 Article 40 1 3 1 7 3 1 21 Article 41 1 1 3 Article 42 2 3 Article 43 1 2 3

Figure 4-3. Continued.

192 Rights of Persons with Policy Access to Disabilities implem- Hearing Equal Particip- Code Information Bill entation Impaired rights ation Total UNCRPD relevant articles 6 1 2 5 4 18 Parts of the Draft Bill 4 1 3 1 9 Interview transcripts of policymakers 13 16 27 15 18 8 97 Interview transcripts of advocacy groups 18 16 20 24 21 26 125 41 33 30 40 47 39

Figure 4-4. Number of code applications to documents except newspaper articles categorizes under preset codes

193 CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility of, and perceptions about implementing closed captioning on Indian television as a means of equitable media access for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. India ratified the United Nations Convention on the

Rights of Persons with Disabilities protocol in 2007, and in doing so, committed to ensuring equality in society for persons with disabilities.

Focusing on Chapter 1:51 of the Draft Bill which proposes closed captioning as a means to make media accessible to persons with hearing impairment, this study aimed to investigate the key considerations for, and perceptions about a policy for implementing the technology in India.

This chapter recapitulates the study’s theoretical foundations, and key components informing the study are recalled from Chapter 2. The chapter then discusses the findings. First the key considerations for a policy mandating closed captioning are discussed as summarized from the responses of the key actors involved in the policymaking process. Next, the chapter discusses the perceptions of the interviewed policymakers and advocacy group representatives about closed captioning as an information and communication tool for equitable media access. Following a discussion of the study’s main findings, three other key findings are discussed to build an explanation for the recommendations put forth later in the chapter. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the study’s limitations and the way ahead for future research.

The purpose of this single exploratory case study was to explore with a sample of policymakers and disabled rights advocacy group representatives, their perceptions

194 about closed captioning as a tool to make media, particularly news and current affairs, accessible to the Deaf/Hard of Hearing population in India. In addition, from the point of view of policymakers, the key considerations for making closed captioning available on

Indian television. It was hoped that a better understanding of how the technology may make television programming, particularly news and information, accessible to the

Deaf/Hard of Hearing in India, and considerations for a policy mandating the implementation of the technology would provide insights regarding closed captioning as an assistive tool for media access equality, and may be of use to the policymakers when planning for and implementing the technology as proposed in the Draft Rights of

Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012.

The research used the naturalistic inquiry method to gather qualitative data via in-depth personal interviews with the key actors involved in the case, between October and December 2014 in New Delhi, India. All but one interview were conducted in

English; post transcription, the researcher translated the one conducted partially in

Hindi. Supporting data were collected from newspaper reports published between 2011 and 2014, the timeframe between the first and the latest drafting of the Bill, and policy papers were retrieved from the websites of the United Nations, and the Ministry of

Social Justice and Empowerment of the Government of India. The participants in the study comprised of 12 elites—five policymakers from senior decision-making positions in the Government and seven advocacy group founders or senior most representatives.

The data were coded, analyzed and organized according to the research questions first, and then additional categories and subcategories were identified guided by the conceptual framework presented in Chapter 2. The latter exercise yielded three key

195 results not directly related to the research questions but useful in presenting a balanced and holistic case for the proposed implementation of closed captioning on Indian television. The two research questions on which the study was based were:

RQ1. What are the considerations for implementing closed captioning for Indian television as recommended in the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012?

RQ2. How do policymakers and disability rights advocates view closed captioning policy as a means of media access for the hearing impaired in India?

These two research questions were somewhat answered by the findings presented in Chapter 4.

At the primary level of analysis, the findings, which related directly to the research questions, are discussed. These same categories were used to code data and present the findings in Chapter 4. At the secondary level of analysis, the categories, including the supplementary findings, is discussed in relation to the theoretical foundation of the study, and the themes emerging from the findings are discussed in relation to those included in the literature. The purpose of the analysis in this manner, which includes a discussion of the key supplementary findings as well, is to present an integrated picture of the case. The discussion intertwines with literature on inclusion, definitions of disability, policymaking, and assistive technologies as tools for inclusion.

The primary findings are aimed at increasing the understanding among policymakers not only about closed captioning as an assistive information and communications tool which can be used to provide greater and more equitable access to news and public information to the hearing impaired in India, but also about certain weaknesses in the

Indian policymaking process presented with reference to the present disability Act, and

196 draft RPD bill. These are highlighted in the section on implications for policymakers. In addition, the supplementary findings aim to provide insight into the elements that inform an inclusive public policy in India. The chapter concludes with a listing of the limitations of the study, possible researcher bias in interpreting the findings, and ideas for future research.

Analytic category 1: Facilitators of and barriers to implementing closed captioning on Indian television, and perception of closed captioning as an ICT.

Closed captioning is the textual version of the audio component of television that provides a visual display of the dialogue, narration and audio effects for those who cannot hear (Lewis and Jackson 2001, p. 43). A majority of the participants indicated various aspects of the technology—awareness, availability, affordability, and adaptability—as the most important factors. This is in keeping with the observation put forth by Mansell (1993) in which she wrote that access to technology is a key factor in determining whether people are able to participate in the social, cultural, political and economic features of a society. But access to technology, particularly information and communication technologies, if defined only in terms of physical artifacts being made available to people in an attempt towards social inclusion, is erroneous as explained by

Selwyn (2004). Access to technology depends on three factors, illustrated Wilson,

Kellerman and Corey (2013): availability, the cost of using the technology, and the cognitive ability or desire to use the technology. Selwyn (2004) mentioned additional factors: issues of time, the quality of the technology available, the environment in which it is used, its usability, and privacy concerns. These factors primarily constitute access to technology from the users’ end. Going further, van Reijswoud (2009) emphasized

197 that an appropriate information and communication technology, for its effective implementation, must be considered with two perspectives, the hardware and software or the physical artifact, and change management. In defining appropriate technology succinctly, he wrote:

The integrated and participatory approach that results in tools and processes for establishing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that is suitable for the cultural, environmental, organizational, economic and political conditions in which it is intended to be used. (van Reijswoud, 2009, p. 6)

Since the objective of this study was to explore the considerations for implementing closed captioning as a policy, greater emphasis is made on the policymakers’ perspectives. That is not to undermine the perspectives of the advocacy group representatives, but given that ultimately those in the government make public policy decisions, the interpretation for analytic category 1 starts with a discussion of the responses of the policymakers.

As predicted by literature, affordability (cost) of the technology was mentioned, but equal emphasis was given to awareness among policymakers about the existence of such technology, and initiative or efforts by private media companies to integrate the technology in their service offerings. These two factors also featured prominently in the

Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2012) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Categorized under the theme “Access to information”, the emphasis on these two factors in three of the four groups of data highlights their importance.

The lack of awareness about closed captioning among policymakers was clearly indicated by the majority of the policymakers’ emphasis on sign language interpretation of television content when asked about closed captioning. Cohen, Salomon and

198 Nijkamp (2002) in their conceptual model From Reality to Policy (p. 39) noted that the personal background and attitudes, explained in terms of the policymaker’s tacit knowledge, intuition and experience, in addition to perceptions of the problem and expectations from the ICT policy, gives the policymaker the information to make specific policy decisions. The attitudes and background knowledge of the policymaker, “is based on experience, previous studies and, to some extent, the beliefs he or she holds with respect to technology, and ‘vision’” (Cohen et al., 2002, p. 41), and significantly affect the final policy decision. Moreover, even if scientific knowledge from outside is regarded as a significant source of information by policymakers, in the face of political constraints of a particular political agenda, a policymaker’s “background and cognitive components may affect the way he or she is open and willing to accept information and utilize it”

(Cohen et al., 2002, p. 41).

Consequently, with background knowledge about closed captioning largely absent among or vaguely understood by policymakers in India, it may be assumed that the final policy decision to implement closed captioning may be adversely affected or delayed. This study then finds that the lack of awareness about closed captioning can pose as a significant barrier to implementing the technology on Indian television.

In this regard, advocacy efforts, and apprising policymakers of the need for specific provisions for access, such as closed captioning, is desirable. Researchers agree that advocacy efforts substantially influence policy decisions (Lane & Morrison,

2006; Miller-Grandvaux, Welmond & Wolf, 2002; Wampler, 2000; Fox, 2000). Citing neoclassical economic theory, which highlights the lack of success by the government and market forces to adequately provide public development-aimed goods, Lane and

199 Morrison noted the possible contribution of advocacy groups (NGOs) in three ways.

They i) fulfill demand for public goods left unsatisfied by government, ii) partner with government in the provision of public goods, iii) and/or make public policy demands of government to ensure accountability in public governance (2006, p. 234). The role of advocacy groups or NGOs in influencing public policy, Fox (2000) mentioned, is to play a significant part in the vertical integration process of policymaking, that is, systematically coordinate between “diverse levels of civil society, from local to state, national and international arenas” (p. 16). Doh and Guay (2006) further contended that efforts by advocacy groups toward influencing policymakers depend on the “institutional setting in which government policy making takes place” (p. 52). Hajer and Wagenaar

(2003) suggested that in a participative democracy such as India, one way to keep issues and problems contestable is to “create deliberative spaces throughout institutions of state, economy, and civil society for the social negotiation of concerns and grievances” (p. 264). Since eighty percent of the policymakers interviewed for this study indicated that they were open to receiving feedback from advocacy groups, and stated that positive change can be brought about if issues are brought to the Ministry’s notice or are campaigned for, it may be assumed that advocacy efforts towards closed captioning may pave way for its implementation.

In light of the finding that initiative and efforts by private media companies is another key consideration, some of the policymakers rationalized that private companies are often unwilling to expend their financial resources willingly on innovative technologies such as closed captioning without the assurance of positive returns on investment. But Beck contended that such “manufactured” risks as labeled by Anthony

200 Giddens, and on the whole, risk society, cannot be entirely accepted or rejected in the course of political debate: “It (risk society) arises through the automatic operation of autonomous modernisation processes which are blind and deaf to consequences and dangers” (1996, p. 28). Therefore, the participants suggested that private media companies’ initiative and efforts despite perceptions of risk, is crucial to the implementation of closed captioning. Yet a majority of the participants believed that if private companies are unwilling to take initiative, a policy or law in place mandating

ICTs such as closed captioning will force implementation. One of the policymakers also mentioned incentivizing implementation along with a policy in place would be more helpful. This is in line with Mazzucato’s claim in The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking

Public Vs. Private Sector Myths that a soft approach does not work until a strict policy or law is in place: “While ‘nudging’ might incentivize a few entrepreneurs to act, most business actors will need strong signals…” (2013, p. 119). Therefore, for implementing

CC in India, it may be concluded that first a policy needs to be put in place mandating

CC for the State broadcaster as well as the private media companies to provide the service. While the mention of CC in the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill

(2012) is a step forward, a crucial consideration for its implementation is it being categorically mandated in the policy as an assistive ICT for media access for the

Deaf/Hard of Hearing, supported by the factors discussed above.

Adaptability of closed captioning technology to the Indian context stood out as a prominent consideration. As predicted in the literature, where it was noted that there is a need for the government to status plan, that is determine which language is to be used for particular purpose, multilingualism in India was mentioned by one decision maker as

201 an important consideration for implementing closed captioning. This aligns with Ruiz’s observation, who noted that English has traditionally been “considered a language of political, economic, and social power and prestige; its preeminence in the United States, as elsewhere, has been reinforced in recent times by its establishment as a language of technology” (1994, p.n.a). Boulianne, Beaumont, Boisvert, Brousseau, Cardinal,

Chapdelaine, Comeau, Ouellet, and Osterrath, in designing computer-assisted closed captioning for live television broadcasts in France, also noted that 90 per cent of television content is close-captioned in English (2006). The Indian Constitution recognizes 22 scheduled languages of which English and Hindi are the official languages of the Union Government of the Republic of India. A recent study, the

People’s Linguistic Survey of India, found 780 languages currently existing in India

(http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2013/09/07/india-speaks-780-languages-220-lost-in-last-

50-years-survey/). Given such linguistic diversity in the country, it may indeed be problematic to decide on a particular or a few languages as the output languages of closed captioning.

Other factors mentioned in terms of adaptability of the technology to the Indian context included the priorities and efficiency of the government. Researchers have argued for the active role of top decision-makers in ICT development and implementation (Milis & Mercken, 2002; Tearle, 2003; Ndou, 2004; Gichoya, 2005;

Weerakkody, Dwivedi, Brooks, Williams and Mwange, 2007). In line with these observations, government priority, sociopolitical will, sensitivity and commitment, as mentioned by the participants and newspaper reports, emerged as a key consideration for implementing closed captioning.

202 Analytic category 2: Perceptions of participants regarding equality of news access for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing.

The theoretical foundation of this study was that access to news and information enables the citizenry of a country to participate in the public sphere by expressing their opinions on matters of public interest and building public debate. As Gitlin, in his essay

Public Sphere or Public Sphericules? succinctly described:

If the State is to be the instrument of public good, the public must first be sovereign and capable of ascertaining its good, so that the State may belong to the public and act accordingly. Towards this end, the public needs access to information about matters of public moment; it needs rights of political organization, speech and assembly; it needs deliberation (emphases in original). (Gitlin, 2002, p. 168)

In keeping with Habermas’ theory of the public sphere—the realm of social life, which is formed by the exchange of information and issues of public and is crucial for forming public opinion (Dahlgren, 1995), Papacharissi noted that “participation in public affairs contributed significantly to an individual’s sense of existence and self-respect”

(2002, p. 10). All the participants in this study agreed that there must be provisions for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing, as for all citizens of the country, to be able to access media, particularly news and current affairs programming. According to the policymakers and policy documents, equal access to media was mentioned as a fundamental right for the hearing impaired, which would make both information and knowledge available to them.

However, none of the policymakers or advocacy group representatives mentioned factors such as literacy, or reach of the technology as factors that might affect media access even if CC is implemented. This observation is important in the context of the conceptualization of the digital divide. Recent scholars have redefined the digital divide as encompassing both the inequality in access to technological artifacts as

203 well as inhibiting factors such as issues of content, language, education, literacy, or community and social resources (Warschauer, 2004; Barzilai-Nahon, 2006; Kirkman,

1999). However, Warschauer (2004) noted that the traditional definition is “difficult to overcome in people’s minds” (p.6). This may be particularly in the case of policymakers, who, with a technologically-deterministic perspective adopted primarily to “justify the allocation of resources” use simple, objective measures such as physical access to

ICTs to define the digital divide, and overlook the context in which such measures are applied (Barzilai-Nahon, 2006). With such an approach, Selwyn (2004) noted, the digital divide is “easily defined and, as a result, easily closed, bridged and overcome, given a political will to provide for those ‘without’” (emphasis in original) (p. 345).

Vicente & Lopez reiterated that the disability digital divide involves a multitude of factors that include policy, technology, economic and financial barriers, education and literacy, among others (2010). Kirkman (1999) explained that access goes beyond access to a technology or a service, and includes “access to information, knowledge, and communications opportunities… (ICTs) are just tools” (p.11). Therefore to have the complete access, which Kirkman spoke of, it is important that the capability of the people who are given the access to the physical artifact is considered. Calabrese and

Burgelman suggested looking at a communications policy from a capabilities approach, in which newspapers and broadcasting should be regarded as enablers of “a range of functionings” and not just “a stream of content to be consumed” (1999, p. 121). But they also drew attention to the consideration that despite presented with opportunities, users may fail to use the service because of intractable barriers: “deep in structures of social stratification…habitus. They clearly and importantly relate to education” (p. 122).

204 Lewis and Jackson (2001) also reminded us that captioning involves reading and comprehension skills, and reading in turn involves “the use of an applicable knowledge base, memory process, and linguistic adequacy with a word-based language” (p. 43).

Literacy, then, as a component mentioned in literature, becomes an important consideration in determining access to closed captioning in India, but was overlooked by the participants in this study. Gregg (2006) summed up that owing to surrounding factors (such as literacy) which may well determine who is able to use the technology,

“public policy is often necessary to ensure that those who face barriers to access are given opportunities to use services as they become available” (p. 537).

Significant supplementary theme 1. Perceptions of participants regarding what constitutes hearing impaired.

Going beyond the research questions, one of the key findings of this study which contributes to a more integrated understanding of the case was that there exists substantial dichotomy between how disability is defined by the participants, the Draft

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2012) upon which this study is based, and the conception of disability as mentioned in the directives of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities protocol.

As argued in the literature, neither the social model of disability, which distinguishes between impairment and disability on the basis of medical versus social construction of the term respectively, nor the medical model, which defines disability with a purely pathological perspective, is applicable in the construction of disability when aiming for an inclusive policy. The capabilities framework is recalled here, which Trani,

Bakhshi, Bellanca, Biggeri and Marchetta (2011) argued, “helps to overcome some of

205 the limits and reduce the potential of contrasting results of the disability models… (and) shifts the focus from the specificities of the disabling situation to look at establishing equality in terms of possibilities and choices” (p. 148). The purpose for recalling the capabilities approach in this discussion comes from the findings in which 11 of the 12 participants assumed hearing impaired to include only those that are deaf from birth.

Despite references to the social model of disability, which too finds critique in the likes of Barton (2006), who highlighted the social definition’s rendering “the body synonymous with its impairment or physical dysfunction” and has “exiled impairment from sociological consideration” (p. 95), the participants considered only the medically deaf from birth while speaking of equal media access, and the larger inclusion in society. The Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2012) categorically mentions

“benchmark disabilities”, 40 per cent of bodily impairment as a measure of the amount of disability, and consequently the measure for provision of accommodations and equal rights.

Contrary to this conceptualization, and in keeping with the capabilities approach,

Bickenbach (2014) directed attention towards the need for implementing disability policies, especially those following the UNCRPD protocol, on the basis of the

International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) mentioned in literature. The ICF, which uses the capacity and performance qualifiers to define disability, “is the closest to a definition of disability found under the capability approach”

(Mitra, 2006, p. 238). Trani et al. (2011) recalled that the capabilities approach encompasses the social model of disability but also expands the perspective to cover both individual characteristics and social barriers, proposing to “measure outcomes in

206 terms of the expanding of people’s choices and freedoms” (p. 148). The capabilities approach therefore may “serve to become a powerful means for identifying the responsibilities of governments and external agencies in genuinely equalising opportunities” (Baylies, 2002, p. 725). In line with this perspective, then, the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2012) must consider the capabilities approach to align with its aim of social justice and inclusion. This is not to say that impairment be ignored, because as Crow (1996) explained, subjective experience of (our) bodies is also an integral part of our everyday reality” (p. 5), and “acknowledging the relevance of impairment is essential to ensuring that people are knowledgeable about their own circumstances” (p. 7), but basing rights to provisions and accommodations on the basis of a medical scale of disability is flawed in the fundamental definition of disability as enshrined in the UNCRPD. As Bickenbach explained:

A health practitioner cannot understand the nature and severity of the disability of a client without understanding the client’s environmental context, including his or her cultural differences. Whether these differences actually make a difference in either the nature or severity of disability is a practical and empirical question that needs to be answered on a case-by-case basis. (Bickenbach, 2009, p. 1121)

Therefore, this study proposes that for the purpose of the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2012) or for a conception of disability, including the hearing impaired, in a discourse about a rights-based policy, such a measure or perspective must be revised to align with the capabilities approach defined by the ICF.

