Video subtitles are essential, not just an optional extra

Hello to Albert Freeman – we are re-blogging this today on CCACblog. wordpress.com – and we’d welcome you! as a CCAC member soon – see CCACaptioning.org

Meawhile- worth reading his blogpost folks – as we aim to #captiontheworld

CCAC – place 2 b 4 captioning advocacy

Albert Freeman

We all know how video is taking over the Internet, and this is opening up lots of exciting possibilities. But sadly, closed captions (or subtitles) are often thought of as an optional extra, if they are thought of at all. The truth is very different.  Unless your video makes perfect sense without sound, you really must add captions.

Think of a deaf person, or someone without a working soundcard, or someone looking at their phone on a noisy bus. Adding captions instantly makes your videos more accessible to more people. And those people will thank you for it. In fact, if you work in the public sector, it is illegal to make services online inaccessible to disabled users..

How to add subtitles on YouTube and Facebook

There are several ways to add subtitles to a YouTube video. The most fiddly, but the way I recommend, is to create…

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I Just Wanted Captions

CCAC member says it like it is! Thanks Sara L 🙂

We welcome other guest blogposts about any sort of Captioning experience, information, advocacy, you know! Submit them to CCACaptioning@gmail.com or point them to us on FB, Twitter, or in the one and only CCAC Member Forum online.

Take a hint from Sara and never give up, hold your head high, speak out, advocate!

CLICK here, just below:

Source: I Just Wanted Captions

Absence of Captioning is a Cage. Exclusion is Punishment.

“I think it’s quite true that very often people who try to break out of their perceived cage do get punished for it, whatever that cage is.” *

Is our hearing loss (or deafness) a cage where the absence of sounds are the bars holding us back? The lack of speech comprehension in people with hearing loss befuddles our human interactions.

We are stretched to “belong” – where do we belong? Do we dare to break out of our cages? Face punishment of some sort from one of many potential angles?

Yes, many of us do. We know we do not belong in a cage.

Some find a community of sign language users. Most millions do not use sign language however. Some with milder hearing loss find comfort and support in hearing loss groups, or with hearing aids and other “listening” technologies. Some undergo surgery for implants and the average improvement is about 55% hearing in the implanted ear (for some, better, for some worse), depending, as with all devices, on the situation, the voices, and the acoustics. For most, there is no cure or correction such as eyeglasses – we are far from that still.

And many others, with greater hearing loss, deafness, or knowing hearing loss is progressively worse over the years, where do we belong?

We don’t ask for this human difference. We rage, or we are proud, or we fall someplace along that spectrum, in our thoughts and feelings about being different this way – hard of hearing, deafened, or deaf.

We do deserve the resources to level the playing field. We deserve and must continue to ask for the quality captioning we need for all media online, on television, at the cinema, and in the theater.

We do deserve live event captioning also, for learning in school, for life-time learning in many places, and also online now (webinars and live events of all sorts online today). We need live captioning for face to face meetings in groups, conferences, and community events of all sorts.

The quote about a cage reminds us of another saying we find soothing at times =  “no good deed goes unpunished.”  The cage image is even more powerful. On top of being punished, a cage restricts, erases our freedom, and reduces our humanity to a basic animal level.

And then the double meaning – in a cage, or breaking out – it can be punishing – either one!

Breaking out is worth it. Finding ways with others to open new gates, explore new roads and groups, and also new technologies. We build resistance, we find allies, and we learn. There’s nothing wrong with aiming for new ideas about how to make yourself and the world better.

Wounds will heal, and inclusion happens, hopefully sooner than later, if we keep talking and also channel energies into actions. We don’t all agree on many things, including how to achieve the CCAC mission (inclusion of quality captioning universally), yet we need to connect in ways that make sense to both or all persons involved.

Carry on. Keep calm. Caption the World.

http://CCACaptioning.org

*Quote from Keira Knightly, actress, in The International Herald Tribune, October 23, 2015, page 9 under Culture.

World Wants Captioning for Everyone! Smile…

While we’re on a roll today – here’s one for fun – long live captioning! for everyone:

Warning – has the F word

https://vine.co/v/eUDxmMgXYTZ/embed/postcardhttps://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js

That is an “embed” from Vine. It may not open the actual very short video here in WordPress – hope it does! If not, click on the link here: https://vine.co/v/eUDxmMgXYTZ

(P.S. It seems the free version of WP does not allow us to embed videos from Vine, Medium, nor Wistia…we can embed from YouTube easily 🙂

ADVERTISING NEEDS QUALITY CC TOO! SELL MORE! WHY PAY IF NOT INCLUSIVE?

read more here –>> https://medium.com/@mlockrey/captioning-for-all-of-those-poor-poor-hearing-people-513550e9aaeb#.cgabp14b7

CCAC – PLACE 2 B 4 CAPTIONING ADVOCACY

JOIN AND SUPPORT THE CCAC TODAY

http://CCACAPTIONING.ORG

MEDIA CAPTIONING ADVOCACY UPDATE: HEAR THIS, SEE THIS @THEONION – CAPTIONED!

