Accessible Places – Companies and People – Spotlight on Keen Guides
December 31, 2011 Comments Off on Accessible Places – Companies and People – Spotlight on Keen Guides
What the world needs is – a whole lot more places that are fully accessible for all. In the CCAC, our focus is on equal communication access with inclusion of quality captioning, and today we highlight a company (and person) who is doing what they can to build awareness, and provide services, especially for museums and other cultural venues.
Below is a tidbit from Catharine’s company blog – worth reading more on that site as well, see the blog (and services) from Keen Guides, http://blog.keenguides.com/
Example:
Have you ever stood in front of a piece of very abstract art at a museum, and been like, “Ok. I don’t get it.” Of course you have. And then you look at the small placard below it, and it gives you some explanation, and all of the sudden the abstract colors, shapes, and lines come together in a way that makes sense? Yeah. That’s how I hear.
Well, anyway, it’s how I hear NPR. I learned how to listen to – and understand – podcasts from well-written descriptions about each episode to help me out. Let me explain.
Ok, let’s face MORE >
JUN 1ST, 2011
=======================go to her site to read more=========================================
CCAC is not a company. We are a two-year-old community of new and seasoned volunteer advocates for inclusion of quality captioning universally. As we begin year three, we seek ideas, energies, supporters, and partners to take the CCAC project forward. Please get in touch soon to discuss collaborations! ccacaptioning@gmail.com
Court Reporters are Captioning Friends
December 27, 2011 § 1 Comment
Do you all know that Court Reporters are important for captioning concerns and advocacy too? Why? Because many choose to get additional training and certification for “realtime” and for captioning and CART services, sorely needed in so many places. We encourage this :-). The standards of the professions are important too.
Here’s a blog we learned about today, and with permission, we share it with you all here:
December 2011
“I will call you out.”
“If you misrepresent what’s in this plan, we will call you out.” So said President Barack Obama in a speech on health care some years ago. “Know this,” he said. “I won’t stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly as they are. If you misrepresent what’s in this plan, we will call you out. And I will not — I WILL NOT — accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now.”
Somehow, those words made me think about quality in our profession, especially on the CART/captioning side, and the thousands of hearing-impaired persons who depend on us as their ears for their window on the world. The status quo … doing things a certain way because that’s the way we’ve always done things … has left hearing-impaired people marginalized. Cast off to the side with condescension. They’re not asked if their ADA accommodation is of good enough quality to be helpful to them. In rare instances where they are asked and do complain, they’re told they should be grateful for whatever they’re offered in the way of accommodation, accommodating or not.
This means late-deafened adults may receive American Sign Language interpreting even when their hearing loss is so sudden that they do not know ASL. This means hearing-impaired viewers are left in the dark when television stations use cheap, low-quality computer software programs instead of competent broadcast captioners to caption TV. This means hearing-impaired students are impaired even further when they’re offered a notetaker throwing disjointed concepts at them instead of the full accomodation afforded by a qualified CART provider.
Low-ball contracting practices, corporatization, and commoditization affect our profession. But unskilled, unqualified providers and the fly-by-night agencies they work for will do more damage to the reporting profession than any amount of low-ball contracting, corporatization, or incentive gift-giving practices. But who suffers most from lack of quality? It’s the client.
The level of service for CART/captioning work demands excellent CART and broadcast captioning providers. Near perfection, in my opinion. Anything less is a violation of the requirement of the Americans With Disabilities Act … a violation of the very law that was enacted to protect the hearing-impaired consumer from being taken advantage of. I never want to see that happen.
Many agency owners are happy to squeak by the way they’ve always done things … with The Warm Body Syndrome for their CART consumer. They want to misrepresent to the CART consumer that this is the best we can do, and their last thought is to quality. I’m extremely disturbed when methods such as typewell are offered as full accommodation for a deaf or hard-of-hearing person. I won’t stand for that. Not now, when quality matters more than ever. I won’t permit the same old excuses to keep things as they have been for years. When agencies offer accommodation that is not full accommodation, I will call them out by letting CART consumers know there is something better out there for them. I will call them out by demonstrating the superiority of CART over typewell for hearing-impaired students. I will point out the high price paid for low cost … that price paid by the CART consumer. Rest assured, if you misrepresent, I will call you out.
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Thanks Mary Ann. from her blog, http://maryannpayonk.typepad.com/maryannpayonk/2011/12/we-will-call-you-out.html#comments
INTERACTIVE CAPTIONING – COOL
December 22, 2011 Comments Off on INTERACTIVE CAPTIONING – COOL
Not to replace inclusion of quality cc (full verbatim speech to text), yet an additional feature for millions, check this out….
Greetings to New Subscribers to the CCAC Blog
December 21, 2011 Comments Off on Greetings to New Subscribers to the CCAC Blog
We welcome all subscribers here and are happy to see some new names! Add your comments anytime please, and/or say hello with a short introduction with something about your interests in captioning advocacy. There’s so much more captioning inclusion needed all over the place.
If you care to join the CCAC also, your membership (free) will add to our numbers and eventual influence – one day the mission of the ccac might be accomplished.
Cheers and best for the season – light up our shared adventures.
Three Cheers to all CCAC Members, Friends, and Followers!
December 19, 2011 § 3 Comments
The CCAC is Two Years Old Today,
Hoorah and horray :-).
Giving a cheer to you all too,
Members, friends and all who follow,
Without so many, we’d be much more — well…hollow!
With love to our family cheering squad too,
And hugs to all of you!
Caption Up Everyone – Advocate, Educate, and Advocate; Repeat!