Significant supplementary theme 2. Perceptions of participants about what constitutes social inclusion in India.

The main aim of this study was to build a case for closed captioning of Indian television by assessing its feasibility and perception as an ICT for inclusion. As the

207 study found, despite support for the implementation of closed captioning or other ways to provide broadcast media access to the Deaf/Hard of Hearing, access to media was not mentioned as a significant tenet of social inclusion. This finding is pivotal in its implication that despite the perceived importance of equitable media access, social inclusion for persons with disabilities in India largely entails equitable access to education, employment and public infrastructure, in short, an inclusive social safety net.

Mitra (2005) highlighted that the two-way relationship between poverty and disability wherein one increases the possibility of the other and vice versa, inclusive mainstream social safety nets play a role in “poverty alleviation, poverty reduction and development, and prevention” (p.n.a).

Yet, aligning this finding with the purpose of this study, focus on provision of social safety nets via reservations in employment and education, and access to public infrastructure, as emphasized by the participants, the draft RPD bill, and newspaper reports, does not, however, lessen the importance of an inclusive telecommunication policy. Burgelman (2000), for instance, highlighted that an inclusive telecommunications policy has a significant impact on vital parts of life, which include education and employment (2000). Jaeger further stated that the “capacities to transmit, access and receive information are key components of citizenship… An inaccessible ICT, such as a telecommunications system, turns a physical disability into a social disability” (2006, p.

114). Moreover, in the specific context of closed captioning, it could be argued that researchers have found the technology to be beneficial for incidental learning and targeted education (Linebarger, Piotrowski & Greenwood, 2009; Yuksel, & Tanriverdi,

2009; Hoffner, Baker, & Quinn, 2008; Moses, 2008; Ward, Wang, Paul & Loeterman,

208 2007). With regard to assistive technologies as a means to enhance opportunities for employment, Bailey argued:

Employers may choose not to hire a qualified individual with a disability because they have a limited understanding or misperception of how the individual can perform the essential functions of the job with the use of AT. In addition, new technologies are consistently being developed, many of which include designs to accommodate individuals with disabilities. (Bailey, 2011, p. 2)

It may then be recommended that closed captioning be considered by Indian policymakers as well as by advocacy groups for its utility as an assistive information and communication tool in both media access, and providing assistance in education and employment.

Significant supplementary theme 3. Perceptions of participants regarding participation of persons with disabilities in the making of policies that directly affect them.

Policymaking generally follows from interactions between three sets of participants—“those who demand change, those who make decisions, and those who are affected by the policy in question” (Gerston, 2014, p.n.a.). In what Baumgartner,

Jones and Mortensen (2014) called the “policy of equilibrium… decentralized to the iron triangles and issue networks of specialists in the bureaucracy, legislative sub-groups and interested parties”, lies the opportunity for positive feedback which makes significant changes possible (p. 67). Aligning with this idea, structural democratization in policymaking has seen the increased proliferation of non-governmental actors “as one organizational manifestation of the larger sociological category, civil society” (emphasis in original, Lane & Morrison, 2006, p. 233). Further, the participation of nongovernmental organizations in public policymaking and governance are perceived to

209 have democratic benefits and should be shielded and propagated for the advancement of a democracy” (Lane & Morrison, 2006, p. 5).

This study found, in keeping with the above arguments, that participation of disability advocacy groups or NGOs in the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill

(2012) drafting process was perceived to be important, though there was discrepancy in the perceptions of whether there was equal and effective representation. The finding that participation was not perceived as adequate or effective by a majority of the advocacy groups themselves is pertinent in its contradiction to the insistence by policymakers that advocacy group efforts are needed to apprise them of issues faced by the Deaf/Hard of Hearing in bringing about greater access to media via assistive technologies such as closed captioning.

Implications and Recommendations for Policymakers

The primary purpose of this case study was to provide insight into the key considerations for, and perceptions about implementing mandatory closed captioning on

Indian television with the aim of making news and public information available to the

Deaf and Hard of Hearing population in the country. The findings from this study have implications for policymakers who are currently involved in the process of bringing into legislature the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2012, revised 2014).

Policymaking in India: Some Challenges

Policymaking in India is primarily influenced by vote bank politics (Nayak, Saxena

& Farrington, 2002; Jenkins & Goetz, 1999; Dror 1983), which advocacy group comments and newspapers report findings highlighted in this study as well. It also suffers from being conducted with little or no information about the needs and wants of those for whom the policies are made; procedures to be followed, or the consequences

210 of those policies. Birkland (2014) drew attention to the underlying essence of public policymaking: that decisions are primarily made in public interest. He elaborated that public policy is a sum of considerations that include arguments about the feasibility of a solution to a problem, potential solutions, costs involved in solving the issue, and the probability that the solution may wholly or partially address it. The findings of this study resonate with Birkland’s observations. Pande (2003) added representation to the mix of policymaking in a representative democracy: the voice of those likely to be affected by the policy in the policymaking process is a basic premise of such a system. This too finds validation on the point of participation explored by this study. That participation, and mass media as an enabling informational tool, is not only key but also a means of ensuring political responsiveness to the needs of the citizens is further highlighted by

Besley and Burgess (2000), who postulated that a “more informed and politically active electorate” and who are exposed to mass media, make sure that the “preferences of the citizens are reflected in policy” (p. 1). In terms of Habermas’ public sphere, such participation from an informed citizenry, which informs decision-makers of the needs and preferences of the public, then can be facilitated by the mass media, which enables people in a society to be informed about matters of public interest. Corroborating these observations, this study found unanimous agreement among all participants on the right the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in India to have equitable access to news and public information, thus ideally enabling them to be informed, and contribute to the policymaking process in the deliberative democratic setup in India.

But in reality, that public policymaking is far from “optimal”, and suffers from significant challenges, is succinctly highlighted by Dror (1983) in his seminal work Public

211 Policy Making Reexamined. He wrote that in any public policymaking process, key issues that affect its optimal quality are “vested interests in the status quo”, deterministic beliefs and ideologies that may be opposed to innovation, and inertia strengthened by factors such as “uncertainty induced by rapid changes in the material environment” caused by technological innovation (p. 123-124). Of these, he emphasized inertia as the most detrimental—the idea that good policymaking may be evaluated on successive, incremental changes made over earlier policies. Further, Sassa (1985) elaborated that in developing countries, there is pronounced disagreement between and among citizens, bureaucrats and politicians, both on the strategy to use to achieve a policy goal and on the definition of the given goal owing to differences in value preferences.

Further, often decision-makers accept a social problem (goal) uncritically, thereby

“rationally” and “effectively” starting to work towards finding solutions, when in reality, the perceived problem may only be symptoms to a larger social issue.

These observations find resonance with the findings in this study. Inertia may be demonstrated by policymakers’ emphasis on some changes included in the draft RPD bill as improvements over the 1995 Act—a percentage increase in reservation in jobs and education for persons with disabilities, replacing entitlements with rights but without facilitating access to the legal redress system for persons with disabilities, proposing to issue nationwide-applicable disability certificates replacing the earlier state-only- applicable ones, and emphasis on continuing sign language news bulletin with interpretation now proposed for events of national importance with little emphasis on adopting innovative technologies such as closed captioning and same language subtitling, to highlight a few. Dror, in Muddling Through—“Science” or Inertia (1964)

212 explained that such incremental changes suggested by Lindblom (1959) brought about by adhering to previous knowledge, and merely bringing about comparative changes, overlooks important points. First, it assumes that the current policy is largely satisfactory as perceived by both policymakers and the social group for whom it was made, and therefore small changes will bring about satisfactory positive results upon policy implementation. In the context of India’s draft RPD bill’s provisions, if this were the case, the bill would have been accepted without continued protests from persons with disabilities and disability rights groups, as has been documented in the responses of the study’s participants and newspaper reports. That the draft RPD bill largely ignores key issues as reported by newspapers—it oscillates “between lip service and absolute violation of the UNCRPD” (DNA), includes “definition of persons with disability (that) takes us back to a medical model” (PTI), “cleverly inserts one word to change the guarantee (of absolute prohibition of discrimination) altogether” (TNN); does not satisfy needs with marginal changes as stated by disabled rights advocacy representatives about policymakers’ insistence on sign language for instance—“It is not easy for them

(hard of hearing) to learn sign language at an advanced age. I think the possibility is to send some experts and see how these things are subtitled” (Ramanujam, SDRS), and

“there are different levels of hearing impairment… different levels of decibel loss… youth and old people who don’t know sign language, who can only do lip reading”

(Roka, NDS), are testimony.

Next, the route of incremental change must assume that earlier issues or problems to address which policy was made previously largely continue to be the same.

This assumption is fundamentally flawed in the face of changing values over time that

213 make “formerly-accepted policy results unacceptable” Dror (1964, p. 154). With India ratifying the UNCRPD and consequently the obligation to align its disability policy with the mandates of the Convention, the shift in the values and demands of persons with disabilities is visible in all their efforts to push towards policy replacement. Such shifting values have made the 1995 Act unacceptable to the community, as demonstrated by the rigorous campaigns for change. In such a situation, “radical departures in policy are required despite the risk” (Dror, 1964, p. 154).

The third of Dror’s criticisms to Lindblom’s incremental decision-making is also noted in this study’s findings. Technological and behavioral changes in knowledge, when made known to policymakers, demand their thinking of a policy on completely new lines. With the invention and proliferation of assistive technologies including those that facilitate information and communication access, such as closed captioning, it is recommended for decision-makers that policy be considered in terms of timely adoption of these facilitating technologies.

To overcome these limitations, in addition to lessening the possibility of a poor quality or wrong policy, which may result from emphasizing too much on reaching a consensus between all parties involved—decision-makers, politicians, persons with disabilities, and advocates of disability rights in the case of the draft RPD bill—Saasa

(1985) recommended the normative optimum process. Advantages such as not assuming pure rationality in policymaking, giving policymakers in a particular setting the freedom to choose between minimum risk and innovation, and including creative and intuitive rationality, makes this approach relevant to policymaking in developing countries. For Indian policymaking, and for the process of formulation and

214 implementation of the draft RPD bill that is the case for this study, following the normative optimum process is recommended.

Closed Captioning: Key Considerations

Implication endemic to implementation research as O’Toole (2000) posited in its potential to develop “systematic knowledge regarding what emerges, or is induced, as actors deal with a policy problem” (p. 266), is also present. The investigation of the feasibility of closed captioning and the perceptions regarding its implementation has led to the finding that awareness about the functioning of the technology among policymakers is the first step towards informed decision-making. The lack of awareness about this assistive information and communication technology for the Deaf/Hard of

Hearing, and its distinction from sign language interpretation services for television may lead to efforts in the wrong direction on the part of the policymakers.

In India, policymaking roughly follows a customized form of the neoinstitutional process described by Birkland (2014), which involves two sets of participants: official actors that include the legislative, executive and the judiciary, and unofficial actors that comprise of interest groups and the news media. While the former group holds the power to formulate and enforce policies, the latter group performs a representational role—either by apprising policymakers of the majority public needs and desires (as advocacy and rights groups), or as a watchdogs over government actions (news media). As found in the course of this study, the process of drafting and subsequent movement of the Draft RPD bill largely followed the neoinstitutional approach. As documented earlier, the appointment of a committee by the government to draft the bill in 2011 was followed by revisions made to the draft after consideration of some inputs from interest groups and general public, as apprised to the researcher by the

215 policymakers from the MOSJ, introduced in the Rajya Sabha in early 2014, and at the time of this study, the bill rests with the Standing Committee on Social Justice and

Empowerment. Standing Committees in India, set up to monitor the overall administration of Ministries and Departments, and guide the working of the Executive with inputs on broad policy formulations function in four ways

(http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/intro/p21.htm):

 Considers demands for grants,

 Examines Bills referred to by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha as the case may be

 Considers annual reports

 Considers national basic long term policy documents presented to the House and referred to the Committee by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha, as the case may be.

The presence of Standing Committees in India does not, however, suggest undermining the power of the Executive branch, which includes civil servants or bureaucrats, who use their expertise, and bureaucratic discretion—their ability to make decisions in public interest without “explicit directions from any other branch of the government” (Birkland, 2014, p. 118)—to formulate public policies.

But the working of the bureaucracy often suffers from the problem of unaccountability when officials make decisions without “popular or legislative input or oversight” (Birkland, 2014, p. 118). This was somewhat visible in the policymaking process involving the RPD bill with not enough representation and inputs from disability rights advocacy group representatives and general public as found in the study.

In terms of assistive ICT for media access, and specifically with respect to closed captioning, then, the testimony to such unaccountable and uninformed policymaking

216 may be found in the unpopular and misplaced effort by the government in the provision of one sign language bulletin, as the participants indicated. The Deaf community, as advocacy rights group representatives some of whom also belong to the community indicated, is not satisfied with the negligible frequency and non-standardized sign language service for the one weekly news bulletin. In addition, the lack of any provision for television media access for the Hard of Hearing or those with acquired deafness, who are not acquainted with sign language, also demonstrates the effect of the lack of awareness, exacerbated by minimal input from the Deaf community and its advocates in the policymaking process.

To recall, the implementation of closed captioning in India also needs to take into consideration the significant challenges that are posed by the country’s linguistic diversity, cost, and possible non-support by profit-oriented private media companies, as synthesized from the responses of the participants. Lack of awareness among policymakers not only in terms of the technology, but also the above three factors was found in this study.

Literacy: The Census of India 2011 defines a literate person as seven years and above who can both read and write in any language. Also, a person, who can only read but cannot write, is not considered as ‘literate’ (http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov- results/data_files/mp/07Literacy.pdf). As enumerated by the Census using this definition, around 778 million people or 74 per cent of the Indian population is literate. In this context, that literacy levels are often positively influenced by captions and/or subtitles has been a finding of numerous studies as mentioned in Chapter 2. For India,

Kothari (1998) proposed same language subtitling (SLS) of a few popular entertainment

217 programs in India as a means to develop literacy skills nationwide. Further, Poothullil,

Sahasrabudhe, Chavan, Toppo (2013) pushed the merits of captioning to include, alongside increasing accessibility to information by way of words appearing on screen, provision of “a successful learning environment for deaf and hard of hearing students”, improved “reading and listening comprehension, vocabulary, word recognition, and overall motivation to read” among ESL students, and leading to “better comprehension of abstract concepts among the deaf and hearing” in India (p. 3). Kothari, Pandey and

Chudgar (2004) also found SLS to enhance positive attitudes towards reading, providing for a congenial reading environment where people feel comfortable practicing, confirming and enjoying their developing reading skills.

While SLS is not the same as closed captioning, simply having subtitles on screen was found to greatly improve reading skills in disadvantaged school children,

“thus reaffirming the enormous potential of this simple and economical approach for mass literacy skill development in India” (Kothari, Takeda, Joshi, and Pandey, 2002, p.

55). Such advantages can be safely assumed to apply for closed captioning as a tool for literacy for the deaf and Hard of Hearing (Poothullil et al., 2013). Interpreted for policymakers and the Draft RPD bill, closed captioning or SLS, instead of being dependent on literacy, can actually work towards enhancing literacy development for the country’s more than 325 million illiterates, which include the Deaf and Hard of

Hearing population, and contribute to the government efforts for inclusive education.

Cost and Language: Affordability of closed captioning was mentioned by the policymakers as one of the considerations for its implementation, and which advocacy group representatives did not consider a deterrent. But the cost of implementing closed

218 captioning (labor and hardware combined costs) was found to be significantly lower compared to other forms of television access such as visual signing, foreign language captioning, lecturing and dubbing, by Vaidyanathan (http://cis- india.org/accessibility/blog/making-tv-accessible-in-india.pdf/). Further, Kothari et al.

(2002) estimated an annual per capita cost of SLS at $0.00022 for half an hour of weekly reading practice exposure compared to an average of $3 per person per year budgeted annually by India’s National Literacy Mission. However, given that closed captioning follows a different procedure from SLS, the issue of cost cannot be sidelined when considering closed captioning. For the Indian government, though, unlike for small to medium media companies, it may be safely assumed that the cost of captioning news and current affairs programs broadcast by public service broadcaster Doordarshan may not be a considerable barrier. For private companies, consideration for mandating compulsory closed captioning may be based on the process followed by the US Federal

Communications Commission for example, which exempts channels or companies generating less than a specified amount of revenue per year from providing captioned services, and if captioning exceeds 2 per cent of the company’s annual revenue

(http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?node=47:4.0.1.1.6.1.1.1&rgn=div8=47). Of note here is that significant improvement in captioning technology software can be said to have significantly brought down captioning costs, and made the process of captioning live or prerecorded programs easier (Dujnic, 2010). In addition, with regard to multilingual captioning services, a key concern for policymakers in India given the country’s linguistic diversity, a number of innovations have been made (Levin,

Ponomareva, Bulusheva, Chernykh, Medennikov, Merkin, Prudnikov & Tomashenko,

219 2014; Ayoub & Chen, 2014; Boulianne, Beaumont, Boisvert, Brousseau, Cardinal,

Chapdelaine, Comeau, Ouellet & Osterrath, 2006; Flanagan, Jensen & Chinnock,

2006).

But while working towards lessening these challenges is desired for an inclusive

RPD Bill which itself lists the ICT’s intervention for equitable media access, political will, as found in the study, is required. This political will must be displayed in enhancing policymakers’ own awareness and technological literacy, in addition to sensitivity and sensitization towards the need for accessible media technology for the entire Deaf community that includes the Hard of Hearing. This is hoped to add impetus to the implementation of closed captioning, once a decision is taken about its implementation as one of the means to make media accessible.

There was unanimous agreement on the right of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing population in India to have equitable access to news and information. This aligns with the mandates of the UNCRPD, which India ratified in 2007. Yet, according to the disability rights advocates, very little effort has been made till now to facilitate such access for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Campaigning and advocacy for years, as mentioned by the disability rights advocates, has led to the provision of one weekly sign language news bulletin by the public service broadcaster Doordarshan, and sign language interpretation for two events of national importance in 2014. Subtitling of news and current affairs programs on national television, as proposed in 2009 by the government, has not been done. In such observations found in the study, the implication for policymakers is that while they consider the present provisions as having fulfilled the

Deaf community’s demand for accessible television, the community itself does not

220 consider the efforts as adequate. This gap in understanding needs and setting priorities may be bridged by greater representation of the disabled in the disability policymaking process.

Disability in Perspective

The final implication for policymakers is that they need to have an informed perspective of what constitutes disability. This study found that policymakers’ conception of disability with regard to the provision of rights and entitlements is primarily that of pathological impairment. This can be observed from the defining of disability by the policymakers and well as the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2012) in terms of percentage of impairment, which is essentially a medical construct and which disregards capabilities. While the intention is not lacking among Indian policymakers to legislate as inclusive a disability policy as possible, their understanding of disability is largely not aligned with the international classification that the UNCRPD draws its principles from. In this regard, it is imperative that the policymakers revise the categorization of disabilities in the draft bill to align with the capabilities perspective as enshrined in the UNCRPD upon whose directives it is based. Setting impairment- percentage based benchmarks for provision of accommodations and ensuring rights for the disabled is a flawed method and in violation of the principles of the UNCRPD.

