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Archive for May, 2011

Another Video Captioning Option

Posted in Archives #1 Deafness and Accessibility, Broom Closet, Creating Accessibility, Deaf/Hearing Relations, Deafness, Empowerment, Equal Communication Access, Interpreting, Paganism, Sign Language, Spirituality, Universal Issues, Video Posts on Sunday May 29 2011 | 3 Comments »

Recently I’ve put up a couple of posts here at the Crossroads about captioning your videos…an issue which – as a Deaf person myself – is near and dear to my heart, as well as an important one for many deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

Since many people do use YouTube for downloading their videos, the post right before this one (check at the top for the link to it) focused on YouTube’s caption feature and how you can use the Automatic Timing to download your own simple transcript and allow the program to automatically insert it into your video for you – you do not need to know time codes or frame numbers.

One of the nice things about blogging is the comments that you can receive, dialogue that can be generated, and information that can be shared.

I got some nice comments to the above mentioned post from others which reinforce the need for video captioning, and entered into some good dialogue with a Pagan podcaster about the whole idea of captioning and its pros and cons.

And I’ve gotten some good information which can be passed on to my readership.

I don’t consider myself a geek…my technical know-how leaves something to be desired. I have some basic knowledge, and I’m learning more from my one-on-one lessons with Chris at Computers Plus – who is teaching me the ins and outs of using my new MacBook Pro. But I wouldn’t call myself an expert on software and programs and the like. What I know I’ve either learned from others or picked up from reading stuff on the web.

So I’m indebted to a fellow member of the Deaf Community – Don G – for sharing with me information about another source for captioning your videos.

The program is called VideoCritter, and from what I can see, it appears to be pretty easy to use. Here is a video that explains how to use the program:

The thing that looks nice about this program is that it is not based on voice to text technology – so it can be used by Deaf individuals to add text to their ASL videos.

It seems pretty simple to use – just a matter of clicking ENTER and typing your text.

This program has earned a thumbs up from Dave the podcaster:

VideoCritter makes captioning a painless process thanks to the keyboard shortcuts. In the past 10 minutes, I’ve already captioned a video using VideoCritter…No manual inputs of timestamps (or worse, frame numbers)…Just hit enter after a phrase is said, type what was said, press Enter to save, and Enter again to continue playing. It’s actually pretty darn good at not messing up timing too much when I speak quickly.

The important thing about VideoCritter’s program is – as Dave pointed out – it’s fairly quick and easy to use. This is not to say that it doesn’t take time – it does, and naturally the longer your video, the more time it will take to create the captions. But at least you’re not stuck with trying to manually insert text into each and every frame step by step, using time codes and/or frame numbers. That is definitely more time-consuming.

Since you control the content of the captions, you don’t have to worry about misspelled words or bloopers. And because it’s not based on audio or speech-to-text, it can be used for captioning videos which use sign language without voice, for making “silent movies,” or just adding informative text to slide shows or the like.

If you enjoy creating videos, podcasts, vlogs…whatever you wanna call ‘em – you might want to give VideoCritter a try.

The millions of people with hearing loss will certainly appreciate it.

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Adding Captions to Your YouTube Video

Posted in Archives #1 Deafness and Accessibility, Cinema, Creating Accessibility, Deaf/Hearing Relations, Deafness, Empowerment, Equal Communication Access, Paganism, Spirituality, Universal Issues, Video Posts, witchcraft on Friday May 27 2011 | 17 Comments »

In a previous post, I talked about the importance of adding captions to the videos that you create, in order for them to be accessible to deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

In that post, I mentioned that YouTube has come up with a new automatic captioning program by which it can automatically add captions to your video by transcribing the audio into text.

Here’s the problem – the Auto-Captioning program leaves something to be desired. While people might say that it is “better than nothing,” I like to think I deserve to be able to watch a video without scratching my head and trying to decipher incorrectly transcribed words.

please, Please, PLEASE folks! Don’t just settle for clicking the auto-captioning feature and leave it at that. Watch your video afterwards with the captioning. Determine for yourself if it’s truly satisfactory. The odds are you’re going to find that it has a couple of errors…especially if you are using specialized vocabulary, a lot of names, or if the sound isn’t totally clear.

You might think that it’s “good enough.” But should anyone have to settle for just “good enough” when there is a way to make it even better?

I strongly recommend that anyone who wants to add captioning to their YouTube video please consider downloading an actual transcript of the audio track on your video, and then request Auto Timing when downloading their video to YouTube. This will allow YouTube to use your transcript as the basis for captioning your video – the auto timing feature will allow for the words of the transcript to be inserted into the video at the proper time based on the audio the program “hears.”