Help the CCAC find ways to continue and achieve the mission: Inclusion of quality captioning universally.
Lauren/CCAC
EDUCATION: Please watch this video!
December 18, 2011 § 6 Comments
Ever doubt what a motivated deaf/hoh/deafened person can do? Watch this! Remote real time captioning (CART) is so needed in so many places by so many people. Thanks for this video, Amanda, UC Davis Medical School, faculty, and all there. With the right resources, we are able!
GOVERNMENT: And Business – Text Announcements
December 14, 2011 § 1 Comment
From Australia – and many already saying we need this in all countries. Others expressing doubts about if it will work or not (who will be responsible for texting all voiced public announcements?). It ain’t captioning, yet close!
NEW APP GIVES HEARING IMPAIRED ACCESS TO
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Australian Communication Exchange has developed a smartphone app that displays text-based public announcements for people who are Deaf or hearing impaired. This will give people who are Deaf or hearing impaired visual access to public announcements otherwise made through auditory methods, such as the radio or public announcement systems.
The app, Silent Tweets, is a visual alert system for iPhone and Android smartphone users. It allows anyone who downloads the app to post and receive important information about public areas. Users are given 140 characters to write information to be shared with other users who are within the location that the announcement relates to.
Using the Global Positioning System (GPS) tool on the smartphone, the app will automatically send notifications to users based on their location. For example, if a train is running late or will depart from a different platform, a person who uses the app will be able to receive a visual notification of the timetable and platform changes, as well as a vibration that indicates a new announcement has been made.
In a statement, Australian Communication Exchange (ACE) chief executive officer, Sandy Gilliland said: “The application is a compelling idea for the Deaf and hearing impaired community as it provides functionally equivalent access to the range of audio messages and announcements that the hearing community enjoy.”
According to ACE, 50 large scale organisations will contribute to the information posted and distributed via the app. Information about traffic, weather, train services and sporting events will be available. ACE is currently working towards getting more organisations to participate.
The Silent Tweets app is one of the winners of the 2011 Telstra Innovation Challenge and will be released to coincide with the 2012 Australian Deaf Games on the 14 January 2012. It will be free to download from iTunes and the Android Market.
The ‘tweets’ posted on Silent Tweets will be screened by ACE.
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story from this site: http://www.mediaaccess.org.au/latest_news/general/new-app-gives-hearing-impaired-access-to-public-announcements with a tip of the hat to Alex Varley there.
p.s. According to our own local news last night, there are some risks attached to turning on the GPS on any new smartphone. Everyone, and that means anyone who wants to find out, knows exactly where you are, what photos you are taking where, to whom you are sending messages, etc. This may be unavoidable soon, yet if there’s a remnant of privacy left in cyberspace, one might also have some questions about this related to above. On the other hand, you can turn the GPS on and off – so, e.g. if you are waiting in train station or airport, you can turn it on during the wait.
GOVERNMENT – New Zealand, Captioning, and Representation!
December 13, 2011 Comments Off on GOVERNMENT – New Zealand, Captioning, and Representation!
Congrats to all involved with this news: http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/tv-subtitles-aid-new-green-mp-4627466
Copying it here for comments and discussion. For other “Government” matters related to captioning inclusion, join the CCAC to search our member discussion archives, read the CCAC web articles and resources, and search below for more recent news about Government – we the people.
TV subtitles to aid new Green MP
Published: 5:34AM Monday December 12, 2011 Source: Fairfax
Captioned television coverage of parliamentary proceedings will keep New Zealand’s first profoundly deaf MP actively involved in debates in the House.
Mojo Mathers has become Christchurch’s newest MP and the Green Party’s 14th MP in this Parliament after the counting of special votes.
Mathers, a mother of three with a master’s degree in conservation ecology and No14 on the party list, stood in Christchurch East as an electorate candidate and won 1347 votes.
Ironically, Mathers’ ascension knocked out fellow Christchurch East hopeful Aaron Gilmore.
The Greens’ 11.06% of the nationwide party vote saw them gain Mathers as an extra list MP at the expense of National’s Gilmore, who at 60th on his party’s list fell one short of National’s total number of seats.
Mathers told The Press yesterday, by email, she initially doubted she would make it in to Parliament.
“For most of the campaign I really didn’t think it was going to happen for me. It was only in the last week of the election campaign that I went to my children and said, `there is just a chance that I will be in Parliament after all’.”
Her disability would require special measures in the House, she said.
“My primary requirement to engage in political debates will be the use of electronic notetakers. In the Debating Chamber this will require parliamentary TV to be screened at my seat with captions, such as with Hansard.
“It is my hope that this will be available for the wider public online as well. This will ensure that all deaf and hearing-impaired have proper access to our parliamentary debates.
“Once it happens people will wonder why it wasn’t done before.”
She strongly identified with the Christchurch East electorate.
“The Brighton strip in particular – North New Brighton to Southshore – has a high proportion of green-friendly residents who are passionate about sustainable and strong communities.
“The earthquakes and the rebuild of Christchurch are obviously huge issues. However, residents are also concerned about long-term issues such as clean water, quality public transport and cycle lanes, and warm dry homes.
“Many people I spoke to want to see Christchurch become a world leader in sustainable city design with an accessible central city that belongs to everyone.”
Gilmore said he was “reasonably philosophical” about missing out.
“There’s not much I could do … I didn’t get enough votes for me personally.
“But we did very, very well, with 46% of people voting National in Christchurch East.”
He had employment “options”, but was keeping an eye on National list retirements.
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