Further, it takes the conception of disability back to the redundant medical model, and merely touches upon the social model, both of which are not adequate in defining disability or useful in formulating inclusive provisions.

Implications for Deaf/ Hard of Hearing Advocacy Group Representatives

The fundamental implication for disability rights advocates is for them to understand that advocacy efforts are effective when demands and needs are presented

221 in concrete terms to policymakers. Awareness, as mentioned earlier, is a key component in policymaking, but which policymakers are largely devoid of. Advocates mentioned that policymakers need to be apprised of specific needs and demands for provision of accommodations, rights and entitlements, and the policymakers stated that positive change could be brought about if issues are brought to the Ministry’s notice or are campaigned for. This finding has implications for advocacy groups in terms of raising awareness among policymakers of specific needs for policy decisions to be made in favor of the provisions they are advocating for. Gemmill and Bamidele-Izu specified that non governmental organizations provide expert advice and analysis, and

“facilitate negotiations by giving politicians access to competing ideas from outside the normal bureaucratic channels” (2002, p. 7). In this, advocacy group representatives who are aware of closed captioning as a beneficial assistive information and communications tool, and view it as a means for equitable media access for the

Deaf/Hard of Hearing, must bring specific demands for its implementation to the policymakers.

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research

While this study contributed to the understanding of the key considerations for the closed captioning on Indian television as a possible means to facilitate greater access to media content for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing mentioned in the Draft Rights of

Persons with Disabilities Bill (2012), and explored perceptions of the key actors involved in the disability policy process about closed captioning as an assistive ICT to enable equitable news and information, this study was not without its limitations, and must be acknowledged. These limitations can also be viewed as opportunities to further explore other aspects of, and tools for, equitable media access for persons with disabilities and

222 other marginalized communities in India. Moreover, limitations as part of the process can contribute towards better understanding of the challenges in conducting public policy research.

Four criteria commonly assess rigor in qualitative case studies—internal validity, construct validity, external validity, and reliability (Gibbert, Ruigrok & Wicki, 2008). The first limitation of this study comes from limitations endemic to qualitative research, and particularly to single case studies—external validity or generalizability. External validity or generalizability of a study’s findings encompasses sampling, replication and ecological aspects, according to Frey, Botan and Kreps (2000). But Schofield (2002) highlights that discussions of external validity or generalizability in the quantitative or traditional sense is considered inappropriate by qualitative researchers, and extend

Guba and Lincoln’s conception of generalizability for qualitative case studies to

“fittingness”. Schofield elaborates that setting aside the classical definition of external validity or generalizability as that of replication, a qualitative study should aim towards fittingness by providing “a substantial amount of information about the entity studied and the setting in which the entity was found” (2002, p. 178). Further, Denzin and Lincoln

(2011), highlighting that a case study may, in fact, “be ideal” for generalizing by falsification, which is “a part of critical reflexivity” in the social sciences, suggested the strategic choice of a case as a means to adding to the study’s generalizability (p. 304,

305). Baxter and Jack further add that trustworthiness of a case study can be achieved by data source triangulation and member checking in addition to reflection and intense exposure to the case of interest (2008, p. 556). Given that this study addresses most of these points about reflexivity, providing a detailed description of the case and its

223 context, data triangulation and member checking, it may be contended that the study, low in the classical conception of statistical generalizability, is high on trustworthiness and fittingness.

This study is high on ecological validity having been conducted in the natural settings of the study’s participants. However, a limitation posed by the purposive, non- random sample, in which select elites were identified for primary data collection via in- depth interviews, was that of not reaching theoretical saturation. A vaguely defined concept in research literature according to Guest, Bunce and Johnson (2006), Morse described theoretical saturation as the point in data collection where “no new information is obtained” from continuing the process (p. 147). Despite being recognized as a measure of excellence in qualitative research, Guest et al. highlighted the lack of any guidelines in determining when saturation is achieved in study. They, however, found 12 interviews to be the tipping point in their analytical work How Many Interviews

Are Enough? An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability. This is not to suggest that theoretical saturation was reached with the same number of interviews conducted in this case study—since it was not possible to create a comprehensive list of all the disability advocacy group representatives in India, or even in New Delhi where this study was conducted, and all the decision-makers involved in the drafting and legislation of the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2012). While this strategy lend to the construct validity of the study, the researcher not being able to interview enough number of elites to check for data saturation, posed as a limitation. In addition, fewer policymakers were included in the study than advocacy group representatives, increasing the possibility of skewing the data inadvertently in favor of the latter group.

224 Next, once contact was made with the identified Ministries, interviewees were approached based on who responded to the invitation for participation. The respondents did not necessarily represent all senior levels of the Ministries. Further, since only one senior policymaker responded from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), and four from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MOSJ), despite they having been identified as key actors with substantial authority in their respective

Ministries, the findings may be more fairly representative of the perceptions of the

MOSJ than of the MIB. Further research could address this limitation posed by convenience sampling, in addition to increasing the possibility of new relevant themes emerging from more interviews until data saturation is reached, and addressing the issue of unequal representation by drawing a list of all senior policymakers from both

Ministries and all advocacy group representatives in New Delhi, and selecting an equal number of participants from all groups.

Data source triangulation (Yin, 2009), which entailed collecting data from multiple sources for this study lend to its construct validity, the “accurate observation of reality”

(Gibbert et al., 2008, p. 1466), as discussed above. Nevertheless, a limitation faced in data source triangulation was a marked lack of newspaper reports about media accessibility in India. Elaborating the contextual conditions, however, in the form of additional findings, presented a more integrated and accurate picture of the case. While this was not the initial agenda given the boundedness of the single case study, including contextual information helped to present the study’s main findings in a holistic manner.

Two key considerations that ensure the reliability of a qualitative case study are transparency and replication, as recommended by Gibbert, Ruigrok & Wicki (2008).

225 Each step in the research process was documented and explained in individual tables for the purpose of facilitating replication for future investigators. Specifying the case study protocol, which is the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2012), and including the relevant parts of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities protocol pertaining to the study, all the relevant parts of the interview transcripts in document summary forms, and links to all the newspaper reports in the

Appendices provided transparency to the study.

Brownson, Royer, Ewing, and McBride (2006) mentioned that since scientific studies are not always conducted at the appropriate time, delay poses a substantial challenge to timely influence on policy decisions. This study draws its strength from being a timely exploration, given that the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill

(2012) has not yet been brought into legislation but is currently under consideration for enactment. It is hoped that this study will inform policymakers of key issues and opportunities while considering the implementation of an inclusive disability policy.

The third limitation for this study comes from the unequal representation of

Deaf/Hard of Hearing in the study. This limitation, however, comes from the unequal number of persons with hearing impairment in authority positions, both in the two

Ministries and in advocacy organizations. Only two of the representatives of advocacy groups were persons with hearing impairment, and could therefore present a lived experience while speaking of the issue of media accessibility. Yet, since three other advocacy group representatives were persons with loco-motor impairments, they could contribute substantially to the general discussion on an inclusive disability policy. No persons at either of the Ministries were identified as persons with disabilities, though the

226 Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities, a person with visual impairment, was unavailable to participate. This limitation of unequal representation therefore was more a result of existing realities than of the study procedure.

In addition to the opportunities for future research identified due to the study’s limitations, the findings of this study also provide direction for future research. Since this study found that in India an inclusive society for persons with disabilities is largely viewed as one that provides equitable opportunities for employment, and education, and access to infrastructure, future research should investigate if this view holds true in other developing democracies as well.

In the context of information and communications technologies for equitable access for persons with disabilities, limitations should be investigated using the capabilities approach in conjunction with policy limitations. Further, in developing countries that ratified the UNCRPD, investigation on how disability is defined for equitable provisions to be made available may provide insight on how closely the country’s efforts for inclusion align with the principles of the UNCRPD.

For implementation of assistive technologies, international standards and benchmarks, while providing possible roadmaps, do not apply as they are to developing countries. For implementing closed captioning for the first time in a country, for instance, the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union (https://www.itu.int/ITU-

D/sis/PwDs/Documents/ITU-G3ict%20Making_TV_Accessible _Report_November

_2011.pdf) lists important considerations (Figure 5-1). Among these considerations are:

 The business case for introducing the access service (the rationale for action now rather than at a later date).

227  Objectives and goals (what the introduction of the access service should achieve and when)

 Metrics (how the achievement of objectives and goals can be assessed)

 Resources (what funding is needed to set up and run the access service on a sustainable basis; whether the access service is to be produced and distributed in house or using outsourcing; whether the necessary human resources are available in the country)

 Authority (the stakeholders who need to be involved in the process to get the service going on a sustainable basis)

While this study addresses some of these considerations with respect to implementing closed captioning in India, some others such as metrics to assess how to achieve the objectives, and details of human resource availability and business strategy for caption production, have not been addressed. International advocacy initiatives such as United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development’s G3ict facilitate the implementation of the UNCRPD in member States by developing “practical tools, evaluation methods and benchmarks for States Parties, Disabled Persons

Organizations and corporations”

(http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CRPD/GC/G3ict-DGC_Art9.doc).

Further, research on monitoring mechanisms such as the 2013 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ICT Accessibility Progress Report

(http://g3ict.org/resource_center/CRPD_2013_countries) that checks progress on

CRPD implementation in member states, and the Digital Opportunities Index that evaluates opportunity, infrastructure and utilization of ICTs in countries worldwide

(http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/doi/) may provide policymakers in developing countries such as India which rank low on both indices with valuable insights.

228 Conclusion

Efforts towards implementation of information and communications technologies for development and inclusion in developing countries must be made in view of the unique set of challenges each of these countries face. Neither the modernization perspective that assumes ICTs to help less advanced countries as they emulate their advanced counterparts via the use of technology, capital, skilled workforce and entrepreneurial class to move towards development, nor the dependency perspective, which burdens local governments in developing and underdeveloped countries with the responsibility for their own development dismissing global cooperation and claiming that

ICTs only work to serve developed countries, can be useful ways to approach inclusivity efforts using ICTs. A human development perspective is needed, which enables choices, and works towards building democratic societies based on participation, involvement and transparency, as Sein and Harindranath (2004) contended.

However, while considering development from this perspective, care must be taken to identify and address the challenges endemic to each developing country. In the case of India, for implementing closed captioning, the most important unique consideration was found to be awareness among policymakers, followed by adaptability of the technology to cater to the multilingual Indian television audience. In addition, specific to the new disability policy in India, which is yet to be implemented, discrepancies were found between the model UNCRPD and the bill drafted for implementation in India. These discrepancies primarily originated from the differences in the conception of disability and inclusion. Careful scrutiny of such incongruities paves way for more informed policy decision-making.

229

Risks Deadline TIME

NEW ACCESS SERVICE

Authority OBJECTIVES RESOURCES Goals Funding Metrics Staffing Risks Risks

Figure 5-1. Trade-offs when introducing a new access service. [United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union report accessible at (https://www.itu.int/ITU-D/sis/PwDs/Documents/ITU- G3ict%20Making_TV_Accessible_Report_November_2011.pdf]

230 APPENDIX A INTERVIEW INVITATION EMAIL FOLLOWING PHONE CALL

Respected

,

Greetings. My name is Ananya Roy and I am a research student (PhD) at the University of Florida, USA. Currently, I am working on my dissertation on information communication technologies as empowerment tools for the disabled in India, for which I request your kind and urgent help. Sir/Ma’am, I wish to interview you in person for your inputs on the Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2012, and will require an hour of your valuable time for the process.

Hence I humbly request you to please give me an appointment to meet with you at your convenience any day between and in New

Delhi, India.

Please let me know of any supporting documents you may require to make it easier for you to know more about me and my work. As directed by your office, please find attached my brief profile for your reference.

I eagerly look forward to a positive response from you soon.

My warmest regards,

Ananya

India Contact Number:

231 APPENDIX B LIST OF INTERVIEWEES

MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT 1. Mr. Sudarshan Bhagat, Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment 2. Mr. Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Joint Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities 3. Dr. K.V.S. Rao, Director, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 4. Mr. T.D. Dhariyal, Deputy Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING 5. Mr. Sunit Tandon, Director General, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

REPRESENTATIVES OF DEDICATED NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS CONCERNED WITH DEAF/ HARD OF HEARING 6. Ms. Uma Kapoor, General Secretary, Delhi Foundation of Deaf Women 7. Dr. G. N. Karna, President, Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies 8. Dr. P. R. Ramanujam, Honorary Executive President, Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies, Ex Vice Chancellor, IGNOU and Director, ISLRTC 9. Mr. Javed Abidi, Honorary Director, National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, and Global Chair, Disabled People’s International 10. Mr. A.S. Narayanan, General Secretary, National Association of the Deaf 11. Ms. Ruma Roka, Founder, General Secretary and Mentor, Noida Deaf Society 12. Mr. Himanshu Sharma, Head of IT, Noida Deaf Society 13. Mr. Ravi, Head of Training, Noida Deaf Society 14. Kum. Surrendar Saini, President, All India Federation of the Deaf

232 APPENDIX C ORGANIZATIONAL CHART OF THE MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

(Adapted from http://socialjustice.nic.in/orgchart.php)

(For Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, see http://socialjustice.nic.in/contactperson3.php) (For Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, see http://ccdisabilities.nic.in/)

Central Minister

Minister of State

Hierarchy Organizational

Secretary

Additional Secretary

Joint Secretary

Director

233 APPENDIX D BRIEF PROFILES OF SELECTED NGOS

Details of Advocacy Group Key focus of work National Centre for Promotion of Registered as a Trust in 1996, with a Employment for Disabled People Board of Management, which has (http://www.ncpedp.org/), New Delhi. representation from industry, N.G.O.s, disabled people and international Founder Chairperson: Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, agencies. President, Indian National Congress Honorary Director: Mr. Javed Abidi, Global Chair, Disabled People’s International

Delhi Foundation of Deaf Women Established in 1973, DFDW is a (http://www.dfdw.net/), New Delhi. Rehabilitation Center for all Deaf in India. Key activities: Chief Patron: Padma Vibhushan Mrs  Self Employment Scheme Sonal Mansingh.  Technical Education  Information Technology and President: Ms. Rajya Laxhmi Rao, Computer Centre for the Deaf Member - National Consumer Disputes,  Social Rehabilitation Redressal Commission General Secretary: Mrs. Uma Kapoor, Social Activist

All India Federation for the Deaf, affiliated Strives for the all round welfare and total to the World Federation of the Deaf, rehabilitation of the deaf; creates Finland awareness about their problems and (http://wfdeaf.org/membership/ordinary- protects their rights; establishes homes, members/list-of-members), New Delhi. hostels and institutes for them.

President: Padma Bhushan Kum. Surrendar Saini, Chairperson of Delhi Social Welfare Advisory Board

234 Details of Advocacy Group Key focus of work Society for Disability and Rehabilitation To provide a forum for dissemination of Studies (http://www.sdrs.in/). disability, rehabilitation and human rights related recent issues/ developments as Honorary President: Dr. G.N. Karna also promotion of teaching and research in Honorary Executive President: Dr. P. R. the field of Disability Studies as an Ramanujam interdisciplinary field of academic inquiry. Its major activities include holding national as also international seminars, symposia, conferences, workshops and exhibitions on disability, rehabilitation and human rights related issues, disseminating and promoting positive attitude towards the persons with disabilities; providing vocational training and guidance to the disabled/ disadvantaged strata of society; carrying out surveys of problem of disability and identifying the problems faced by the persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged sections in the rural and urban areas by way of helping policy makers in plan formulations; and serving as advocacy groups for the cause of empowering the persons with disabilities.

Noida Deaf Society Mainstream the Deaf people into the (http://www.noidadeafsociety.org/), Delhi community through specialized vocational NCR. programs leading to gainful employment. Founder, General Secretary and Mentor: Key objectives: Ms Ruma Roka  Develop Life skills amongst the Deaf  Build employability skills for Deaf youth  Provide Education to Deaf Children  Create a pool of Deaf trainers  Develop teaching and learning resources for the Deaf community

235 Details of Advocacy Group Key focus of work National Association of the Deaf Representative of all deaf people across (http://nadindia.org.in), New Delhi. India. Objectives:

President: Zorin Singha  To promote the rights and quality of General Secretary: A.S. Narayanan life of deaf and hard of hearing individuals in India.  To foster a united front of deaf people across the different states of India  To promote equal rights at all levels and in all fields of life.  To encourage the interaction of deaf people through meetings, at both national and regional levels, sports meetings and political rallies.  Lobbying Government bodies and policy makers to ensure that the rights of deaf people are taken into account.  Creating public awareness and educating others on the current issues and problems concerning deaf people.  To ensure the empowerment of deaf people so that they are economically self-sufficient, educationally sound, and have their rightful place in society.

236 APPENDIX E ALL TRANSCRIPTS POPULATED INTO DOCUMENT SUMMARY TEMPLATES

(Template adapted from Bloomberg & Volpe, 2008, p. 204)

I Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 2

Date of Document: November 5, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Joint Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? No Other: N.A.

Page Number Key words/concepts Comments: Relationship to Research Question 3 Tone set by proposed Bill. All else follows Policymaking from there. process and key Focus on three areas: Getting the Bill in considerations place, Educational empowerment of for inclusive people with disabilities, Economic policy empowerment of PWD

General public inputs invited, received by Standing Committee. Ministry inputs given to the Standing Committee. Further Standing Committee will give recommendations to Ministry for final implementation.

237 4 Make Rights real. Goal of the Bill

Setting up National Commission; Reservation increased from 3% to 5 % in educational institutions and jobs in government sector and local bodies, penal provisions for non-implementation of Bill.

4 Cannot determine the timeline since Bill is Timeline for in Parliament implementation

4,5 Fundamental right for everyone to know Equitable what is happening in the country. media / news access

4,5 Government media obviously gives Media space, but it is the private media which is accessibility also giving a lot of space to persons with issues, disabilities. Positive environment. considerations for Closed First experiment for D/HoH with sign captioning language Republic Day parade presentations.

Going to start a sign language institute in the country, courses on sign language interpretation, institutions which will ensure that sign language is standardized in all regions.

Sign language is the solution for both Deaf and HoH.

The (born) Deaf is the focus, though those with acquired deafness (HoH) will also be included. The Indian sign language institute once it comes up will look into larger issues concerning the HoH.

Once the Institute takes up closed captioning and other related issues, then the Ministry will look into it.

Less has been done regarding deafness,

238 technology will have to provide solutions.

Smart and cheap technology is the answer.

Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview.

Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India Is there anything contradictory about the document? Yes: On one hand, emphasis on technology to provide solutions. On the other, emphasis on sign language for both Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide

Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues: Issues getting an appointment, other officials present when he was interviewed in his office.

239 II Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 3

Date of Document: November 5, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: K.V.S Rao, Director, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? No Other: N.A.

Page Key words/concepts Comments: Number Relationship to Research Question

4 As per the bill we have introduced in the Parliament, we Policymaking are going to have a similar set up like the Central process and Coordination Committee; we call it with a different key name—Central Advisory Board. We will have similar thing considerations at state level and district level. And we are also proposing for inclusive a National Commission under the bill which will be given policy powers to make certain guidelines on various issues relating to disability.

Disabled themselves should know their capacity and potential. And general public has to be educated about the potential of persons with disabilities. Change of mindset that PWD are not fit for certain things.

