Described and Captioned Media Program

What Described and Captioned Media Program does

The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) is a U.S. Department of Education-funded nonprofit program, established in 1958 and operated under the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), that provides accessible educational media to K-12 students with disabilities (deaf, hard of hearing, blind, low vision, and deaf-blind). Headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina with 11-50 employees, DCMP operates a streaming platform at dcmp.org that delivers thousands of educational videos with closed captions, audio description, and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation. The platform's Media Center is aligned to state and Common Core standards and supports a Teaching Tools layer that lets teachers create clips, lessons, and quizzes and assign them to managed Student Accounts and Classes. Complementary surfaces include a Learning Center with accessibility guidelines (the Captioning Key and Description Key, used worldwide as industry standards), an eLearning platform offering RID, CEU, and ACVREP credit-bearing professional development, and a Television Access project that adds audio description and ASL to broadcast content via OSEP-funded partners Bridge Multimedia and Dicapta.

DCMP's business model is grant-funded, not commercially monetized. All services are free to eligible members — families and school personnel with at least one student with a disability, including those in training — under a freemium-style open membership. The program generates no transactional revenue; it operates on the Educational Media Center grant plus Television Access grants administered by OSEP. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer via self-serve membership sign-up, supplemented by partnerships with educational content creators (TMW Media Group, Landmark Media, National Science Foundation, Mazzarella Media, NOAA, Sign Enhancers, Two Little Hands Productions) and broadcast distribution partners. The platform serves 7.5 million students under the Educational Media Center grant, with content distributed globally via the streaming platform and domestically via physical DVD on request and broadcast television.

The technology stack centers on a streaming media platform with accessibility-first features, including an upgraded ASL Pop-Up Player for sign language overlay, AI-generated scene descriptions with user feedback collection, a searchable standards alignment system covering all U.S. states and grade levels, teacher-managed K-12 student account systems, and tools for creating clips, lessons, and quizzes from video content. An AI Scene Description Feedback feature suggests emerging use of automated description generation, though AI is not central to the product. Distribution channels include self-serve web access (global), physical DVD on request (domestic), broadcast television via OSEP partners (domestic), and content creator partnerships (global). Customer segments span K-12 students with disabilities, teachers and school personnel, families, and content creators/distributors seeking accessibility services for their own media.

Name

Described and Captioned Media Program

Legal name

Described and Captioned Media Program

Website

https://dcmp.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1958

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

DCMP is a federally-funded nonprofit operating a free streaming platform of captioned, audio-described, and ASL-interpreted educational videos serving K-12 students with disabilities, their families, and educators across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Spartanburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Government Grants: DCMP is primarily funded through U.S. Department of Education grants managed by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). The Educational Media Center grant supports accessible media creation and streaming technology development, while Television Access grants support audio description and ASL interpretation for broadcast content. Services are provided free to eligible members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

DCMP provides a free, membership-based streaming library of accessible educational videos with high-quality captions, audio description, and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation aligned to state and Common Core standards for K-12 students with disabilities. The platform also delivers Teaching Tools for educators to build clips, lessons, quizzes, and assignments, plus a Learning Center with accessibility guidelines and eLearning professional development courses with RID, CEU, and ACVREP credit.

Product overview

The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) operates as a unified accessibility-focused streaming platform providing educational media services to students with disabilities. The core offering centers on the Media Center—a streaming library of thousands of accessible educational videos—complemented by Teaching Tools for lesson creation and assignment management. Additional components include the Learning Center (resource hub with accessibility guidelines), eLearning (professional development courses with credit options), and Television Access (broadcast accessibility project). Key features include ASL Pop-Up for sign language translation, Student Accounts/Classes for K-12 management, and Clips/Lessons for customized content creation. The platform is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and provided free to eligible families and educators.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Media Center Streaming library of thousands of accessible educational videos with high-quality captions, audio description, and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation, aligned to state and Common Core standards for K-12 students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, low vision, or deaf-blind and the educators and families serving them.
• Teaching Tools Platform module that lets K-12 teachers create video clips, build lessons, assemble quizzes, and assign videos, clips, or full lessons to DCMP Student Accounts organized into Classes for assignment tracking.
• Learning Center Resource hub providing hundreds of articles on remote learning, transition, blindness, ASL, topic playlists, and topics for parents, plus the Captioning Key and Description Key accessibility guidelines and a Help Center.
• eLearning Online professional development offering self-paced Modules, facilitated QuickClasses, and online Workshops for interpreters, audio describers, parents, and educators serving students with sensory disabilities, with many courses approved for RID, CEUs, and ACVREP credit and additional student modules on transition, note-taking, and audio description.
• Television Access OSEP-funded program that adds high-quality audio description and ASL interpretation to broadcast educational and E/I television programming, operated in partnership with Bridge Multimedia and Dicapta to align accessible broadcast content with educational standards.
• Captioning, Audio Description, and ASL Production Services Production services that add high-quality captions, audio description, and American Sign Language interpretation to educational videos and E/I programming for partner creators and distributors, with distribution through DCMP's secure streaming platforms.
• Captioning Key and Description Key Accessibility Guidelines The only guidelines developed specifically for captioning and describing educational media, used worldwide as industry standards, made available through the DCMP Learning Center.

Quantifiable outcome

• 7.5 million students served through the Educational Media Center grant

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TMW Media GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTMW Media Group is one of the leading creators, developers and distributors of educational video content for classrooms, higher learning institutions, libraries, home schoolers and consumers. Founded in 1989, they partner with DCMP to provide accessible educational content.
• Landmark MediacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLandmark Media provides educational video content through DCMP's accessible media library, covering topics including social studies, science, and language arts.
• National Science FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Science Foundation provides science content including the '4 Awesome Discoveries You Probably Didn't Hear About This Week' series and other educational science programming through DCMP.
• Mazzarella MediacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMazzarella Media provides educational content covering history, social studies, and civics through DCMP's accessible platform.
• Two Little Hands ProductionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTwo Little Hands Productions provides educational content related to sign language and communication for deaf and hard of hearing students.
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNOAA provides science and environmental educational content through DCMP's accessible media library.
• Georgina GonzalezminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndependent content creator providing educational media through DCMP's accessible platform.
• Bridge MultimediacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBridge Multimedia operates as an OSEP-funded Television Access grant partner, developing high-quality audio description and ASL interpretation for broadcast content that aligns with educational standards.
• DicaptacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDicapta operates as an OSEP-funded Television Access grant partner, developing accessible media content with audio description and ASL interpretation for educational television programming.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bookshare: Bookshare (operated by Benetech) is the most direct peer—also federally-funded through OSEP to provide accessible educational content (e-books) to students with print disabilities. Both organizations share the OSEP funding pathway, serve the same K-12 disability population, and operate free membership models for eligible students.
• Learning Ally: Learning Ally provides audiobooks for students with reading difficulties including dyslexia, visual impairments, and other print disabilities. Comparable to DCMP in serving K-12 students with disabilities via accessible educational content, though it operates on a hybrid free/subscription model rather than purely grant-funded.

Broad incumbents

• 3Play Media: 3Play Media is a leading commercial captioning and transcription provider serving education, media, and enterprise. Comparable to DCMP's captioning capability but operates as a commercial vendor at scale, representing the private-sector alternative to DCMP's grant-funded captioning services.

Peers

• Ai-Media:

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Described and Captioned Media Program