Bridging the Gap Between the Hearing & Deaf Worlds
When it comes to the general perception of people with disability, it is normally looked with a negative context i.e. their “medical condition” is causing the barriers. However, a better approach would be to look at the barriers as the cause of society rather than because of the person.
But that can only happen if we adjust our mindset towards disability.
Learn about the differences between social and medical of disability here
The ‘curb-cut effect’ is a phenomenon that is not talked about enough, even though it has been around for decades.
But what is curb-cut effect? And how does it affect (in a positive way) almost every single person in society? Hopefully, if more people understand it, it will allow all of us to open our minds about certain features that we see in society today that, although are not primarily for us, we ended up benefiting from it too.
It’s very common to see people say “just read the subtitles/captions” when there are calls for sign language interpreters.
But is it really that simple? Spoiler alert: no. But it’s not complicated to understand it either.
Click here to learn when are subtitles/captions are not enough
Even though my main love are captions, I don’t think that transcripts get the love, attention and respect it deserves. This is evident when most people just copy and paste a big chunk of text onto a document or web page and assume that “it will do”.
But you are missing out on so much more. And more importantly, so are you users.
There seems to be a worrying and dangerous trend where large brands are censoring potential profanity and swear words in auto-captions. They claim that it is to avoid mistakes, but still, this is not a good idea.
This is following the recent news that YouTube has decided to censor potential profanity in their auto-captions just in case they pop up as mistakes. But this goes against the whole concept of having captions/subtitles in the first.
At a time of recording, there is a global pandemic with coronavirus affecting the entire world. But with so much important to follow, it’s so important to make sure that there is equal access to those content for those who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing.
At this moment in time, it’s more important than ever to make sure there is equal access to those content. It will not just protect those who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing, but also those around them too, as I explain in this podcast.
As someone who has experienced various in-flight entertainment systems when going on a long-haul flight, I can’t help but realising that I never get the full experience as they are not accessible. And that applies to various airlines across different countries. Sure, I can read books or maybe even do some work. But sometimes, you […]
As technology gets more and more sophisticated, we have seen gadgets that has literally changed our lives, and in many cases for the better. With the rise of technology such as smart speakers, we are becoming more demanding with what our gadget.
Remember how the remote control was seen as an innovative gadget? Now, it’s just something plain and normal.
But has technology gotten too far when it comes to using artificial technology to interpret sign languages? Or should we encourage it like we already do with oral languages?
Learn more about interpreting sign language with technology here
Welcome to The Hear Me Out! [CC] Podcast, an audio show (with transcripts included) where we listen to stories from fascinating individuals in and around the d/Deaf community and from your host, yours truly, Ahmed Khalifa.
In this episode, I got chatting with Henry Warren who is running a campaign called ‘Turn on the Subtitles’ where he is encouraging broadcasters and technology platforms to turn on the subtitles as research has shown that it can help improve children’s literacy rate.
Listen to podcast or read transcript of interview with Henry Warren