6 But it’s a democracy, and people are very much aware Goal of the Bill and things will definitely happen, whatever positive and there is hope because leadership plays a very important role at various levels; media plays an important role, their role is pointed out, and we have National Commissions, Human Rights…so this is the issue. If even the hearing impaired associations themselves have not raised this issue so vocally in the country. What they have been only talking about is sign language interpretation, whatever they have said, we have done it. To ensure that the various provisions of the UN convention are fully put in place. Main purpose is not only

240 empowerment but also inclusion. To bring them at par with the normal citizens. Provide them whatever the necessary benefits to bring them to a kind of level field, so that they can compete and participate equally with the normal citizens.

8 The bill is in Parliament or has been referred to the Timeline for particular standing committee. Now the standing implementation committee is examining it, they have to submit a report. And since the government has been recently formed, the committee also has been formed only in September.

4 Once the report is submitted to the government, government will look into it and see what recommendations can be accepted or rejected. And on the basis of the decision of the cabinet, we may have to introduce a revised bill in the parliament that will be again debated in the Parliament. It will not go again to the standing committee, only in the Parliament, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. 4,5 All citizens are equal. Equitable So it is the duty of the State that they are brought to the media access level of normal citizens, they are not deprived, their rights are protected, they participate fully in all the activities and also there is no discrimination.

6 Disabled people are also equal citizens who should have equal access. Broadcasting of news in accessible format must be there. D/HoH must have choice.

4,5,7 Close coordination with various departments. IT, Media Disabilities department, equipment manufacturing accessibility department/PSU, financial considerations, timeline issues

Already for the purpose of hearing impaired, the Republic Day (2014) as well as 15th August we tried to cover, to have sign language interpreters at the Republic Day Parade as well as the address by the Prime Minister.

5 The proposed National Commission will have to prepare the accessibility guidelines, not only in terms of information technology, but also transport and many other areas. They will have to come out with broad solutions because now IT is there. So with the help of IT, we can solve a number of problems.

241 6 Policy and technology will have to be developed. Considerations India is much far away from the level that US is. Huge for Closed population. CC has to be implemented not only in national captioning media, televisions, video, cable TV. Logistically difficult, strong campaigning is required.

9 Logistically, financially, or if the priorities of the government is different where it is tackling basic issues like housing, clothing, shelter, food and those are the main issues rather than only one small spectrum of hearing impaired.

Technology awareness, example is mobile phones. 9 Hearing disability rights activists also have to take it up. They asked for sign language only, which has been made possible. Continued efforts from activists will keep informing the government of what is required.

But as you said, even the captions, whatever (emphasizes) possible because sky is the limit.

Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview

Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the representation of the Deaf/HoH population in India in the policymaking process; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India

Is there anything contradictory about the document? No

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide

Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues: 1. Difference in numbers, status of hearing impaired  Different criteria for the surveys, areas which are being covered, different indicators, different format.

 Hearing impaired equal with visual and orthopedic with 1% reservation in government jobs. No discrimination.

2. Definition of disability Above 40% for education, employment, services, equipment

242 III Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 8

Date of Document: November 25, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: Sunit Tandon, Director General, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? No Other: N.A.

Page Number Key words/concepts Comments: Relationship to Research Question Not directly involved with policymaking for Policymaking disabled process and key considerations for inclusive policy Haven’t seen latest version Goal of the Bill

N.A. Timeline for implementation

13 Obviously it’s extremely desirable to Equitable provide equal access to everybody for media access news, current affairs, entertainment, whatever, electronic media. You said about democracy, democracy is a later thing, there are many other aspects of life apart from participation and processes which is important.

If that is the case then wherever technology makes something possible, which would provide kind of equal access to people who have disabilities or impairments, then it should be provided. I think that’s the least we can do to our fellow citizens more than anything else.

243

In the same way as it is important for all of us. After all, a person with a disability is no different. He or she is also a citizen of the country. And the multifarious nature of what is going on in the world, what are policies, what is happening, how they infringe upon your daily life, information should be made available, information IS important. Apart from that, knowledge is important, anything, which imparts knowledge apart from information also is important.

13, 14 Yes, it (CC) should be implemented. Media accessibility And so as a basic kind of right, it should be issues, made possible, now that technology can considerations make it possible, and hopefully the cost is for closed not too high. captioning

I have seen it. I am sure it must be useful but I think one should consult people who actually benefit from it more than anything else. I have seen it in operation sporadically in travels abroad but not very much.

In India so far there has been for a long time one bulletin a week for the hearing impaired using signing. And of late there has been a pressure from various interest groups that at least some major functions are covered at least for there is a window of a person signing what is going on, translating what is going on.

But in terms of CC, I haven’t seen anything apart from movie channels which in any case get subtitled, films, foreign films, not the Indian ones. Foreign films are subtitled and the subtitles are mostly, because they get it from abroad, mostly closed captioned, not just mere subtitles. So apart from that one hasn’t seen it at all here.

Technology, and especially in India you are

244 going to have a major problem because we are not a unilingual society.

The fact remains that even as far as the internet is concerned, there’s still a lot of work to be done on just making websites available in the various Indian languages. Now when you come to CC, each channel is usually in one language apart form Doordarshan. Doordarshan for instance is a bilingual channel. Lok Sabha Television is a bilingual channel. Rajya Sabha Television is a bilingual channel. That’s Hindi and English only two languages. Now the moment you start CC in one of these channels for instance, how many languages are you going to do it in? Which languages? Is the technology there for doing it in 20 languages? 22 languages? 28 languages?

How much does it cost for doing that as opposed to one language which is what most of these Western countries who have these policies have to do it in.

And unlike in Europe, please understand in India, all languages have their own scripts. It’s not as if they share a common script either! Whereas in Europe, a single script with slight modification can go across most of Western Europe and parts of Eastern Europe as well. And in Eastern Europe, you have one other script. That’s about it. Maybe two if you count Greek. It’s a different order of problem that you are talking about then. In the United States you might have channels which are in English and CC in English. You might have Spanish channels which are CCed in English. There would be minority interest channels such as Indian channels or Chinese channels or whatever. God knows whether there closed captioning is happening or not. I’m sure it’s not because they don’t originate, half of them even if

245 they do, they serve a minor proportion of the population.

While the notion is DEFINITELY to be welcomed and DEFINITELY to be worked towards, I don’t see it happening overnight by a piece of legislation.

It will take time and there will be investments and most of these channels as you know are private. Now the private industry is remarkably reluctant to spend anything extra. Or make any extra effort and therefore there will have to be some element of you know legislation which makes it mandatory and there is some element of penalization also for not implementing.

Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview

Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the representation of the Deaf/HoH population in India in the policymaking process; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India

Is there anything contradictory about the document? Yes/ No

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide

Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues: I was directed to Mr Sunit Tandon by Mr. L.R. Vishwanath, Additional Director General, New Media Wing, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

246 IV Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 5

Date of Document: November 25, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: T.D. Dhariyal, Deputy Chief Commissioner, Office of the Chief Commissioner of Disabilities

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? No. Other: N.A.

Page Number Key words/concepts Comments: Relationship to Research Question 9 Not directly involved with policymaking, Policymaking only with implementation process and key They explain the problems but the problem considerations is with me, I mean the other people, that for inclusive we don’t understand what they say. We policy don’t properly understand. That is one. Another very important one, that is why they are not able to get into jobs-- the language, the education. They, many people with deafness are not able to go beyond a certain level of study, get higher education. So there is the problem.

9 The draft PWD bill has more rights for Goal of the Bill persons with disabilities specially mentioned in the draft.

Increases the percentage of reservation of PWD in higher education.

Increases reservation in government jobs from 3% to 5%.

Increases the scope of facilities for PWD because the number of disabilities has increased from 7 to 19.

247

In the RPWD Bill, there is a provision for (legal) penalties and action for non- provision within a specified period. Commissions in the Center and the States and also a special disability court Legal capacity.

The RPWD Bill itself provides for the funds for it (implementation of legal provisions).

11 Cannot say anything because it is in the Timeline for Parliament. We are all hoping sooner, implementation maybe this session or next session, but it depends on how the Parliament…it is in the Standing Committee

10 And in all conferences, there is a directive Equitable from the government that news is being media access communicated through sign language. Another incentive that has come is that the persons with deafness can send SMS free of cost to a greater number. For general public it is 100, but that is too small (for the hearing impaired) because that is the only way we can communicate. So we asked the Department of Communication to increase it for the people with deafness.

On websites, we insist that whenever we have a presentation, there may be a sign language interpreter, but at the same time, you must have the slides so that the people with deafness can see/read them.

9. 10 With a lot of effort, with proactive steps Experience taken by the government, Office of Chief with media Commissioner of disabilities, Department of accessibility Disability Affairs, and also the civil society issues for organizations, dealing with the people, we disabled have sign language communication in news. At the Republic Day parade, we had the sign language interpreter.

248 9, 10 Yes, yes, it is mentioned. See, it is Considerations happening in many places, probably that for Closed kind of awareness, that kind of captioning enforcement, there is a requirement, there is a directive, there is a provision for it, but it is not actually happening everywhere.

See, some of the organizations I have seen would do that on their own initiative.

Once this RPWD Bill comes into force, perhaps we will ask. Because right now, unless you have a policy, or an Act/Law, you cannot ask. There has to be a provision. There has to be a policy.

It will have to be implemented because it is a question of rights. It is a question of right to news and information. I think that you cannot deprive people of. So that will happen. It may take some time, probably with this RPWD Bill coming.

Government could probably make schemes. There could be one directive from the government.

Another is incentive. Incentivize it, because there may be issues. Issues such as with private sector or anyway.

Then technology. Availability of technology and affordable technology and incentivizing that.

Incentivization by providing some national award or by providing some financial help.

Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview

Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the representation of the Deaf/HoH population in India in the policymaking process; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India

249 Is there anything contradictory about the document? No

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues:

1. Definition of disability

 40% or more. Now three categories. A person with benchmark disability, person with specified disabilities—any person having one of those 19 types of disabilities—will be called a person with specified disabilities, these have been specified in the schedule. And benchmark disability means 40% or more.

 And persons with high support needs, those who need this kind of support—for example, if a person says I am a person with high support need, that person’s requirement, that person’s condition will be examined by the Committee, which will then determine which facilities, what support the government should be providing him and at what cost. Of course rules will be framed, schemes will be framed, that’s one.

 Social definition has caught up because of the RPWD Bill and because of UNCRPD and harmonization of our Act. Therefore that is how we are going to assess the disabilities in our country in a different manner than today. And that is why we have those three categories, levels, specified disabilities, borderline… yes. So that probably will come but it takes time. It will take time in our society, in our country because of various reasons.

2. Participation of disabled in policymaking process.

As far as the government is concerned, as far as the Committee is concerned, the representation of persons with deafness was there, I mean the number of people. To what extent have they been able to communicate and present their case is a different matter.

250 V Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 11

Date of Document: November 3, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: Sudarshan Bhagat, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? No Other: N.A.

Page Number Key words/concepts Comments: Relationship to Research Question

Right now our efforts are geared towards Policymaking making ID cards for every disabled process and person. We are attempting that everyone key (disabled) is identified. And after considerations identifying everyone, we issue them ID for inclusive cards. This is our focus for now. Yes, the policy focus is on equality.

Well, reports come in. Our Ministry definitely takes reports from lower levels, that’s the method. Consider the people from the lower rungs of the Ministry, the government officials, they make reports. The State governments also pitch in (Secretary prompts the word State Government). Other stakeholders also come and meet us, suggestions come from NGOs also.

(Awareness) From both sides. The government and the public. The NGOs need to step up efforts. The government must work towards it, and NGOs also must work towards it. Both should work in tandem. First they need to be identified, recognized, then…till the time a (disabled)

251 person is not identified, what problem that person is facing, how can we formulate solutions? First we have to find them. We have to look for them.

17 The Act (implementation) will follow a different procedure, and identifying the disabled will follow another different procedure. And this will go on.

Primarily our aim was the disabled, their Goal of the Bill (hesitates, unaware) yes, yes, this Bill has some stuff about reservations, then, yes, yes now the categories have increased from 7 to 19, the reservation part, I can see it has been increased from 3% to 5%.

Undersecretary says: A Right has also been included, first it used to be Entitlement, now it’s a Right.

17 Well, our attempts are towards (getting it Timeline for done), the Parliamentary session is about implementation to convene, we will try, when the Winter session of the Parliament is in motion. We will do it then. We will try to see that the Bill is passed.

We are also trying to form the National Commission which will be technically equipped, broad based, and which will be responsible for the implementation of the provisions of this Bill. And we are going to give this National Commission the power to make a regulation prescribing accessibility, standards for transportation, then communication, information access etc for the PWD. This Commission will oversee all that too.

16 In today’s time, it is essential that the Equitable media focus on them (disabled). The media / news media has an important role to play in this. access

No, that’s what I am saying, from both points of view, the media are important.

252 Those who can’t hear, can’t speak, there should be provisions definitely made for them in the media.

16 Whatever considerations that need to be Media taken into account before implementation, accessibility that our officials will look into. The officials issues connected to our Ministry, we will do the best, the best for them. We will consult all the departments connected to our Ministry, and we will do what is the best for them.

17, 18 Of course it should be implemented. We Considerations will do it. for Closed captioning Actually India has ratified the UNCRPD. India is a member of the UNCRPD. So UNCRPD mandates that recreation facilities must be accessible to persons with disabilities. Because India is a party to that convention, in order to implement that convention in the Indian context, we have included CC. Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview

Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the representation of the Deaf/HoH population in India in the policymaking process; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India

Is there anything contradictory about the document? No

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide

Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues: His Secretary and Undersecretary present during the interview. He referred to them for some of the information solicited.

1. Difference in numbers of D/HoH reported in census and NSSO.

Minister: That’s the point. Today we need to find these disabled people, we have to recognize them. We need awareness. Until people are aware—campaigning, broadcast, some awareness, and especially for the deaf, the family members, villagers, don’t take (the disability) seriously. Compared to the other disabilities, people think it is slight. As opposed to orthopedically handicapped, I think hearing impaired are taken lightly. That’s

253 my experience. Because people think, okay, he/she is only hearing less, he/she doesn’t speak…there is a need for awareness.

Undersecretary: Some people are not yet included for example, like you mentioned, NSSO has different figures, Census has different figures. By involving the State governments, we are trying to gather data and create a database. Including all the disabled, so that all of them get benefitted from the government provisions.

254 VI Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 10

Date of Document: November 21, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: AS Narayanan, General Secretary, National Association of the Deaf

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? Yes/No N.A. Other: N.A.

Page Key words/concepts Comments: Number Relationship to Research Question 20 Before NAD, he thought that the government Experience with was good, they helped people and all, but policymakers then after he established it, after learning and from people, after communicating with them, government he learned that government was..that they just ignored most of the things. I mean they postponed everything so it never got completed. They (NAD) tried and tried, their friends tried to push them (government), so now they have started to learn certain things about them (the government)

There were ups and downs. So in 2010 they planned a budget for ISLRTC (Indian Sign Language Research and Training Institute). So they accepted it and all but it hasn’t been revealed or something, they have postponed it for 4 years.

20 Before 2012 June, there was a new Representation committee for the RPWD but there was not a of D/HoH in the single deaf representative. So it was almost policymaking like they treated them as inferior. The process government said that they had a hard of hearing person but HoH does not know replace word. The government treats them both as equal but no, that’s not the truth.

255 Next morning at 10 deaf people gathered there at the government office and striked. They sat there from 11 to 4 and in the end the government accepted for a deaf representative. Now government is starting to realize their use.

21 Javed Abidi told deaf people to strike and Role of D/HoH protest so that the RPWD Bill would come up in the right on top so that immediately it’s policymaking (implemented). Around 30,000 people process gathered there so the government accepted to talk about that Bill first. But there were some problems with other organizations, they opposed this idea, they said there was this mistake, that mistake and all, so government said that it’s better this Bill goes to the Standing Committee.

21 If this Bill gets passed, the deaf people would Key gain a lot from these Bills. They demand that considerations not just certain channels, but all the popular for inclusive channels should have subtitles. So deaf policy people can teach, they are not complete idiots, they can teach but for 60 years or so, deaf people have not been teaching. They are not allowed to. So this RPWD supports these causes.

21 Basic goal in his view is that they grant ISl as Goal of Bill a language. So it would eventually lead to many things—interpretation. ISL as a language, they would see it as an important language, then they would provide interpreters. It would lead to a chain of results which would eventually fulfill their several demands.

21 Hopes that it will get implemented soon, but Timeline for of the government reveals that there is some implementation kind of opposition to this saying this is wrong, that is wrong, then the government will again postpone it. That will be a problem. Other than that, he does not know.

22 NDTV for news and Star Movies for movies Television

256 and Star Sports programs regularly watched

22 CC actually makes them feel that they are in Thoughts about somewhat equal, they are hearing or closed understanding what the hearing people are captioning understanding. So it gives them a sense of equality. So believes that all the channels should have them.

believes that if CC is available in most channels, it would increase the knowledge of deaf people. Then if they eventually understand (CC), they could read books and relate. If in an emergency, they don’t have an interpreter, they could just write and communicate. But in India, CC is not there, so it’s almost like making deaf people stupid.

22,23 There is nothing. He feels that there should Experience with be subtitles as well as an interpreter in the current corner because in movies, subtitles is fine. provisions But in news, it’s like access to information, what’s happening around the world. It’s more important. So he believes that there should be an interpreter and subtitles both. As for movies, subtitles is enough.

Believes that news is an important element of one’s life. He says that if a deaf person can watch news, understand from it, he would learn a lot in the topic of politics, he would be well-informed in the topics of general knowledge, business, sports. He could learn about his interests, sports, what is going on in the field, in fashion, in cookery. There are some shows that teach you (cookery, fashion) how to do it, but if you are hearing, you could easily understand. But if you are deaf, there are no subtitles. So it’s very hard for them. If there is a joke, they could laugh on it. He believes that closed captioning should be there.

22 Many people in India, they don’t actually Experience with

257 understand official ISL, they are not sign language educated (in it). And at morning 6:15am, how bulletin many people would wake up and watch news? And if they have children, children must go to school, so they will be extremely busy there. So it’s 6:15 to 7:15am. And then nothing. It’s not re-telecast. He’s not extremely satisfied with it. Not many people cannot spend time to watch this (bulletin). As for hearing people, there’s almost 7 times to watch the news, but it’s not the same for deaf. He says that NAD will put more efforts into this.

23 None Self or known person’s experience with CC

Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview as participant plus for pilot study

Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the representation of the Deaf/HoH population in India in the policymaking process; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India

Also includes comments on his experience with accessibility to the media as a deaf person.

Is there anything contradictory about the document? No

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide

Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues: Interview was interpreted by an interpreter, and video recorded as well.

258 VII Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 4

Date of Document: November 20, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: Javed Abidi, Honorary Director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People and Global Chair of Disabled People’s International

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? No Other: N.A.