All you have to do is listen to your video and type up a simple transcript of what is said. You do not need to include time codes or frame numbers. You are not manually inserting captions into the video frame by frame. YouTube’s automatic timing program takes care of all of this for you. Just type up the lines of the videos – similar to typing up a simple script for a play or the like. Save this transcript to a file (such as a Word document) and then download the transcript file to YouTube’s auto timing captioning program. YouTube will do all the rest – inserting the words from your transcript document into the video at the proper time, utilizing proper vocabulary that is spelled correctly.

It’s really not that difficult folks…nor is it that time consuming – especially since you’re not manually inserting or typing up the captions frame by frame.

And it will make a world of difference to people like myself. It will open up so many more opportunities for us to when it comes to internet videos.

Why not give it a try?

Need more information on how to do this? Just watch this video!

 

PLEASE NOTE: There are many different programs which can create captions and text for videos, podcasts, etc. This just happens to be one of them. In my next post (see the link up at the top of this page) I discuss another captioning option that is pretty quick and easy. If you know of others that you’ve used and liked, drop me a line and let me know…and I will pass the info on to my readership. Thanks! 

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The Pagan Community and Deaf Access

Posted in Archives #1 Deafness and Accessibility, Archives #2 On Being Deaf and Pagan, Broom Closet, Creating Accessibility, Deaf/Pagan Relations, Deafness, Empowerment, Equal Communication Access, Ethics, Interpreting, Paganism, Sign Language, Spirituality, Universal Issues, Women's Spirituality on Thursday May 19 2011 | 8 Comments »

(photo showing sculpture of the sign “relationship/connect”)

As my Crossroads readers know, this blog is my attempt to merge my identity as a Deaf person with my Pagan spirituality.

Some of my posts focus on Deaf issues, some of my posts focus on Pagan issues.

And some of them focus on both.

That merger of Deafhood and Paganism has its trials and tribulations. As I stated in a post I wrote a few years ago:

When I go into the Pagan Community, I am often the only Deaf person there…and understandably my perspectives on Paganism are going to be colored by my identity as a Deaf person – to the point where I have actually gotten accused by other Pagans of being “too Deaf” and trying to cram the whole Deafhood thing down everyone’s throat.

Then I move over to the Deaf Community, where I tend to view things from a Pagan perspective – after all, I have been a practicing Pagan for 25+ years and it is more than just a religion, it becomes my whole philosophy and lifestyle – and what happens? I get accused of being “too Pagan”…of trying to promote the Pagan religion, and cram Witchcraft down everyone’s throat. Or even worse, I get shunned by other Deaf folks, who view my beliefs as an indication of “devil worship.”

So what’s a Deaf Pagan like me supposed to do? Where do we fit in? How do we find our place in the world?

It’s not easy.

And it’s not made any easier by the lack of access that Deaf Pagans often have when they wish to attend Pagan events – presentations, rituals, workshops, conferences, gatherings and the like. Oftentimes interpreters are not provided for such events, and when we attempt to request such the response often is not positive. Various explanations are given for the lack of access: “we don’t provide that kind of service,” “we don’t have the funds to pay for interpreters,” “our event is staffed entirely by volunteers and it would not be appropriate for us to pay for someone to sign for you,” and last but not least – “you should be taking care of your own needs and bringing your own assistant to sign for you.”

I realize that most Pagan organizations know little if anything about the Deaf Community, and thus such responses are often the result of ignorance and misunderstanding.

Thus I have been thrust into the role of educator and advocate – teaching the Pagan Community about Deaf Culture while at the same time advocating for Equal Communication Access.

I accept this role willingly, but it does come with its challenges. Being an advocate means sticking your neck out and risking the not-so-pleasant response you might get from others.

To illustrate:

I am currently involved in an exchange of emails with a Pagan organization that puts on an annual event I wish to attend. In spite of my best efforts, they have been resistant to the idea of establishing interpreting services for such.

The most recent email I received from them left me quite concerned about their true understanding of the issues of which we were discussing.

Comments made by other Pagans related to this subject leads me to suspect that this organization is not alone in its lack of knowledge and comprehension of Deaf Culture, Equal Communication Access, Interpreting, Advocacy, the Americans with Disabilities Act, etc.

So I’ve decided to use this experience as an opportunity to educate the Pagan Community, and use Deaf Pagan Crossroads as the medium for doing so.

I have posted in its entirety the most recent communication which I have sent to this organization, sharing my thoughts and feelings in regards to the whole communication access issue.

I confess that this email was rather lengthy, so I have broken it down into five parts so you can read each issue in a separate post. I encourage you to read all five posts so that you can get the full picture and thus a better sense of where both parties are coming from.

Individual names as well as the name of the event and its hosting organization have been removed, and will not be shared. I see no point in such identification.  Who, what and where is irrelevant. The point is to read it, to think about it, and to learn from it.

And perhaps even apply it to your own Pagan organization.

