access_fandom | Entries tagged with captioning

First: it's struck me that it would be really useful to have a consistent AO3 tag to add to art and comics with transcripts/descriptions, to make it easier for people looking for such works. Do people have any suggestions? "Transcript" is already used for certain kinds of prose, "transcribed art" maybe? "Described art"? "Art with description"?

Second: I was quite happy to see this in the preliminary FAQ for the Kaleidoscope fanworks challenge at

dark_agenda:

Captions: Visual and audio content, especially those hosted on the Internet, often presents an accessibility issue for a significant number of us, not just those of us with visual and/or hearing impairments. For example, videos with English-language audio, for example, can pose a problem for some non-native English speakers and closed caption provides a helpful tool for them in processing what is being said.

Thus, we ask participants to consider providing some type of captioning for their fanwork if possible.

And then they go on to give some examples and resources.

Have many other challenges etc involving art and vids explicitly encouraged captions? It's the first time I've noticed it, but would be very happy if it's an emerging trend.

I've also been having fun thinking of disabled characters who would be plausibly eligible for the challenge.

were_duck

Hello!

I'm one of the organizers for the Vid Party at WisCon, and this year we plan to curate a fully subtitled "Singalong" show, to increase the accessibility and enjoyment of our party. We are looking for volunteers to help with the process of subtitling.

skud has posted a subtitling tutorial over in

wiscon_vidparty if you'd like to take a look at what is involved. Incidentally, this method can be used to subtitle any video, not just fanvids, so please consider it a resource for your own use.

If you are interested in helping us subtitle--even just a video or two!--we would be most appreciative. Please just leave a comment in this post or drop an email to wiscon.vidparty [at] gmail [dot] com.

sqbr

First: Is there anyone here who uses tumblr and benefits significantly from image/video descriptions? I've been making a small effort to champion them, but apart from the sorts of things that apply intermittently to everyone (A video blocked at your work or country, comics with tiny text etc) my arguments have all been about hypothetical users and it would be useful to (a)Have some evidence against the "but noone who needs descriptions would use a visual medium like tumblr" argument(*) and (b)Get any specific suggestions you guys might have to offer (like: given the fact that long descriptions are often cut off automatically or by rebloggers, is it better to do short ones? Or do you lose too much information?)

Second: With my fanart I've been pitching my descriptions at people who are familiar with canon unless I have some particular reason to think it will be interesting to those who aren't. In general I find writing descriptions quite mentally taxing and, beyond mentioning the names of the characters and canon so that people can google if they like, trying to imagine how to make the image make sense to someone who doesn't know canon without going into a three page backstory is usually too much for me. But since I don't really use image descriptions myself I worry I may be missing something.
( Read more... )

jesse_the_k

jenett is narrating the process of access planning for an upcoming con over in the

accessibility_fail community.

One element she's working on is real-time captioning, abbreviated as CART or RTC. SF/F cons provide a peculiarly challenging environment for real-time captioning: we tend to all talk at once; we talk over each other; we use plenty of made-up words, names, and acronyms; and our discussions swoop unpredictably between grade-school humor and post-doc details (sometimes in one sentence).

CART is created by a highly trained steno-captionist (court reporter) who uses a chording keyboard to transcribe what speakers say, sound for sound. Computer software translates this into text, which is projected on a screen behind the speaker. This phonic-based system means that CART transcribers do best when they can program in names, neologisms, and acronyms in advance. Without that advance prep, ER SUE LA LUG WIN and I SACK AS HIM OFF might be showing up in a panel discussion. On the plus side, the CART transcript is verbatim, which creates a good record of the event.

There's another approach to text-based transcription: "meaning for meaning" or "m4m" systems. At present there are two in the U.S.: TypeWell and C-PRINT. Both provide online training which prepares a transcriber in 60 hours or less. The transcriber uses a standard laptop with extensive abbreviation-expansion software, and basically liveblogs the event. The same concerns arise with personal names; the finished transcript is briefer and hopefully meatier. RTC stenocaptionists earn a minimum of $120/hour; TypeWell transcribers start at around $50/hour.

You can read a spirited discussion of the pros and cons of CART and TypeWell in the college classroom at Deafness section at About.com. Jamie Berke has been editing this section for decades, and she totally knows her stuff.

Finally, here's a good elevator overview of the assistive technologies most helpful for people who have hearing impairments.

Sign language interpreters is a whole 'nother post.

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Access Fandom

improving disability access in fandom

Further thoughts on image descriptions and fandom

Subtitling Vids: Looking for volunteers!

Some questions about image descriptions

Access Planning in Progress: Text Transcription Issues

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