Page Number Key words/concepts Comments: Relationship to Research Question

4, 5 The biggest culprit is the politician. When Experience you talk of advocacy, when you talk of with change, in any aspect of life whether it’s policymakers disabled, women or caste related issues, and minority related issues, any form of government discrimination you want to fight against, you talk of stakeholders. Now who are the stakeholders? I mean, on one hand, it’s the disabled people, their families, their parents, there is the society at large, there is the media, there is the judiciary, there is the bureaucrats. Out of all the stakeholders, and particularly all the policymakers, decision makers, the biggest culprit is the politician across party lines And somehow they have not recognized disability as a core issue. It’s not on their radar screen somehow the politician is still not looking at disability with the seriousness that it deserves. So the kind of change that we should have seen, I am not saying that India has not changed, I am not saying that things have not become better, things have become better certainly, we have the 1995 law, the 1995 law has in turn given certain rights to

259 people with disabilities, people have made use of those rights, people have gone to courts, hundreds of cases have taken place in the various courts of India including the Supreme Court, many policies have changed, education is slightly better, accessibility is slightly better, all that has happened but on a scale of 1-10, I will still not give it more than 1 on a scale of 10.

5 Yes, a little bit. When you say policy making, policy making is not restricted only to the government, right? Policymaking takes place in the non- governmental sector also. Policymaking takes place in my own organization . In the government, the role of deaf people is practically nill right now.

In the government, no, no representation Representation at all. I mean representation in the sense of D/HoH in the that after all these years when we broke policymaking into the Planning Commission, we made process sure that one deaf person was also there on the Committee. So when the committee was constituted for the 11th 5 year plan, out of the 5 disabled people who represented the Indian disability movement, one of them certainly was a deaf person. So to that extent. First of all, the Minister wanted to bring amendments to the old law, we opposed it to say that no, now what India needs is a new law, and finally we were able to convince him Mr Mukul Wasnik and he constituted a committee. So when he constituted that committee to draft the new law, after some fight we succeeded in ensuring that a person with deafness was also part of that committee. So to that extent, yes. But very miniscule.

260

6 It goes without saying that disabled people Role of D/HoH have, and should have a critical role. As in the far as I am concerned, I have fought all policymaking my life, I mean I am also associated with process Disabled Peoples International, in fact right now I am the global chair of DPI. And our mantra, our slogan is “Nothing about us without us”. That anything to do with disabled people should be decided by disabled people, not by parents and certainly not by professionals. So tomorrow is there is a policy discussion on sign language, or on the universalization of sign language or the Indianization of sign language, or on the setting up of the sign language institute, or on how much of television to make accessible etc So my job as the convener of DRG is to act as a catalyst and to forcefully ensure that somebody from the National Association of the Deaf is there. And that’s what we have done all along.

I am not sure about the intention of that Key question but the key considerations are considerations equality, level playing field. for inclusive policy

7,8 One very big paradigm shift that had taken Goal of Bill place between 1995 and now was the UNCRPD and the fact that India ratified UNCRPD in 2007. So we demanded a totally new law

Now obviously then that draft was Timeline for debated, discussed, so it went through it’s implementation own churning from 11 to 12 to 13 and by 2014, it was ready. I mean after all sorts of consultations, at the state level, at the central level, in the different ministries, disabled people had a lot to say, disabled people were fighting amongst ourselves on this on that, so many issues. But by 2014, the draft law was ready and ripe. It was passed by the Cabinet. It went to the

261 Parliament. It was introduced in the Rajya Sabha. before the closing of the last Parliament, they referred it to the Standing Committee. So the law is now before the Standing Committee.

8 But in the process if we get a very, very strong, a very, very robust law, the kind of provisions that you have noticed, the kind of provisions you are talking about, which are not there in the 1995 Act. So that’s a good thing. Right?

8 It’s difficult to say whether it will happen in 2015 or 2016 but it will happen.

8 First step is to get the law Thoughts about closed captioning

I am not saying that things have not Experience become better, things have become better with current certainly, we have the 1995 law, the 1995 provisions law has in turn given certain rights to people with disabilities, people have made use of those rights, people have gone to courts, hundreds of cases have taken place in the various courts of India including the Supreme Court, many policies have changed, education is slightly better, accessibility is slightly better, all that has happened but on a scale of 1-10, I will still not give it more than 1 on a scale of 10 and I am not exaggerating, it’s not even a 2 as far as I am concerned. Whereas with the kind of goodwill that we have, with the kind of noises the various people have made at the top level, we should have been at a 5 or 6 by now. So the issue is that of seriousness. They are not putting the money where the mouth is. It’s not on the radar screen of India as yet.

262 Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the representation of the Deaf/HoH population in India in the policymaking process; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India

Is there anything contradictory about the document? No

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide

Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues: None

263 VIII Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 12

Date of Document: November 22, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: Dr Perumalsamy Renga Ramanujam, former Pro-Vice Chancellor, IGNOU, and Director ISLRTC

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? No Other: N.A.

Page Number Key words/concepts Comments: Relationship to Research Question

23 Coming to the policy making, the Indian Experience government had been struggling as to how with to fulfil their promise as to how to do policymakers something for the deaf community, which is and part of the commitment made in the 1995 government PWD Act. So the major challenge was to first create some sort of budget and then infrastructure, then curriculum, syllabus.

See the government, they don’t show much enthusiasm consistently. It all depends on the Secretaries, bureaucrats and the Ministers. In this particular case, the ministers were very supportive and the secretary was very supportive and also his joint secretaries. The minister for SJE. It all depends on the leader. If the Minister is interested, the secretary will be interested.

23, 24 I think earlier it was indifferent until 2010. So I think my experience with the government and even the advocacy groups was not satisfactory because they did not have a professional approach. Professionally, they were not competent.

264 My experience with the government is that if you have a committed Minister, the rest of the things will follow. If the Minister is either not interested or proactive, nothing will move. The best example is ISLRTC. They took it away because the initiative to take it was sent by the University not by the Ministry.

24 Representation is not that bad. Representation Representation is there. But then, the of D/HoH in the representatives, their ability to achieve policymaking things in concrete terms, that is the process question.

24 Their role is to get people with professional Role of D/HoH experience, bring them together, and then in the work closely with them. Without that, things policymaking will not change. process

24,25 Okay. They must have opportunity, and it Key must not be limited. There must be considerations unlimited opportunity. Free access. for inclusive (Opportunities in what?) policy First education, and then, employment, and social inclusion.

In the developing world, law means a bunch of papers. And you don’t have access to the judiciary. And the judiciary also may not be that much aware or sensitive, depends on the judge. Just as in the government sector, it depends on the Minister or the political leader. It is the judge whose sensitivity matters in passing the judgment.

25 The goal of the Bill was to first expand the Goal of Bill inclusion of the categories of the disabled because earlier it was limited to just 7. So we wanted to include some more disabilities. Then we wanted to make the implementation of the Bill mandatory on the part of the government, in public institutions and even private institutions, the whole country.

265

So what will happen? Society will become more aware. And the prejudices will come down and there will be more integration. More dialogue. That will happen. And the talents of people with disabilities will be recognized more and more. This is what I visualize. (No answer, speaks about monitoring cell Timeline for for implementing legal provisions in Bill.) implementation

26 There is one bulletin at 6:15am on Experience Doordarshan which has signing. with subtitling

Look at the timing. Look at the timing.

It is not easy for them to learn sign language at an advanced age. I think the possibility is to send some experts and see how these things are subtitled

27 Yes, the meaning of that was not unpacked. Now they are talking about specific actions. That can be done, that’s not a problem. But what I am saying is even the earlier Bill (Act), that has also not been implemented.

25 By and large the judiciary is more sensitive but that is different from the executive being sensitive. If the executive is not sensitive, not well aware, and I would not even say paucity of funds, it’s not the lack of resources, resources are there.

More than access to technology, we don’t have the software.

But I can talk about how to increase that. First of all, there should be a policy, a media policy that every program, at least every important program should be translated into either sign language or with captions. And there is a software, I think it is practiced in Japan, in many countries, you can have captions, you can have

266 signing, other formats, alternative formats of delivering the content. That has to be done as a policy. But the policy is not there. There are some regional television channels—it’s Puthiya Thalaimurai, New Generation, it’s the name of that channel in Tamil. They do it, nobody compelled them. And they routinely employ somebody. I don’t know how qualitatively correct that signing is, but there is something. Most of the programs, they translate.

Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview

Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the representation of the Deaf/HoH population in India in the policymaking process; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India

Is there anything contradictory about the document? No

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide

Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues: None

267 IX Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 7

Date of Document: November 6, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: Dr G.N. Karna, Honorary President, Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? No Other: N.A.

Page Number Key words/concepts Comments: Relationship to Research Question

12,13 So I think that even if some comments or Experience suggestions are invited from the civil with society, our Parliamentarians are not so well policymakers trained, so much sensitized with regard to and disability related issues. government We feel that until and unless all sections of the society not only administrative officials, IAS, IFS, IPS, public representatives…NGO activists (repeat the list) should be imparted with some type of orientation and training, especially those who are directly or indirectly involved in formulating and implementing policies for persons with disabilities.

But our politicians are disabled. Their mind is disabled. I think the judges of this country are also disabled. They all need to be sensitized. The politicians are completely guided by vote bank politics. Otherwise what was the justification of including the same Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill so haphazardly at the fag end of the tenure of the UPA government in a diluted format?

13,14,15 So that is why, in my opinion, the politicians in this country (long pause as if searching

268 for words) have become completely handicapped in their thinking, in their outlook.

But policy announcements should be matched by actions. There are no schemes. 13 So in so far as the constitution of these Representation technical departments are concerned, had it of D/HoH in not been better to have some persons with the disabilities with vast knowledge, as Joint policymaking Secretary, as Additional Secretary, as process Secretary? Do they have expertise in this area? No.

13,14 Though this composition has been further Role of D/HoH manipulated. Earlier the idea was to have a in the 5-7 member commission. It was made 3- policymaking member Commission. So if we make it a 3 process member commission, how could we give representation to all sections of the persons with disabilities?

The government should constitute a fresh new committee ideally headed by a person with disability with experience and impeccable credentials. Not being headed by a political consideration. And the committee should have equitable representation from all sections of the PWD and after the draft is prepared by the committee, then a collegium of legal experts should be engaged to review the provisions from legal points of view. And after the review is made from the legal points of view, then final draft should be readied and placed before the government.

14 If there is a Department of Disability Affairs, ideally, symbolically, the government should have a minister, a disability affairs minister, ideally, a full-fledged secretary from the disabilities sector. I am not suspecting the capability of the Secretary, the Joint Secretary, I am not passing any comments, but my impression is that the government

269 should be guided by pragmatic ideas while constituting this newly-created Department of Disability Affairs taking into account the technical nature of the committee. It should have some representation from the persons with disabilities at the level of Joint Secretary, at the level of Additional Secretary. Of course we have a chief commissioner Prasanna Kumar Pincha, who is from our sector, but Pincha has some other responsibility. The responsibility of the Chief Commissioner of PWD is just to monitor the implementation of the PWD Act provisions but what representation has been given to those who are in-charge of formulating plans and policies? With regard to formulating plans in this case? 14 Maybe it will take one year or so? If the Timeline for government is proactive, is guided by implementation willpower, then it may not take more than one year because we have vast experience of working in this area There is a lot of dichotomy in regard to Thoughts policies and plans and implementation of about inclusive those policies and plans. There is a wide policy/ closed gap between the rhetoric and the reality. captioning Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview

Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the representation of the Deaf/HoH population in India in the policymaking process; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India

Is there anything contradictory about the document? No

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide

Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues: None

270 X Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 9

Date of Document: November 17, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: Ruma Roka, Founder, General Secretary and Mentor, Noida Deaf Society

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? Yes/No N.A. Other: N.A.

Page Key words/concepts Comments: Number Relationship to Research Question 15 I get invited to a lot of government panels on you Experience know the 3% reservation of people with disabilities with in public sector organizations. I am invited, they policymakers take my opinion but you know see the government and has a great process laid out. Even the Disability government Act is a very detailed Act. We have the right to education act, the processes are nicely laid out. The issue is implementation of all those points that would actually benefit people with disabilities or even my deaf in a positive way. That is the problem.

16 No, there isn’t, Ananya (in a resigned voice). I Representation mean you know, you are grabbing the words from of D/HoH in inside my throat! That IS another cross. You the know, we as a society have put ourselves in a policymaking patronizing role. We know what is better for this process community (sarcastic). So community representation is not there at the policy level, it HAS to be there! I mean how are we going to be deciding, I mean that’s what I am saying, the NDS (her organization) has done it. No decision is taken without the deaf. I have deaf managers or recruit managers, my trainers, everything in this organization is done by the deaf. But yes, that is one, it’s a big thing.

We have to THINK differently. We say right now

271 disabled means unable to do anything. Very annoying. Really. 16 Representation. Involving them in the education Role of D/HoH sector of the deaf. Seeing why these wonderful in the young intellectual kids come here with the policymaking education level of a class 2 of a non-deaf peer? process Why is that? Because we have decided from when they were born what is good for them. So deaf representation has to be there in all levels. Not only in policy level, but in the education pedagogy. Developing an education pedagogy for training of deaf people. The other one is to fight for sign language. How can somebody who is born without hearing any sound be taught how to speak? Yes you might have a success rate of 1%, what about the 99? So at all levels deaf representation—that is the crux. And then take into account people who are working for the deaf? Instead of just passing them off as one NGO as doing something, we understand the grassroots. We understand the community. So take our opinion, which they do at times but not too much…precisely.

17 I am saying that somewhere the government will Key realize that even in that 1% reservation for considerations employment, my deaf, the people who are for inclusive profoundly deaf, never get those jobs! Very rarely policy they get those jobs because that 1% is often filled up with, and this is the flip side of it, filled up with people who were deafened at a later age, at age 20 for example or at age 25 or at age 15. So they have voice, they have articulation, they have education. So they get into that category and get those government jobs. Well my kids who had no access to anything right from parents’ guidance or education or anything they get left out. So there is a LOT of discussions that need to be done sitting with the government on a policy level because these things are not clear even in the Disability Act, its HI (hearing impaired) community.

18 See all these winds of change is coming but it will take time for it to settle down and bring in the real change. I think in India, deafness is still in the mainstream, that is the problem, it is still

272 considered a medical problem. It is an impairment that needs to be corrected. So in the mainstream society, which I will say you know, I am sure their intent, see I am not saying bad about anybody, their intent is good. But we have never taken the deaf point of view in this whole medical perspective. That is my point.

Why are we fixated on the word “disability”? So it is here (points to the head). It’s impairment. It is tough. I am trying to be as gentle in this interview, but it is difficult.

16 You know, I think specifically the deaf community Goal of Bill had been left out for so many years, for 100s of years. So when you use the word utopian, yes, it may be a little utopian because they are saying, if we aim there, that high, we might get here (lowers her hand).

(Additional observation regarding numbers of disabled): The social environment in the country, especially in these areas there is a stigma attached to disability per se. That is the Indian context. I think families are embarrassed and to openly admit that they have a disabled child. So for blindness, it is obvious. For physically challenged, it is obvious. But for deafness, it’s an invisible disability.

17 Well, they have sort of, see it has now been Timeline for referred to a standing committee. The RPWD has implementation been referred to a standing committee and after that the government changed. So we are back in the same state, back to square one. So as of now, it is there and the deaf are very very excited about it, you know, the NAD who is really pushing for advocacy rights here…is excited that they might, they might be able to reach out to this forward- looking government which is really doing great work in the areas of civil society to at least implement some of those points. It is utopian because they are saying, if we say we only want sign language, then okay, that’s all you asked for. But we need interpreters! We need sign language, we need education, we need employment, we

273 need so many more. So I think it’s okay and I think with this government let’s see when it happens, I there should be some positive.

16, 17 There was one little step towards the whole Thoughts closed captioning, was during the Republic Day about closed parade and the swearing in. But then as you captioning correctly mentioned, it was accessible for people who are fluent in sign language. And if you look at the deaf community---it is such a general term— deaf community, hearing impaired community, within that entire gamut, there are hard of hearing, there are different levels of hearing impairment if I can use the word impairment, but there are different levels of decibel loss, there are youth and old people who don’t know sign language, who can only do lip reading. So at least there was a step forward for the signing community. In the deaf community in India, for the signing community, we had a step forward in the Republic Day parade, and the Independence Day and in PM Modi’s swearing-in ceremony. So it is a step forward, Ananya, it is a step forward towards the big goal of making news and knowledge accessible to this entire gamut of the deaf community which is not just the deaf community…

So I am saying, it will take, India is a big huge white elephant and it takes a LONGGGG time for it to move (laughs). But this little thing about CC for the signing community within the deaf community is a step forward. I would like to be positive here,

19 The thoughts are there because the perspectives Experience are very deaf community. Because see, also, let’s with current not blame everybody. If the policymakers have no provisions idea, there’s no enemy here, there is no bad guy good guy here, the policymakers have never been aware! You know, how would they have been made aware? There’s such a lack of interpreters, there’s such a lack of services.

Informing them but doing like a…so it’s not worked. My point is there are people talking, okay, there are deaf representatives, WHY is it not

274 working? Somewhere I think the policymakers are not seeing the value of bringing in these changes. They are not seeing the value. So I am just, I have no, we’ve been trying this for the last 25 years. They don’t see the value of the deaf community as vote bank, as people who can add value at the workplace, but to do that you have an RTE (Right to education) to make that accessible to deaf people, they can start seeing it like that. Perspectives are pretty much FIXED.

Why are we fixated on the word “disability”? So it is here (points to the head). It’s impairment. It is tough. I am trying to be as gentle in this interview, but it is difficult.

Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview

Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the representation of the Deaf/HoH population in India in the policymaking process; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India

Is there anything contradictory about the document? No

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide

Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues: Speaks on the definition of disability viewed a medical problem. Additional inputs on why numbers of hearing impaired differ in census, NSSO, and other surveys.

275 XI Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 6

Date of Document: November 17, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: Mrs Uma Kapoor, Secretary, Delhi Association for Deaf Women

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? No Other: N.A.

Page Key words/concepts Comments: Number Relationship to Research Question

28 Our organization started in 1973 and it was becoz Experience of Government support through grant in aid which with made it possible for us to start and implement the policymakers rehabilitation projects. and government During that period there were very few organizations and NGOs working for handicapped, so the government policies were simple and it was easy to approach government directly, but as the time changed the new policies and rules have made it very difficult for us to directly interact with high authorities and also to follow the policies.

Our requirements have increases over the period of 42 years but the grant in aid provided to us is still the same which is very less to support our projects.

Moreover it is difficult for deaf ladies to interact and communicate with the officials due to lack of interpreters in government offices. Specially the departments dealing with disabilities.

There are many limitations faced by us to reach the policymakers and share our difficulties.

276 29 In past no efforts were done for deaf but since last Representation few years the deaf awareness has increased, of D/HoH in the since then deaf have come forward to demand policymaking their needs and fight for their rights. Now deaf process gives their opinions openly thru protest, writing letters to governments and also using social media.

29 In the policy maker process the team made to Role of D/HoH make the policy should have one Representative in the from each disability sector. Then only right policy policymaking can be made which will give maximum benefit to process all disabilities.

29 1. Jobs especially for Deaf Women Key 2. Deaf women security and safety considerations 3. More interpreters in every government sector, for inclusive govt. hospitals, courts, police stations etc policy 4. Equal opportunity in every sector 5. Sign Language to be accepted as a language.

