Bridging the Gap Between the Hearing & Deaf Worlds
When on a video call, and if available, I tend to take advantage of the automatic subtitles to help get through the call, and most deaf people would do the same.
But automatic subtitles are not perfect. They’re not terrible, but they’re not perfect. However, there are steps everyone can take to make it as accurate as possible and make it easier for the technology to pick up the words.
There seems to be an ongoing trend from video creators and consumers in that closed captions on YouTube are not accurate, so it’s not worth worrying about.
What?!? Why do you think it’s not accurate? The responsibility of accurate video captions relies on you as the creator, not the technology that is creation auto-captions (aka CRAPtions).
Not only should all video creators take closed captions seriously, but if you are relying on some kind of artificial intelligence and machine learning to do the work for you, it will never be accurate. So take ownership of your content and make it accurate.
Learn why technology are not responsible for caption accuracy
I’ve talked about concentration fatigue and ‘Zoom fatigue’ in the past. But the topic of ‘listening fatigue’ is somewhat similar to it. If you are not familiar with it, at the time of recording, I have been going through a form of listening fatigue where I’m tired of listening.
Just to clarify, I don’t mean I am tired of listening to people talking to me because of what they are saying. It’s more a long the line of I’m tired of the physical action of listening.
Hence why ‘listening fatigue’ (aka ‘hearing fatigue’) is a term that is often used by some d/Deaf and hard of hearing people.
Why would a deaf person not wear hearing aids if the options are there for them and the technology are available to help them?
It’s easy assume that deaf and hard of hearing people should wear hearing aids (perhaps to help hearing people?).
But there are many things that you should consider, as I explain in this post.
Twitter has decided to rollout a new audio tweet feature to set group of iOS users to allow another way to express your voice.
But it didn’t go according to plan when the d/Deaf and hard of hearing community expressed their frustration about its lack of accessibility, which prompted various individuals within the company to release their own statements.
Recently, there has been a rise in the number of video calls. It’s not just by people who are working from home, but also those are away or isolated from their friends and families (particularly as we are going through a global pandemic). So it’s natural that video calls is the next best option to connect with those you can’t meet in-person.
During this period where people are feeling exhausted from all the calls; so much so, that the term ‘Zoom fatigue’ has been coined to label this type of tiredness.
It sounds like a new thing…but for those who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing (and perhaps many others), this feeling is just a normal part of our everyday lives.
Video calls are on the rise. With more people working from home, remote working (or living in isolation because of a global pandemic) and with so many tools available to help us, more and more people are making use of video calls even for personal use too. But what about for someone like me who […]
Some people might assume that it’s impossible for d/Deaf and hard of hearing people to meditate (perhaps more accurately, guided meditation).
Even though there are obvious challenges when it comes to using guided meditation (such as whether it’s possible or not to hear or understand what the audio voice is saying), I have managed to find a system that suits me.
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