To begin reading this Pagan Deaf Accessibility Letter, please click on the below link to go to Part One. From there, you will be given links for the next part. 

Part One:


http://deafpagancrossroads.com/2011/05/19/pagan-deaf-access-letter-part-one-clarifying-the-laws/

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Pagan Deaf Access Letter part one – “Clarifying the Laws”

Posted in Archives #1 Deafness and Accessibility, Archives #2 On Being Deaf and Pagan, Broom Closet, Creating Accessibility, Deaf/Pagan Relations, Deafness, Empowerment, Equal Communication Access, Ethics, Interpreting, Paganism, Sign Language, Spirituality, Universal Issues, witchcraft, Women's Spirituality on Thursday May 19 2011 | 1 Comment »

(graphic showing sign language pictures for “law obey must you”)

Greetings Ocean,

We are writing you in hopes of giving you a better understanding about our organization and how our event and community work.

That’s not the issue here. You keep trying to divert away from the real issue by making irrelevant arguments about how I don’t understand your organization or event and the way it works. That’s beside the point. The issue here is that as a Deaf person, I would need communication access. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is the responsibility of the organization hosting the event to assure that it is accessible to individuals with disabilities. Your organization has steadfastly refused to accept this responsibility, and keeps trying to turn me into an ogre who doesn’t understand, refuses to cooperate, and is trying to damage your event by making unrealistic demands. I find this quite insulting. 

In your most recent letter to us, you incorrectly classified our gathering as a “public” event and therefore subject to various state and Federal regulations regarding accommodation. You are mistaken in your assessment that this is a public event. Our event is a private event and not open to the general public and its media, and therefore is not subject to the regulations you quote.

Could you please cite the sources by which you have come to this conclusion, and provide the name and contact information of your attorney or legal advisor who has stated such.

 As I have attempted to explain in my previous contact, I myself have talked to individuals who are familiar with these regulations. The individual whom I spoke to at the Americans with Disabilities Act Technical Assistance Center (which is operated under the auspices of the US Dept. of Justice) did in fact tell me that because you are holding this event at a site that is a public accommodation you are in fact subject to the regulations for the duration of time in which you are leasing space at this public accommodation for the purpose of holding this event.

 I am still trying to get confirmation as to whether or not this is in fact accurate information. I would think and hope that you would want clarification on this matter as much as I do. Please bear in mind that Title III does in fact cover private entities. It is true organizations that are recognized as religious entities under IRS regulations are exempt from compliance with the law. However, as I state above, there is some question as to whether this exemption still applies in those situations where such an entity leases space from a public accommodation (such as a campground, which is covered under the law) for holding an event.

 I am trying to get clarification on whether or not this gathering does in fact fall under the legal definition of a public event. You do advertise it on the Internet…you do invite the general public to register for the event. Your event is identified in Wikipedia. You do promote it at various events and circulate printed materials advertising such. You do invite people to register and pay an entry fee, and do state that they are not required to be members of your organization to attend. You do state that when registering, if the individual signs a form indicating that they agree to abide by the guidelines of the event they may attend. This does in fact raise some question in regards to whether or not your event would be considered public or private. 

 I’m not simply going to take your word for it – I want to get a clear decision on this matter from individuals who are in a position to make such a determination; and I would think that you and your organization would want the same. Those individuals would of course be representatives from the federal agency responsible for overseeing and enforcing the law, which would be the United States Department of Justice. I am also asking for assistance from individuals who are familiar with the law – such as the National Association of the Deaf, which works closely with DOJ on the regulations as they pertain to the deaf and hard of hearing. The Executive Director of the NAD is himself a Deaf attorney who was appointed by President Obama to serve on the United States Access Board, which is responsible for setting accessible design and technical criteria used to promote compliance with federal disability laws. 

 What also upsets me is that regardless of whether or not you are actually subject to these regulations, I would have hoped that your organization would WANT to make the effort to be accessible, simply out of a desire to be inclusive to all…simply out of a recognition that it is the right thing to do…simply because doing so honors the Divine Spirit that is an integral part of this event. 

 Instead, the message that keeps coming across is “we are not obligated to have to be accessible, we are not responsible for taking care of your communication needs, you need to be a good little Pagan and take care of such needs yourself. You need to stop being demanding and expecting others to do for you when you should be doing for yourself. Bad witch! Bad witch!”

 Again…I find this insulting. 

Notes:

Chuckle…where is Robert Mather when you need him? I’m not a lawyer, folks. While I do have experience working with the ADA, I’m not clear on all aspects of it, and I also realize that it has undergone changes and various interpretations over the years. If someone with greater knowledge and expertise wants to take a shot at some of the issues raised in this part of my letter, please feel free to do so in the commentary section below.

Part Two:


http://deafpagancrossroads.com/2011/05/19/pagan-deaf-access-letter-part-two-who-knows-best/ 

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