29 PWD act should be revised for betterment of Goal of Bill disabled and to give them equal opportunity.

29 No idea Timeline for implementation 29 News for Hearing Impaired on DD news Television programs regularly watched 29 Captioning should be given importance in at least Thoughts some programs like.... Special National Event about closed coverages, News channels other than weekly captioning news for deaf, some good documentaries or movies, programs on discovery channels etc.

We deaf miss a lot in absence of these captions.

30 (DD News for the hearing impaired) It is the only Experience program which I can watch without help of any with current interpretation and I feel just like any other normal provisions hearing person which watch this new bulletin for deaf. Special National Event coverages: Republic Day. (Wants to be made available in accessible

277 format) Event coverage, National Games Opening and Closing ceremonies, National film Festivals, Beauty Pageant, Fashion Shows etc.

Good documentaries or movies, programs on discovery channels etc. (many programs on discovery channels specially related to any new discoveries or inventions elated to health, diseases etc.)

Regarding news there should be captions when there are any speech delivered or statements issued or raised by ministers etc. being deaf we have a right to know the every part of news just like any other normal hearing person.

30 None Self or known person’s experience with CC

Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview as participant plus for pilot study

Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the representation of the Deaf/HoH population in India in the policymaking process; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India. Also solicited were her comments for her experience with access to the media as a deaf person herself.

Is there anything contradictory about the document? Yes/ No

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide

Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues: She gave the interview as a typed email response because she could not arrange for a substitute interpreter. Her interpreter was absent from work on the interview day. She clarified additional questions over email as well.

278 XII Name and Type of document: Interview Transcript

Document number: 1

Date of Document: November 1, 2014

Event or Contact with which document is associated: Kum. Surrendar Saini, President, All India Federation of the Deaf

Descriptive? Yes Evaluative? Yes/No N.A. Other: N.A.

Page Key words/concepts Comments: Number Relationship to Research Question

2 Policymakers helped, they helped. Otherwise it Experience would not have been possible. Because with policymakers, unless they know the problem, they policymakers will not do anything about it. and government

2 They participate in that when they are called for Representation the meetings, they give their ideas. Yes, yes, they of D/HoH in participate. The Ministry of Social Welfare and the even the Planning Commission, when they make policymaking the plans, not only he hearing handicapped, but process other disabled people, they call them, want to hear their problems, discuss with them, that’s how the future program is made. Earlier it was difficult but that period is over now.

2 It is not the officers to take the initiative. So we Role of D/HoH had to agitate, bring to the notice of the highest of in the the land, the policymakers, many many meetings policymaking were held, then officers were brought to them, process ministry was set up, then all those things followed. Now there is an Act, the disability Act.

2, 3 There’s still more to be done. I’ll say this in one Key line, much has been done but still there’s more to considerations be done. For, say their education, employment, for inclusive their sickness benefits, that’s not till the extent policy

279 required. But it is not that they have been ignored. But we are hopeful every time something is done. And frequent meetings are done, consultations are done, by the government with the agencies, representatives of NGOs for the handicapped.

Yes we are hopeful, we have covered so much ground, quite a large mileage we have covered, still more to go (smiles). We are hopeful, because once the people and the government and the leaders, they get hold of the problem, the process goes on. It may be that something is in the process, the speed is not that much, and much is required, but that depends on many factors, but it’s not like… the intention is not lacking to help.

2 The goal is that every handicapped, maybe of Goal of Bill any disability, they must feel that as citizens of the country, they are being looked after. All facilities for their education, livelihood, treatment, old age pension, the provision is there. That’s what life requires.

2 I won’t say much because I haven’t read it (the Timeline for revised draft) but maybe they are thinking that, implementation well, I won’t be able to comment.

Based on my past experience well, when we had meetings with the Planning Commission, after that, they do consider the problems. Every time something new is added as a service to the handicapped in general, I am saying. But I haven’t seen the revised draft because day-to-day we do not see what is happening unless they finalize and let us know.

2,3 (Not specifically for CC but in general) So Thoughts something new, the services which are required, about closed are taken care of. But also it depends on the captioning resources available with the government. By resources I mean financial resources, the technical expertise required and what is available.

1 Then in between there was a time I went for a Experience conference for the hearing handicapped in the with current US. There I and some other colleagues (deaf provisions

280 people) went with me. They saw there were television programs being shown and other facilities that they were getting. So I would always come and report to the Prime Minister Mrs Gandhi. Then it was her initiative, her initiative on our request, but with her help that this television program (sign language news bulletin) started for the hearing impaired. She said, why not? It took some time to arrange all that but she said, why not? It’s a good idea.

And then deaf people, hearing handicapped people all over the country they felt happy that we have been recognized. They would watch the television (program) and some of the top people, when I met them, they said, oh, now we see this finger language on television (laughs)…it’s very good, it’s very good! This is how it started.

Brief Summary of contents: Open-ended interview

Significance or purpose of document: To get comments on the Draft RPWD Bill 2012; the representation of the Deaf/HoH population in India in the policymaking process; the considerations for television news closed-captioning in India; the current information and communication accessibility scenario for the D/HoH in India

Is there anything contradictory about the document? No

Salient questions/ Issues to consider: See interview guide

Additional comments/ Reflections/Issues: One of the few NGOs with positive comments for government efforts.

281 APPENDIX F LIST OF LINKS TO NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

1. What is the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill? (http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/standpoint-what-is-the-rights-of-persons-with- disabilities-bill-1957974)

2. Government focussing on comprehensive law for differently abled: Union Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-03- 02/news/59684003_1_comprehensive-law-enactment-ratification)

3. Stop treating differently-abled people like second-class citizens (http://www.hindustantimes.com/comment/stop-treating-differently-abled-people-like- second-class-citizens/article1-1329834.aspx)

4. Diff-abled Find Their Voice (http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Diff- abled-Find-Their-Voice/2015/03/16/article2715675.ece)

5. Equitable Steps Sought to Make Railways Diff-abled Friendly (http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/Equitable-Steps-Sought-to-Make- Railways-Diff-abled-Friendly/2015/03/17/article2716988.ece)

6. No definite time envisaged for passing of Disabilities Bill (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-12- 11/news/56955729_1_disabilities-bill-cent-reservation-disabled-persons)

7. Bill on Job Quota for Disabled in RS (http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Bill- on-Job-Quota-for-Disabled-in-RS/2014/02/08/article2044665.ece)

8. New Bill to strengthen definition of disabilities (http://www.thehindu.com/todays- paper/new-bill-to-strengthen-definition-of-disabilities/article5669367.ece)

9. Disabilities rights Bill retrograde: activists (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/disabilities-rights-bill-retrograde- activists/article5671384.ece?ref=relatedNews)

10. A chance not to be squandered (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/a- chance-not-to-be-squandered/article5674416.ece?ref=relatedNews)

11. Nalsar dissociates itself from Disability Rights Bill (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/nalsar-dissociates-itself-from- disability-rights-bill/article5657569.ece)

12. Government urged to introduce Disability Bill immediately (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/government-urged-to-introduce- disability-bill-immediately/article5650024.ece?ref=relatedNews)

282 13. Pass disability rights bill immediately, say Disability Rights activists (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/pass-disability-rights-bill-immediately- say-disability-rights-activists/article5650161.ece)

14. Disabled rights groups stage dharna in Delhi (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/disabled-rights-groups-stage-dharna-in- delhi/article5480231.ece)

15. Differently abled protest Disability Rights Bill (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/differently-abled-protest-disability-rights- bill/article5665330.ece?ref=relatedNews)

16. Disabilities Bill tabled in Rajya Sabha (http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india- others/disabilities-bill-tabled-in-rajya-sabha/)

17. At a standstill (http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/at-a-standstill/2/)

18. Disabled divided over Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Disabled-divided-over-Rights-of-Persons-with- Disabilities-Bill/articleshow/29911510.cms)

19. A retrograde and incoherent law (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a- retrograde-and-incoherent-law/article5657802.ece)

20. Disability rights activists condemn ‘flawed’ bill (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/disability-rights-activists-condemn- flawed-bill/article5636007.ece)

21. Ensure jobs reserved for disabled are filled: Prasanna Kumar Pincha (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/ensure-jobs-reserved-for-disabled- are-filled-prasanna-kumar-pincha/article5635862.ece)

22. Activists seek Sonia’s support for Disability Rights Bill (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/activists-seek-sonias-support-for-disability- rights-bill/article5558868.ece)

23. Bill on quota for disabled in coming session (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bill-on-quota-for-disabled-in-coming- session/article5578878.ece?ref=relatedNews)

24. Universal ID cards for persons with disabilities envisaged in 2014 (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-12- 30/news/57528875_1_disabilities-bill-cbi-probe-disabled-persons)

25. The Disabilities Bill is a mixed bag (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the- disabilities-bill-is-a-mixed-bag/article3927212.ece)

283 26. Do not bring ordinance on Disability Rights Bill: CCPD to PM (http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/do-not-bring-ordinance-on-disability-rights-bill- ccpd-to-pm_914942.html)

27. Why are disability rights activists divided over the Disability Bill? (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-why-are-disability-rights-activists-divided-over- the-disability-bill-1968271)

28. A hurried disabilities Bill will serve no purpose (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/A-hurried-disabilities-Bill-will-serve- no-purpose/articleshow/30579944.cms)

29. Disability Bill: Game-changer or betrayal (http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/disability- bill-game-changer-or-betrayal-550288)

30. Disabled don't need care homes, they need education, employment: Dr Mithu Alur (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/interview-disabled-don-t-need-care-homes-they- need-education-employment-dr-mithu-alur-2040396)

31. Disability Rights Group 'Shocked' Over Changes in Bill (http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Disability-Rights-Group-Shocked-Over- Changes-in-Bill/2014/02/01/article2032497.ece)

32. Sonia panel slams disability bill (http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120716/jsp/nation/story_15733610.jsp)

33. Hearing impaired can access prime time news on Doordarshan (http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/hearing-impaired-can-access- prime-time-news-on-doordarshan_100175043.html)

34. Govt to issue ID cards for persons with disabilities (http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/govt-to-issue-unique-id-cards-for-persons- with-disabilities/article1-1242468.aspx)

35. World Disability Day: inclusion remains a challenge in India (http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/world-disability-day-inclusion-remains-a-challenge-in- india-543146)

36. ‘Implement job quota for persons with disabilities’ (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/implement-job-quota-for-persons-with- disabilities/article5415154.ece)

37. Education will help differently-abled cope with their disability, says President Pranab Mukherjee (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-education-will-help-differently-abled- cope-with-their-disability-says-president-pranab-mukherjee-2040741)

284 38. India's disabled fight for new legislation (http://www.dw.de/indias-disabled-fight-for- new-legislation/a-17458169) 39. Only 40 per cent of India’s disabled have access to disability certificates (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kolkata/only-40-per-cent-of-indias-disabled-have- access-to-disability-certificates/article6657745.ece)

40. India's disabilities bill raises hopes of an end to discrimination (http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/feb/27/india-disabilities-bill-end- discrimination)

41. Budget 2013-14: Disability sector deeply disappointed (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/budget-201314-disability-sector-deeply- disappointed/article4463094.ece)

42. Act against those not implementing disability quota: Parliamentary panel (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-12-21/news/57280945_1_cent- reservation-disabilities-act-vacancies)

43. Govt will be able to pass Disabilities Bill in next parliament session: Sonia Gandhi (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-govt-will-be-able-to-pass-disabilities-bill-in-next- parliament-session-sonia-gandhi-1951524)

285 APPENDIX G INITIAL THEMES FROM DOCUMENTS CATEGORIZED UNDER A PRIORI CODES

A priori Code Primary Theme Secondary Theme (Newspapers marked N) Access to Information Cost of implementation of CC (N) Cost (N) Access to information regarding bill (N) Political participation (N) Technology

Hearing Impaired ID cards (N) Awareness and sensitivity (N) Definitions (N) Numbers RPD Bill Legal implications (N) Legal provisions and protection (N) Private initiative for inclusion (N) More disabilities recognized Comprehensive law (N) Reservations (N) Access to education (N) Access to employment (N) Access to public infrastructure (N) Implementation of Bill Political motive and timeline (N)

Equal Rights Access to public infrastructure Funds for disabled (N) Empowerment (N)

Participation

286 APPENDIX H INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD APPROVAL OF PROTOCOL #2014-U-0515 CONSENT FORM

Dear Interviewee,

I am a PhD student at the University of Florida, USA. As part of my doctoral dissertation, I am conducting an interview, the purpose of which is to seek your informed opinion on possible/ proposed implementation of closed-captioning on Indian television. I am asking you to participate in this interview because you have been identified as an expert in media management, and media-related policies. You will be asked to participate in an interview lasting no longer than 60 minutes. The interview is semi-structured, and iterations may take place during the course of the interview. A question guide is enclosed with this letter. You will not have to answer any question you do not wish to answer. Your interview will be conducted by phone or in your office after I have received a copy of the signed consent from you via email or in person.

With your permission I would like to audiotape the interview. Only I will have access to the tape, which I will personally transcribe, removing any unconsented identifiers during transcription. With your consent, only your name, designation, and company/organization name will be revealed in the final manuscript given the nature of the investigation. Other personal information, if any revealed during the course of the interview, will be kept strictly confidential according to law. The tape will be erased after transcription.

There are no anticipated risks, compensation, or other direct benefits to you as a participant in this interview. Your participation is completely voluntary. You are free to withdraw your consent to participate, and may discontinue your participation in the interview at any time without consequence.

If you have any questions about this research protocol, please contact me at / or my faculty supervisor, Dr. David H. Ostroff, at / . Questions or concerns about your rights as a research participant may be directed to the IRB02 office, University of Florida, Box 112250, Gainesville, FL 32611; +1-352-392-0433.

Please sign and return this copy of this letter in the enclosed envelope to me personally/ via email to . A second copy is the provided for your records. By signing this letter, you give me permission to report your responses in the final manuscript to be submitted to my faculty supervisor as part of my doctoral dissertation.

ANANYA ROY, BBA (Honors), PGD, MS

______

287 I have read the procedure described above for the dissertation research study on closed-captioning on Indian television. I voluntarily agree to participate in the interview and I have received a copy if this description.

______Signature of participant (Please type name if returning via email) Date

I would like to receive a copy of the final “interview” manuscript submitted to the instructor.

YES/NO (please encircle your choice)

288 LIST OF REFERENCES

Aberbach, J.D., Putnam, R.D., & Rockman, B.A. (1981). Bureaucrats and Politicians in Western Democracies. Harvard University Press.

Aberbach, J. D., & Rockman, B. A. (2002). Conducting and coding elite interviews. Political Science & Politics, 35(04), 673-676.

Aberbach, J.D. & Rockman, B.A. (2000). In the Web of Politics: Three Decades of the U.S. Federal Executive. The Brookings Press.

Abramson, R.G. & Hale, M.C. (2013). U.S. Patent Application US2013/025695.

Agarwal, O. P., & Somanathan, T. V. (2005). Public policy making in India: Issues and remedies. Centre for Policy Research occasional paper. New Delhi, India.

Alampay, E. (2006). Beyond access to ICTs: Measuring capabilities in the information society. International Journal of Education and Development using ICT, 2(3).

Alcock & Ferguson (2012). Social Policy and Social Work in Becker, S., Bryman, A., & Ferguson, H. (Eds.). (2012). Understanding research for social policy and social work: themes, methods and approaches. Policy Press.

Ali, A. (2001). Evolution of public sphere in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 2419-2425.

Altman, B. M., & Barnartt, S. (2000). Introducing research in social science and disability: An invitation to social science to “get it.” In B. M. Altman & S. Barnartt (Eds.), Exploring theories and expanding methodologies: Vol. 2. Research in Social Science and Disability (pp. 1–25). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.

Altman, B. M. (2001). Disability definitions, models, classification schemes, and applications. Handbook of Disability Studies, 97-122.

Al Zeera, Z. (2001). Wholeness and holiness in education: An Islamic perspective. Herndon, VA: International Institute of Islamic Thought.

Anastasiou, D., & Kauffman, J. M. (2011). A social constructionist approach to disability: Implications for special education. Exceptional Children, 77(3), 367- 384.

Andrews, R. (Ed.). (2004). The impact of ICT on literacy education. Routledge.

Ando, A., Imai, T., Kobayashi, A., Isono, H., & Nakabayashi, K. (2000). Real- time transcription system for simultaneous subtitling of Japanese broadcast news programs. Broadcasting, IEEE Transactions on, 46(3), 189-196.

289 Appadurai, A., & Breckenridge, C. (1995). Public modernity in India. Consuming modernity: Public culture in a South Asian world, 1-20.

Asaiah, K. (1987). The Evolution of Parliamentary Democracy in India. In Rao, V. B., & Venkateswarlu, B. (1987). Parliamentary Democracy in India. Mittal Publications.

Ayoub, D. B., & Chen, C. J. (2008). U.S. Patent Application 12/269,592.

Ayoub, D. B., & Chen, C. J. (2014). U.S. Patent No. 8,913,188. Washington, DC: US Patent and Trademark Office.

Bailey, N. (2011). Assistive technology, accommodations, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Cornell University.

Barnes, C. (1991) Disabled People in Britain and Discrimination: A case for anti- discrimination legislation. London: Hurst.

Barnes, C. (2012). The social model of disability: Valuable or irrelevant. The Routledge Handbook of Disability Studies, 12-29.

Barnes, C., & Mercer, G. (2005). Disability, work, and welfare challenging the social exclusion of disabled people. Work, Employment & Society, 19(3), 527- 545.

Barton, L. (2006). Overcoming disabling barriers: 18 years of disability and society. Routledge.

Barzilai-Nahon, K. (2006). Gaps and bits: Conceptualizing measurements for digital divide/s. The Information Society, 22(5), 269-278.

Bat-Chava, Y. (2000). Diversity of deaf identities. American Annals of the Deaf,145(5), 420-428.

Batliwala, S. (2002). Grassroots movements as transnational actors: Implications for global civil society. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 13(4), 393-409.

Baumgartner, F. R., Jones, B. D., & Mortensen, P. B. (2014). Punctuated equilibrium theory: Explaining stability and change in public policymaking. Theories of the policy process, 59-103.

Baumgartner, T., and Pahl-Wostl, C. (2013). UN–Water and its role in global water governance. Ecology and Society 18(3): 3.

Beadles, R. L., & Ball, J. E. (1997). U.S. Patent No. 5,648,789. Washington, DC: US Patent and Trademark Office.

290 Bean, R. M., & Wilson, R. M. (1989). Using closed captioned television to teach reading to adults. Literacy Research and Instruction, 28(4), 27-37.

Best, M. L., & Maier, S. G. (2007). Gender, culture and ICT use in rural south India. Gender, Technology and Development, 11(2), 137-155.

Bhalla, J.S. (4 April 2009). Hearing impaired can read DD news now. (http://www.hindustantimes.com/%20%20StoryPage/Print/ 396655.aspx)

Bickenbach, J. (2014). Reconciling the capability approach and the ICF. ALTER-European Journal of Disability Research/Revue Européenne de Recherche sur le Handicap, 8(1), 10-23.

Bickenbach, J. E., Chatterji, S., Badley, E. M., & Üstün, T. B. (1999). Models of disablement, universalism and the international classification of impairments, disabilities and handicaps. Social Science & Medicine, 48(9), 1173-1187.

