Canada s Acceible Media Chooses Signiant for Secure, Managed File Exchanges to Support Production of Acceible Content

Published: Nov 16, 2011, Press Releases, Signiant Facilitates Production and Rapid Delivery of Content for Visually and Hearing Impaired and Others Requiring Accessible Content

BURLINGTON, MA (November, 16, 2011) - Signiant, a global leader in intelligent file movement software for the media and entertainment industry, today announced that Accessible Media Inc. (AMI), a Canadian not-for-profit media company that provides broadcast content for the blind, low vision, deaf and hard of hearing, has adopted Signiant's digital file transfer technology. Signiant automates and accelerates delivery of media files among AMI's local broadcasting centers across Canada and its two main broadcasting facilities in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, to streamline production of described video and closed-captioned content.

We rely on Signiant to facilitate collaboration among our broadcast facilities and to efficiently move our media in a secure and controlled fashion. With Signiant's acceleration technology, we know we can get content where it needs to go very quickly and reliably, which helps us keep to our very tight production schedules, said Cyrus Hira, AMI's broadcast support specialist. One of the reasons we selected Signiant over other file transfer solutions is its ability to be easily customized to handle all of the various production processes in our workflow, such as different networking and delivery requirements based on where our editors, videographers and graphics technicians are located.

Mandated as must-carry content by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), AMI's programs are designed for Canadians who are blind, deaf, vision, hearing or mobility restricted, learning disabled, print-restricted or learning English as a second language by making print, broadcast and online media accessible.

The organization's VoicePrint service provides audio readings of local, national, and international news and information that are broadcast and also available from the AMI website. In addition, AMI produces The Accessible Channel also known as TACtv, the world's only television network to broadcast all programs with open described video and closed captioning. Available on the digital basic tier, TACtv broadcasts Hollywood movies and popular TV shows into more than five million Canadian homes.

With the launch of TACtv, AMI chose Signiant to facilitate delivery of content from 10 local broadcast centers located in major cities throughout Canada, and to accelerate file transfers between its main headquarters facility in Toronto and its master control facility in Hamilton, Ontario. The local broadcast centers aggregate content including local news items and produce the described video and closed caption content for TACtv, as well as the volunteer-read audio files for VoicePrint. Signiant then provides error correction and file verification for transferring the content via FTP over AMI's 10-gigabyte private network to the Toronto headquarters for editing. Signiant agents installed in Toronto and in Hamilton provide seamless, point-to-point delivery of the edited content to master control in Hamilton, where it receives a final QC and is then uplinked to satellite for delivery to broadband and baseband providers.

AMI is providing an important service for many Canadians who are unable to watch or listen to conventionally broadcast content, and it's very gratifying to see that Signiant's technology is helping to enable the production and distribution of these programs, said Robert Browne, Founder and vice president, business development. Like content producers around the globe, AMI has discovered the value of Signiant for fast, secure, and managed delivery of content across their entire network.

About Accessible Media Inc. (AMI)

Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) is a not-for-profit multimedia organization operating two broadcast services, VoicePrint and The Accessible Channel TACtv, and a companion website (ami.ca). AMI serves more than five million Canadians who are blind, deaf, vision, hearing or mobility impaired, learning disabled, print-restricted or learning English as a second language by making print, broadcast and online media accessible. www.ami.ca

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