THE CCAC MEDIA TEAM has been reaching out to The Onion from early October, via emails and tweets. Most recently, we were able to telephone them also, and we were told by the Public Relations and Communications person that she’d pass our message along. We hope to hear from them soon!

And today, a CCAC member has added qualty CAPTIONING to one video for The Onion. How sweet it is to be included – if a deaf person can do this with a transcript prepared by a friend (thank you Michael!) then anyone can! The Onion probably has good scripts for all its videos now. That’s the major work involved. The rest is easy.

To view: https://michael-lockrey.wistia.com/medias/fcadkm8pew

And trying to embed actual video here: http://michael-lockrey.wistia.com/medias/fcadkm8pew?embedType=iframe&videoWidth=640

http://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/fcadkm8pew?canonicalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fmichael-lockrey.wistia.com%2Fmedias%2Ffcadkm8pew&canonicalTitle=Study%20Employees%20Happiest%20When%20Pretending%20To%20Work%20From%20Home%20-%20michael-lockrey

We want to push them forward, offer guidance, tell The Onion how vital this is. Don’t Leave Us Out!

Any questions?

Get involved. Join and support the CCAC any way you can. Your voice counts!

http://CCACaptioning.org

CCACaptioning@gmail.com

CCAC Teams are Hot – Join One Soon – Your Voice Counts in the CCAC

We’ve started working in teams online – using google hangouts (chats) that we keep open so you add your ideas and actions any time you have time. It works! Live online, anytime. This is in addition to the active CCAC forum online for all CCAC members. Both users, friends, and providers are invited to help on a team soon.

Here’s a list of CCAC CAPS (captioning advocacy projects) and Teams – pick one or more than one to join and we’ll roll out a red carpet welcome for you (virtually)!

TEAMS TO WORK WITH CCAC FOR:

1. FREE CART – CCAC GRANTS FOR LIVE EVENT CAPTIONING – read link -http://ccacaptioning.org/ccac-sponsorship-for-cart-a-new-captioning-advocacy-program/. CCAC has 3 grant programs on offer to eligible events or conferences and individuals. TEAM will market them, do outreach, review and discuss the program in all aspects.  CCAC has given some grants, see the link; and we want more applications. Consumers, Providers, Others – help on this soon please. 

2. CAPTIONS CAPTURE THE VOTES – please read all the information on this CCAC website, http://ccacaptioning.org/captions-capture-the-votes/ and there is also a CCAC FB page dedicated to this advocacy. Anyone selects a candidate of their own choice, locally, state-wide, or nationally (in any country). Pres. of CCAC coordinates and advocates with all.
3. MEDIA ONLINE TO HAVE QUALITY CAPTIONING, e.g. TechCrunch? Mashable? Onion? – team has good discussions, sent great captioning advocacy letter to first target company, no replies yet, and first target to be public very soon! Please help. (updated today 10/14).
4. AIR TRAVEL ACCESS – CCAC has a Flyer for this and it started when Sen. Harkin was still in the USA Senate last year. There is always interest in this, not only in the USA, and a team here would expand or develop it in any way that makes sense. Consumers, providers, all welcome, and internationals too.  A team needs at least 3 people.

5. CAPTIONING TRAINING – CCAC gets emails all the time from individuals and groups about how to start some captioning training, primarily inquiries from outside the USA< but also in the USA and we have offered many ideas to many. A team is needed to follow up and use the document, improve it, and help areas ensure they have enough providers. Collaborations with schools, individuals, other organizations always welcome (for this CAP or any of them).

6. 2nd CCAC FILM – Many ask us for a 2nd film to follow up on first very popular CCAC film. Lots of energy needed, funding, and more.  Film-makers, fund-raisers, and others all invited to join this team.

7. GOVERNMENT MEETINGS need Live Captioning – added this CAP 9.14.15 due to active discussion in CCAC members’ forum. More team members please. Many interested in live captions for city government meetings; what about your state legislatures online?

EMAIL NOW TO CCACAPTIONING.ORG – CCAC MEMBERS AND OTHERS. COOPERATION WITH ALL OTHER DEAF/DEAFENED/DEAF GROUPS ALSO INVITED. COLLABORATION IS IN OUR NAME.