Birkland, T. A. (2014). An introduction to the policy process: Theories, concepts and models of public policy making. Routledge.

Blanck, P., Wilichowski, A., & Schmeling, J. (2003). Disability Civil Rights Law and Policy: Accessible Courtroom Technology. William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, 12, 825.

Bloomberg, L. D. & Volpe. M. (2008). Completing your qualitative dissertation: a roadmap from beginning to end. London: Sage

Borg, J., Larsson, S., & Östergren, P. O. (2011). The right to assistive technology: For whom, for what, and by whom?. Disability & Society, 26(2), 151-167.

Borg, J., Lindström, A., & Larsson, S. (2011). Assistive technology in developing countries: a review from the perspective of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Prosthetics and Orthotics International, 35(1).

Boulianne, G., Beaumont, J. F., Boisvert, M., Brousseau, J., Cardinal, P., Chapdelaine, C., Comeau, M., Ouellet, P. & Osterrath, F. (2006, September). Computer- assisted closed-captioning of live TV broadcasts in French. In INTERSPEECH.

Bowen, S., & Zwi, A. (2005). ‘Evidence-informed’ policy and practice: A framework for action. PLoS Medicine, 2(7), e166.

Boyatzis, R. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

291 Bracken, C. C., Jeffres, L. W., Neuendorf, K. A., Kopfman, J., & Moulla, F. (2005). How cosmopolites react to messages: America under attack. Communication Research Reports, 22(1), 47-58.

Broman, T. (1998). The Habermasian Public Sphere and. History of Science, 36, 123-150.

Brown, L. D., & Kalegaonkar, A. (2002). Support organizations and the evolution of the NGO sector. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 31(2), 231-258.

Brownell, K. D., & Frieden, T. R. (2009). Ounces of prevention—the public policy case for taxes on sugared beverages. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(18), 1805-1808.

Brownson, R. C., Royer, C., Ewing, R., & McBride, T. D. (2006). Researchers and policymakers: travelers in parallel universes. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30(2), 164-172.

Bucy, E. P., & Gregson, K. S. (2001). Media participation a legitimizing mechanism of mass democracy. New Media & Society, 3(3), 357-380.

Burchardt, T. (2004). Capabilities and disability: the capabilities framework and the social model of disability. Disability & Society, 19(7), 735-751.

Burgelman, J. C. (2000). Regulating Access in the Information Society The Need for Rethinking Public and Universal Service. New Media & Society, 2(1), 51-66.

Calabrese, A., & Burgelman, J. C. (Eds.). (1999). Communication, citizenship, and social policy: Rethinking the limits of the welfare state. Rowman & Littlefield.

Calhoun, C. J. (1992). Habermas and the public sphere. MIT press.

Canadian Association of Broadcasters (2004). Closed Captioning Standards and Protocol for Canadian English Language Broadcasters. (www.dcmp.org/caai/nadh20.pdf)

Cargo, M., & Mercer, S. L. (2008). The value and challenges of participatory research: Strengthening its practice. Annual Review of Public Health, 29, 325-350.

Carpentier, N., Dahlgren, P., & Pasquali, F. (2013). Waves of media democratization A brief history of contemporary participatory practices in the media sphere. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 19(3), 287-294.

Carlson, J. A. (2010). Avoiding traps in member checking. The Qualitative Report, 15(5), 1102-1113.

292 Carrasco, J. A., & Miller, E. J. (2006). Exploring the propensity to perform social activities: a social network approach. Transportation, 33(5), 463-480.

Castells, M. (2000). The information age: economy, society and culture. Vol. 1, The rise of the network society (Vol. 1). Oxford: Blackwell.

Charlton, J. I. (1998). Nothing about us without us: Disability oppression and empowerment. University of California Press.

Checkel, J. T. (2008). Process tracing. Qualitative methods in international relations: A pluralist guide. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Cho, J., & Trent, A. (2006). Validity in qualitative research revisited. Qualitative research, 6(3), 319-340.

Cohen, G., Salomon, I., & Nijkamp, P. (2002). Information–communications technologies (ICT) and transport: does knowledge underpin policy?. Telecommunications Policy, 26(1), 31-52.

Condie, R., & Munro, B. (2007). The impact of ICT in schools: A Landscape review. (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101102103654/ publications.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=28221)

Coote, A., Allen, J., & Woodhead, D. (2004). Finding out what works. Building knowledge about complex, community-based initiatives. London: Kings Fund.

Corker, M. (2000). The UK Disability Discrimination Act-disabling language, justifying inequitable social participation. Americans with Disabilities.

Corker, M. (1999). Differences, conflations and foundations: The limits to ‘accurate’ theoretical representation of disabled people's experience?. Disability & society, 14(5), 627-642.

Crabtree, B. F., & Miller, W. L. (Eds.). (1999). Doing qualitative research. Sage Publications.

Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage.

Creswell, J.W. (2004). Educational Research. Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (2 ed.). Upper Saddle River, USA: Pearson Education.

Creswell, J. W., & Miller, D. L. (2000). Determining validity in qualitative inquiry. Theory Into Practice, 39(3), 124-130.

293 Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Crossley, M. (1998). Disability Kaleidoscope. Notre Dame L. Rev., 74, 621.

Crow, L. (1996). Including all of our lives: Renewing the social model of disability. Exploring the Divide, 55-58.

Dahlgren, P. (1995). Television and the public sphere: Citizenship, democracy and the media (Vol. 10). Sage.

Dalal, P. (2006). Use of ICT for Women Empowerment in India. (http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN029838. pdf)

D’Aubin, A. (2007). Working for Barrier Removal in the ICT Area: Creating a More Accessible and Inclusive Canada: A Position Statement by the Council of Canadians with Disabilities. The Information Society, 23(3), 193-201.

Davey, L. (1991). The application of case study evaluations. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 2(9).

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research. Sage.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2000). The discipline and practice of qualitative research. Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2, 1-28.

Denzin, N.K. (1989). Interpretive interactionism. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Denzin, N.K. (1978). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Dewsbury, G., Clarke, K., Randall, D., Rouncefield, M., & Sommerville, I. (2004). The anti‐social model of disability. Disability & Society, 19(2), 145-158.

Doh, J. P., & Guay, T. R. (2006). Corporate social responsibility, public policy, and NGO activism in Europe and the united states: An Institutional Stakeholder perspective. Journal of Management Studies, 43(1), 47-73.

Downey, G. J. (2008). Closed captioning: subtitling, stenography, and the digital convergence of text with television. JHU Press.

Downey, G. (2007). Constructing closed-captioning in the public interest: from minority media accessibility to mainstream educational technology. Info, 9(2/3), 69-82.

294 Draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2011). (http://socialjustice.nic.in/pwd2011.php)

Dror, Y. (1983). Public policy making reexamined. Transaction Publishers.

Dror, Y. (1964). Muddling Through—“Science” or Inertia?. Public Administration Review, 153-157.

Dujnic, D. (2010). An introduction to closed captioning. (http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/intro_closed_captioning_dujnic.html)

Echeverría, J. (2008). Social appropriation of technology Information and communication. Magazine CTS, 10(4), 171-182. (http://oeibolivia.org/files/Volumen%204%20-%20N%C3%BAmero %2010/doss07.pdf.)

Ellcessor, E. (2012). Captions on, off, on TV, online accessibility and search engine optimization in online closed captioning. Television & New Media, 13(4), 329-352.

Ellis F. (2000) Rural Livelihoods and Diversity in Developing Countries, Oxford University Press.

Erdmann, L., Hilty, L., Goodman, J., & Arnfalk, P. (2004). The future impact of ICTs on environmental sustainability. Institute for Prospective Technological Studies.

Fereday, J., & Muir-Cochrane, E. (2008). Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: A hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(1), 80-92.

Finkelstein, V. (2007). The “social model of disability” and the disability movement. Manchester, GMCDP.

Fitzgerald, T. K. (1993). Metaphors of identity: A culture communication dialogue. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Flanagan, M. A., Jensen, P., & Chinnock, D. P. (2006). U.S. Patent No. 7,130,790. Washington, DC: US Patent and Trademark Office.

Florian, L. (Ed.). (2013). The SAGE handbook of special education: Two set Volume. London: Sage.

Forester, J. (Ed.). (1993). The argumentative turn in policy analysis and planning. Duke University Press.

295 Fox, J. (2000). Civil society and political accountability: propositions for discussion. South Bend, USA: University of Notre Dame.

François, I., Lambert, M. L., Salort, C., Slypen, V., Bertrand, F., & Tonglet, R. (1998). Causes of locomotor disability and need for orthopaedic devices in a heavily mined Taliban‐controlled province of Afghanistan: issues and challenges for public health managers. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 3(5), 391- 396.

Franzosi, R., Doyle, S., McClelland, L. E., Rankin, C. P., & Vicari, S. (2013). Quantitative narrative analysis software options compared: PC-ACE and CAQDAS (ATLAS. ti, MAXqda, and NVivo). Quality & Quantity, 47(6), 3219- 3247.

Fraser, N. (2007). Reframing justice in a globalizing world. Global Inequality: Patterns and Explanations, 252-272.

Fraser, N., & Honneth, A. (2003). Redistribution or recognition?: a political-philosophical exchange. Verso.

Frey, L., Botan, C. H., & Kreps, G. (2000). Investigating communication. NY: Allyn & Bacon.

Galaway, B. (2011). Contracting-Out and Program Evaluation: A Case Study. Carrots, Sticks, and Sermons: Policy Instruments and Their Evaluation, 1, 165.

Garai, A., & Shadrach, B. (2006). Taking ICT to every Indian village: Opportunities and challenges. One World South Asia.

Garg, S., Chadha, S., Malhotra, S., & Agarwal, A. K. (2009). Deafness: burden, prevention and control in India. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19852345)

Garnham, N. (1999). Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach to the evaluation of welfare: Its application to communications. Communication, citizenship and social policy: Rethinking the Limits of the Welfare State, 113-124.

Garza, T. J. (1991). Evaluating the use of captioned video materials in advanced foreign language learning. Foreign Language Annals, 24(3), 239-258.

Gemmill, B., & Bamidele-Izu, A. (2002). The role of NGOs and civil society. Global environmental governance: Options and Opportunities, 77-101.

Geniets, A. (2013). The Global News Challenge: Market Strategies of International Broadcasting Organizations in Developing Countries. Routledge.

296 Geniets, A. (2010). The Global News Challenge: Assessing Changes in International Broadcast News Consumption in Africa and South Africa. University of Oxford, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

Gerring, J. (2004). What is a case study and what is it good for?. American Political Science Review, 98(02), 341-354.

Ghai, A. (2003): (Dis) Embodied Form: Issues of Disabled Women. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications.

George, A. L., & Bennett, A. (2005). Case studies and theory development in the social sciences. MIT Press.

Gerston, L. N. (2014). Public policymaking in a democratic society: A guide to civic engagement. Routledge.

Gibbert, M., Ruigrok, W., & Wicki, B. (2008). Research notes and commentaries what passes as a rigorous case study. Strategic Management Journal, 29(13), 1465- 1474.

Gichoya, D. (2005). Factors affecting the successful implementation of ICT projects in government. The Electronic Journal of e-government, 3(4), 175-184.

Gimmler, A. (2001). Deliberative democracy, the public sphere and the internet. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 27(4), 21-39.

Gitlin, T. (2002). 10 Public sphere or public sphericules?. Media, Ritual and Identity, 168.

Gitlin, T. (1998) 'Public Sphere or Public Sphericules?', In T. Liebes and J. Curran (Eds.) Media, Ritual and Identity, pp. 175-202. London: Routledge.

Glickman, N. S. (1993). Deaf identity development: Construction and validation of a theoretical model. (http://scholarworks.umass.edu/ dissertations/AAI9329612/)

Goering, S. (2010). Revisiting the relevance of the social model of disability. The American Journal of Bioethics, 10(1), 54-55.

Goetz, A. M., & Jenkins, R. (2005). Reinventing accountability: Making democracy work for human development. Basingstoke and York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Goldman, M., & Goldman, S. (1988). Reading with close-captioned TV. Journal of Reading, 31(5), 458-461.

297 Goldstein, K. (2002). Getting in the door: Sampling and completing elite interviews. Political Science & Politics, 35(04), 669-672.

Gray, D. B., & Hendershot, G. E. (2000). The ICIDH-2: developments for a new era of outcomes research. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 81, S10- S14.

Gregg, J. L. (2006). Policy‐making in the public interest: a contextual analysis of the passage of closed‐captioning policy. Disability & Society, 21(5), 537-550.

Grönvik, L. (2009). Defining disability: effects of disability concepts on research outcomes. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 12(1), 1-18.

Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 105-117). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Guba, E. G. (1978). Toward a methodology of naturalistic inquiry in educational evaluation. Monograph 8. Los Angeles: UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation.

Habermas, J. (1991). The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of bourgeois society. MIT press.

Hafkin, N. J., & Huyer, S. (2007). Women and gender in ICT statistics and indicators for development. Information Technologies & International Development, 4(2), pp- 25.

Hahn, H., & Hegamin, A. P. (2001). Assessing scientific measures of disability. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 12(2), 114-121.

Hahn, H. (1993). The political implications of disability definitions and data. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 4(2), 41-52.

Hahn, H. (1992). Toward a politics of the body: Theory and disability. Disability Studies Quarterly, 12(2), 20-24.

Hahn, H. (1988). The politics of physical differences: Disability and discrimination. Journal of Social Issues, 44(1), 39-48.

Hahn, H. (1987). Civil rights for disabled Americans: The foundation of a political agenda. In A. Gartner & T. Joe (Eds.), Images of the disabled/disabling images (pp. 181-203). New York: Praeger Publishing.

Hahn, H. (1985a). Toward a politics of disability: Definition, disciplines, and politics. The Social Science Journal, 22(4), 87-105.

298 Hahn, H. (1985b). Changing perceptions of disability and the future of rehabilitation. In L. G. Perlman & G. E. Austin (Eds.), Societal influences in rehabilitation planning: A blueprint for the 21st century (pp. 53-64). Alexandria, VA: National Rehabilitation Association.

Hahn, H. (1984a). The issue of equality: European perception of employment policy for disabled persons. New York: World Rehabilitation Fund.

Hahn, H. (1984b). Reconceptualizing disability: A political science perspective. Rehabilitation Literature, 48, 362-365, 374.

Hahn, H. (1983). Paternalism and public policy. Society, 20, 36-46.

Hajer, M. A., & Wagenaar, H. (2003). Deliberative policy analysis: understanding governance in the network society. Cambridge University Press.

Héritier, A. (2003). Composite democracy in Europe: the role of transparency and access to information. Journal of European public policy, 10(5), 814-833.

Hoffner, H., Baker, E., & Quinn, K. B. (2008). Lights, cameras, pencils! Using descriptive video to enhance writing. The Reading Teacher, 61(7), 576-579.

Homma, S., Kobayashi, A., Oku, T., Sato, S., Imai, T., & Takagi, T. (2008). New real-time closed-captioning system for Japanese broadcast news programs. In Computers Helping People with Special Needs (pp. 651-654). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Hornberger, N. (2006). Frameworks and models in language policy and planning. An introduction to language policy: Theory and Method, 24-41.

Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288.

Huang, H. C., & Eskey, D. E. (1999). The effects of closed-captioned television on the listening comprehension of intermediate English as a second language (ESL) students. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 28(1), 75-96.

Hughes, A. M., Freeman, C., Meadmore, K., Burridge, J., & Rogers, E. (2011). Research and development work relating to assistive technology 2010-11: Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.

Hurst, R. (2003). The international disability rights movement and the ICF. Disability & Rehabilitation, 25(11-12), 572-576.

299 Iezzoni, L. I., & Freedman, V. A. (2008). Turning the disability tide: the importance of definitions. JAMA, 299(3), 332-334.

Jaeger, P. T. (2006). Telecommunications policy and individuals with disabilities: Issues of accessibility and social inclusion in the policy and research agenda. Telecommunications Policy, 30(2), 112-124.

Jenkins, R., & Goetz, A. M. (1999). Accounts and accountability: theoretical implications of the right-to-information movement in India. Third World Quarterly, 20(3), 603-622.

Jette, A. M. (2006). Toward a common language for function, disability, and health. Physical Therapy, 86(5), 726-734.

Joffe, H. & Yardley, L. (2004). Content and Thematic Analysis. In Marks, D. F., & Yardley, L. (Eds.). (2004). Research Methods for Clinical and Health Psychology. Sage.

Joseph P. (2003). A study on certain factors influencing language performance of hearing impaired students. Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal, 14(2), 201‐8.

Kalpagam, U. (2002). Colonial governmentality and the public sphere in India. Journal of Historical Sociology, 15(1), 35-58.

Kamat, S. (2004). The privatization of public interest: theorizing NGO discourse in a neoliberal era. Review of International Political Economy, 11(1), 155-176.

Katz, S., Down, T.D., Cash, H.R., & Grotz, R.C. (1970). Progress in the development of the index of ADL. The Gerontologist, 10(1), 20-30.

Kavlekar, K.K. (1987). Parliamentary democracy in India and the Congress Party. In Rao, V. B., & Venkateswarlu, B. (1987). Parliamentary Democracy in India. Mittal Publications.

Kelley-Salinas, G. (2000). Different educational inequalities: ICT an option to close the gaps. Centre for Educational Research and Innovation [y] National Center on Adult Literacy, Learning to bridge the digital divide. Education and skills.

Kennedy, G. (Ed.) (1983). Language Planning and Language Education. London, England: George Allen & Unwin.

King, N., Cassell, C., & Symon, G. (2004). Using templates in the thematic analysis of texts. Essential Guide to Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research, 256-270.

300 Kingdon, J. W. (1995). Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. 2nd Ed. New York: HarperCollins.

Kirkman, B. L., & Rosen, B. (1999). Beyond self-management: Antecedents and consequences of team empowerment. Academy of Management journal, 42(1), 58-74.

Kliksberg, B. (2000). Six unconventional theses about participation. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 66(1), 161-174.

Kohlbacher, F. (2006, January). The use of qualitative content analysis in case study research. In Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research (Vol. 7, No. 1).

Koskinen, P. S., Wilson, R. M., & Jensema, C. J. (1985). Closed‐Captioned Television: A New Tool for Reading Instruction. Literacy Research and Instruction, 24(4), 1-7.

Koskinen, P. S., Wilson, R. M., Gambrell, L. B., & Neuman, S. B. (1993). Captioned video and vocabulary learning: An innovative practice in literacy instruction. The Reading Teacher, 36-43.

Koskinen, P. S., Wilson, R. M., & Jensema, C. J. (1986). Using closed-captioned television in the teaching of reading to deaf students. American Annals of the Deaf, 131(1), 43-46.

Kothari, B. (1998). Film songs as continuing education: Same language subtitling for literacy. Economic and Political Weekly, 2507-2510.

Kothari, B., Pandey, A., & Chudgar, A. R. (2004). Reading Out of the Idiot Box: Same-Language Subtitling on Television in India. Information Technologies and International Development, 2(1), 23-44.

Kothari, B., Takeda, J., Joshi, A., & Pandey, A. (2002). Same Language Subtitling: a butterfly for literacy?. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 21(1), 55-66.

Krauss, S. E. (2005). Research paradigms and meaning making: A primer. The Qualitative Report, 10(4), 758-770.

Krefting, L. (1991). Rigor in qualitative research: The assessment of trustworthiness. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 45(3), 214-222.

Kumar, S. (2014). Media Industries in India: An Emerging Regional Framework. Media Industries, 1(2). .

301 Kumar, R. (2005). Research Methodology—A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners, (2nd.ed), Singapore: Pearson Education.

Kuo, F. (2004). Open and Closed: Captioning Technology as a Means to Equality. J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L., 23, 159.

Laitin, D. D. (1989). Language policy and political strategy in India. Policy Sciences, 22(3-4), 415-436.

Lane, M. B., & Morrison, T. H. (2006). Public interest or private agenda?: A meditation on the role of NGOs in environmental policy and management in Australia. Journal of Rural Studies, 22(2), 232-242.

Lasswell, H. D. (1948). The structure and function of communication in society. The Communication of Ideas, 37, 215-228.

Lawton, M.P., & Brody, E.M. (1969). Assessment of older people: Self- maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. The Gerontologist, 9(3), 179-186.

Lester, S. (1999). An introduction to phenomenological research. Stan Lester Developments.

Levin, K., Ponomareva, I., Bulusheva, A., Chernykh, G., Medennikov, I., Merkin, N., Prudnikov, A., & Tomashenko, N. (2014). Automated closed captioning for Russian live broadcasting. In Proceedings of Interspeech (Vol. 2014, pp. 1438- 1442).

Lewis, M. S. J., & Jackson, D. W. (2001). Television literacy: Comprehension of program content using closed captions for the deaf. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 6(1), 43-53.

Li, D., & Looms, P. O. (2014). Metrics and Evaluation Models for Accessible Television. In Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Design for All and Accessibility Practice (pp. 564-571). Springer International Publishing.

Liachowitz, C. H. (1988). Disability as a social construct:.Legislative roots. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Lindblom, C. E. (1959). The science of" muddling through". Public administration review, 79-88.

Linebarger, D., Piotrowski, J. T., & Greenwood, C. R. (2010). On screen print: the role of captions as a supplemental literacy tool. Journal of Research in Reading, 33(2), 148-167.

302 Lincoln, Y. S. & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Lister, R. (1997). Citizenship: Towards a feminist synthesis. Feminist Review, 28-48.

Looms, P. (2014). 3 Making TV Accessible in the 21st Century. Policy and Marketing Strategies for Digital Media, 43.

Lor, P. J., & Britz, J. J. (2007). Is a knowledge society possible without freedom of access to information?. Journal of Information science, 33(4), 387- 397.

Mackelprang, R. W., & Salsgiver, R. O. (1999). Disability: A diversity model approach in human service practice (pp. 1-241). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

Madill, A., Jordan, A., & Shirley, C. (2000). Objectivity and reliability in qualitative analysis: Realist, contextualist and radical constructionist epistemologies. British Journal of Psychology, 91(1), 1-20.

Mansell, R. (1993). The new telecommunications: a political economy of network evolution. London: Sage Publications

Matsen, S.L. (1999). A closer look at amputees in Vietnam: a field survey of Vietnamese using prostheses. Prosthetics and Orthotics International 23(2), 93‐101.

Marker, P., McNamara, K., & Wallace, L. (2002). The significance of information and communication technologies for reducing poverty. London, UK: DFID.

Marshall, C. (1984). Elites, bureaucrats, ostriches, and pussycats: Managing research in policy settings. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 15(3), 235-251.

Maxwell, J. A. (1992). Understanding and validity in qualitative research. Harvard Educational Review 62, 279–299.

May-Teerink, T. (1999). A survey of rehabilitative services and people coping with physical disabilities in Uganda, East Africa. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 22(4), 311-316.

McDowell, S. D. (1997). Globalization and policy choice: television and audiovisual services policies in India. Media, Culture & Society, 19(2), 151-172.

McKee, A. (2005). The public sphere: An introduction. Cambridge University Press.

303 McLeod, J. M., Scheufele, D. A., & Moy, P. (1999). Community, communication, and participation: The role of mass media and interpersonal discussion in local political participation. Political Communication, 16(3), 315-336.

McNair, B. (2012). Journalism and democracy: An evaluation of the political public sphere. Routledge.

Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

MIC (18 September 2013). FY2012 Achievement of Closed-captioned, Commentary and Sign Language Broadcasts, International Policy Division, Global ICT Strategy Bureau. (http://www.soumu.go.jp/main_sosiki/ joho_tsusin/eng/Releases/ Telecommunications/130918_01.html)

Miles, M.B., & Huberman, A.M. (1994). An Expanded Sourcebook Qualitative Data Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Miles, M.B., & Huberman, A.M. (1984). Qualitative data analysis. Beverly Hills: Sage.

Milis, K., & Mercken, R. (2002). Success factors regarding the implementation of ICT investment projects. International Journal of Production Economics, 80(1), 105- 117.

Miller-Grandvaux, Y., Welmond, M., & Wolf, J. (2002). Evolving partnerships: The role of NGOs in basic education in Africa. Academy for Educational Development. Washington DC.

Minkler, M., & Wallerstein, N. (Eds.). (2010). Community-based participatory research for health: From process to outcomes. John Wiley & Sons.

Mitra, S. (2006). The capability approach and disability. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 16(4), 236-247.

Moore, N. (2002). A model of social information need. Journal of Information Science, 28(4), 297-303.

Morales-Gomez, D., & Melesse, M. (1998). Utilising information and communication technologies for development: the social dimensions. Information technology for Development, 8(1), 3-13.

Moses, A. M. (2008). Impacts of television viewing on young children's literacy development in the USA: A review of the literature. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 8(1), 67-102.

304 Nagi S. (1991). Disability concepts revisited: implications for prevention. In: Pope, A. M,. & Tarlov, A. R., (Eds.). Disability in America: Toward a National Agenda for Prevention. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 309–327.

Nagi, S. Z. (1979). The concept and measurement of disability. Disability Policies and Government Programs, 1-15.

Nair, H. V (15 February 2011). Hearing Impaired Can Drive: HC. Hindustan Times. (http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/newdelhi/hearing-impaired- can-drive-hc/article1-662464.aspx)

Nanz, P., & Steffek, J. (2004). Global governance, participation and the public sphere. Government and Opposition, 39(2), 314-335.

National Human Rights Commission Disability Manual (2005) (http://www.nhrc.nic.in/documents/Publications/NHRC-Book-Disability.pdf)

Nayak, R., Saxena, N. C., & Farrington, J. (2002). Reaching the poor: The influence of policy and administrative processes on the implementation of government poverty schemes in India. London: Overseas Development Institute.

Neuman, S. B., & Koskinen, P. (1992). Captioned television as comprehensible input: Effects of incidental word learning from context for language minority students. Reading Research Quarterly, 95-106.

Ndou, V. (2004). E-government for developing countries: opportunities and challenges. The electronic journal of information systems in developing countries, 18.

Norris, P. (2008). Driving democracy. Cambridge University Press.

Oliver, M. (1996). Understanding disability: From theory to practice. London: Macmillan.

Oliver, M. (1990). The Politics of Disablement. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Oliver, M. (1983). Social Work With Disabled People, London: Macmillan

O'Toole, L. J. (2000). Research on policy implementation: Assessment and prospects. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 10(2), 263-288.

Papacharissi, Z. (2002). The virtual sphere The internet as a public sphere. New Media & Society, 4(1), 9-27.

Patton, E., & Appelbaum, S. H. (2003). The case for case studies in management research. Management Research News, 26(5), 60-71.

305 Parks, C. (1994). Closed Captioned TV: A Resource for ESL Literacy Education. ERIC Digest.

Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Pawson, R., Greenhalgh, T., Harvey, G., & Walshe, K. (2005). Realist review– a new method of systematic review designed for complex policy interventions. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 10(suppl. 1), 21-34.

Perlin, M. L. (2008). Change is Gonna Come: The Implications of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for the Domestic Practice of Constitutional Mental Disability Law, Northern Illinois University Law Review, 29, 483.

Pereira, A. M. (2005). Closed captioning for the deaf, state of affairs in Spain. In Quaderns Revista de traducció, 12 (pp. 161-172). (http://www.raco.cat/index.php/quadernstraduccio/article/viewFile/25486/25323.)

Peterson, W. (1998). Public policy affecting universal design. Assistive Technology, 10(1), 13-20.

Pfeiffer, D. (2001). The conceptualization of disability. In B. M. Altman & S. Barnartt (Eds.), Exploring theories and expanding methodologies: Vol. 2. Research in Social Science and Disability (pp. 29–52). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.

Poothullil, J. M. M., Sahasrabudhe, S., Chavan, P. D., & Toppo, D. (2013). Captioning and Indian Sign Language as Accessibility Tools in Universal Design. SAGE Open, 3(2), 2158244013491405.

Rajesh, M. (2003). A Study of the problems associated with ICT adaptability in Developing Countries in the context of Distance Education. The Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 4(2).

Ram, N. (2011, December). The changing role of the news media in contemporary India. In Indian History Congress 72nd Session Punjabi University (pp. 10-13).

Ransom, P. (1994). Public policy/legislative trends: Telecommunications access for people with disabilities. Technology and Disability, 3(3), 165-172.

Reagan, T. G. (2010). Language policy and planning for sign languages. Gallaudet University Press.

Reagan, T. (1995). A sociocultural understanding of deafness: American sign language and the culture of deaf people. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 19(2), 239-251.

306 Rosenbaum, P., & Stewart, D. (2004, March). The World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health: a model to guide clinical thinking, practice and research in the field of cerebral palsy. In Seminars in Pediatric Neurology (Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 5-10). WB Saunders.

Roy, S. (2005). Globalisation, ICT and developing nations: challenges in the information age. Sage.

Ruiz, R. (1994). Language policy and planning in the United States. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 14, 111-125.

Russell, M. (1998) Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.

Ryan, G. W., & Bernard, H. R. (2003). Techniques to identify themes. Field Methods,15(1), 85-109.

Saldaña, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London: Sage.

Samaha, A. M. (2007). What good is the social model of disability?. University of Chicago Law Review, 74.

Samant, D., Matter, R., & Harniss, M. (2013). Realizing the potential of accessible ICTs in developing countries. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 8(1), 11-20.

Schofield, J. W. (2002). Increasing the generalizability of qualitative research. The Qualitative Researcher's Companion, 171-203.

Seidman, I. (2012). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences. Teachers college press.

Sein, M. K., & Harindranath, G. (2004). Conceptualizing the ICT artifact: Toward understanding the role of ICT in national development. The Information Society, 20(1), 15-24.

Selwyn, N. (2004). Reconsidering political and popular understandings of the digital divide. New Media & Society, 6(3), 341-362.

Sen, A. (1992). Inequality reexamined. Oxford University Press.

Seymour, W. (2005). ICTs and disability: Exploring the human dimensions of technological engagement. Technology and Disability, 17(4), 195-204.

307 Seymour, W. and Mackinnon, A. (2004). ICTs and disability: Exploring the human dimensions of technological engagement, International Conference on ICTs & Inequalities: the digital divides, Paris. (http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q =&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved= 0CC0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Firene.asso.free.fr%2Fdigitaldivides%2Fpaper s%2FSEYMOUR_Wendy.pdf&ei=4XyiUqWKBYzfkQewoIHYBQ&usg=AFQjCNH 9UdnYGJ61jmz_KO7_kMHV28iFWw&bvm=bv.57752919,d.eW0)

Shakespeare, T. (2006). The social model of disability. The Disability Studies Reader, 2, 197-204.

Shapiro, J. P. (1993). No pity: People with disabilities forging a new civil rights movement. NY: Times Books.

Sharma, F. R., & Wasson, S. G. (2012). Speech recognition and synthesis tool: assistive technology for physically disabled persons. International Journal of Computer Science and Telecommunications, 3(4), 86-91.

Sharrock, W. W., & Anderson, R. J. (1982). On the demise of the native: some observations on and a proposal for ethnography. Human Studies, 5(1), 119-135.

Shaw, P. (2011). News television and democracy. Revista Eptic Online, 11(2).

Shinohara, K., & Wobbrock, J. O. (2011, May). In the shadow of misperception: assistive technology use and social interactions. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 705-714). ACM.

Siebers, T. (2001). Disability in theory: From social constructionism to the new realism of the body. American Literary History, 13(4), 737-754.

Silvers, A. (1994). “Defective” agents: equality, difference and the tyranny of the normal. Journal of Social Philosophy, 25(s1), 154-175.

Simmons, P. J. (1998). Learning to live with NGOs. Foreign Policy, 82-96.

Simpson, J. (2009). Inclusive information and communication technologies for people with disabilities. Disability Studies Quarterly, 29(1).

SKY (31 January 2012). SKY launches closed captions on 13 channels. (http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?id=84481)

Spanos, G., & Smith, J. J. (1990). Closed Captioned Television for Adult LEP Literacy Learners. ERIC Digest.

308 Spence, P. R., Lachlan, K., Burke, J. M., & Seeger, M. W. (2007). Media use and information needs of the disabled during a natural disaster. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 18(2), 394-404.

Stafford, B. (2012). Supporting moves into work: New Deal for Disabled People findings. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 14(2), 165-176.

Stake, R. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Strauss, K. P. (2006). A new civil right: Telecommunications equality for deaf and hard of hearing Americans. Gallaudet University Press.

TAM Media Research (2014). Annual Universe Update. (http://www.tamindia.com/tamindia/Overview_Universe_Update-2014.pdf)

Tansey, O. (2007). Process tracing and elite interviewing: a case for non- probability sampling. Political Science & Politics, 40(04), 765-772.

Tearle, P. (2003). ICT implementation: What makes the difference?. British Journal of Educational Technology, 34(5), 567-583.

Terzi, L. (2004). The social model of disability: A philosophical critique. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 21(2), 141-157.

Thomas, C. (1999). Female forms: Experiencing and understanding disability. McGraw- Hill Education (UK).

Tierney, W. G., & Clemens, R. F. (2011). Qualitative research and public policy: The challenges of relevance and trustworthiness. In Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research (pp. 57-83). Springer Netherlands.

TNN (14 March 2010). Indiaspeak: English is our second language. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indiaspeak-English-is-our-2nd- language/articleshow/5680962.cms)

Toboso, M. (2011). Rethinking disability in Amartya Sen’s approach: ICT and equality of opportunity. Ethics and Information Technology, 13(2), 107-118.

Tongia, R., Subrahmanian, E., & Arunachalam, V. S. (2005). Information and Communications Technology for Sustainable Development: Defining a Global Research Agenda. Allied Publishers.

Torero, M., & Von Braun, J. (Eds.). (2006). Information and communication technologies for development and poverty reduction: The potential of telecommunications. Johns Hopkins University Press.

309 Trani, J. F., Bakhshi, P., Bellanca, N., Biggeri, M., & Marchetta, F. (2011). Disabilities through the Capability Approach lens: Implications for public policies. ALTER-European Journal of Disability Research/Revue Européenne de Recherche sur le Handicap, 5(3), 143-157.

Trostle, J., Bronfman, M., & Langer, A. (1999). How do researchers influence decision-makers? Case studies of Mexican policies. Health Policy and Planning, 14(2), 103-114.

US Government Printing Office (2009). Title 42—The Public Health and Welfare Chapter 126 – Equal Opportunity for Individuals with Disabilities. (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2009-title42/html/USCODE-2009- title42-chap126.htm)

Vaidyanathan, S. (15 March 2013). Cable Television. (http://cis-india.org/telecom /resources/cable-tv)

Vaidyanathan, S. (n.d.). Making TV Accessible in India A report based on ITU’s “Making Television Accessible Report” prepared by the Centre for Internet and Society. (http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/making-tv-accessible-in- india.pdf/at_download/file).

Valentine, G., & Skelton, T. (2009). ‘An Umbilical Cord To The World’ The role of the Internet in D/deaf people's information and communication practices. Information, Communication & Society, 12(1), 44-65.

Van Dijk, J. A. (2005). The deepening divide: Inequality in the information society. Sage Publications.

Venturini, F. (2009). The long-run impact of ICT. Empirical Economics, 37(3), 497-515.

Vicente, M. R., & Lopez, A. J. (2010). A multidimensional analysis of the disability digital divide: some evidence for Internet use. The Information Society, 26(1), 48-64.

Vrasidas, C., Zembylas, M., & Glass, G. V. (Eds.). (2009). ICT for Education, Development, and Social Justice (PB). IAP.

Waldschmidt, A. (2009). Disability policy of the European Union: The supranational level. ALTER-European Journal of Disability Research/ Revue Européenne de Recherche sur le Handicap, 3(1), 8-23.

Walker, R. (1985). Applied qualitative research. Gower Pub Co.

Wang, E. H. H. (1999). ICT and economic development in Taiwan: analysis of the evidence. Telecommunications Policy, 23(3), 235-243.

310 Walt, G., & Gilson, L. (1994). Reforming the health sector in developing countries: the central role of policy analysis. Health Policy and Planning, 9(4), 353-370.

Wampler, B. (2000, October). A guide to participatory budgeting. In conference on participatory budgeting (p. 3).

Ward, P., Wang, Y., Paul, P., & Loeterman, M. (2007). Near-verbatim captioning versus edited captioning for students who are deaf or hard of hearing: A preliminary investigation of effects on comprehension. American Annals of the Deaf, 152(1), 20-28.

Warschauer, M. (2004). Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide. MIT press.

Watermeyer, B. (Ed.). (2006). Disability and social change: A South African agenda. HSRC Press.

Webster, F. (2007). Theories of the information society. Routledge.

Weerakkody, V., Dwivedi, Y. K., Brooks, L., Williams, M. D., & Mwange, A. (2007). E- government implementation in Zambia: contributing factors. Electronic Government, an International Journal, 4(4), 484-508.

Williams, F., & Pavlik, J. V. (1994). The people's right to know: Media, democracy, and the information highway (Vol. 93). New York: Erlbaum.

Wilson, M. I., Kellerman, A., & Corey, K. E. (2013). Global Information Society: Technology, Knowledge, and Mobility. Rowman & Littlefield.

Wimmer, R., & Dominick, J. (2013). Mass media research. Cengage learning.

Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods. Sage publications.

Yin, R. K. (2004). The case study anthology. Sage.

Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: design and methods. Sage.

Yin, R.K. (1994). Case study research: design and methods. 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Young, A., & Temple, B. (2014). Approaches to social research: The case of Deaf studies. Oxford University Press.

Yuksel, D., & Tanriverdi, B. (2009). Effects of Watching Captioned Movie Clip on Vocabulary Development of EFL Learners. Online Submission, 8(2).

311 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Ananya Roy received her PhD from the University of Florida, USA, in August

2015. She holds a Master of Communication Studies degree from Nanyang

Technological University, Singapore, a Post Graduate Diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, Ministry of Information and

Broadcasting, Government of India, and a Bachelor of Business Administration (Honors) from the University of Delhi, South Campus, New Delhi, India.

Prior to starting the doctoral program, Ananya worked as a business journalist, editor, and higher education professional in India and Singapore. Her published work includes a book chapter on the political economy of radio in India, and several news and feature articles in newspapers and magazines in Singapore and India. She has presented research on various topics at conferences of the National Communication

Association, and Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in the US, and of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Singapore.

312