I produce a lot of ASL videos such as Viral Signs and DeafPod. I'm also a strong advocate for more online content to be closed captioned such as Netflix, iTunes Movies, Hulu, and even Youtube videos!
I know I'm not alone, there are a lot of others in the Deaf Community who push for more captioning online as well. Many of us publish ASL videos regularly for one reason or another but very few include subtitles or closed captions. Most videos are on YouTube which already has a built-in tool that allows you to add closed captioning. But most of us don't add subtitles/CC to our content, doesn't that make us a bunch of hypocrites by asking (or, in some cases demanding) others to include captioning and then not make our own content accessible to the ASL-impared community?
I'm guilty here too. Sometimes I add subtitles/CC to my content, sometimes I don't. Here are some reasons I don't (even though I should) add captions to some of my content:
I'm guilty here too. Sometimes I add subtitles/CC to my content, sometimes I don't. Here are some reasons I don't (even though I should) add captions to some of my content:
Intended Audience
Maybe the content isn't created for the hearing audience. For example, I was tired of getting email forwarded to me that included a hilarious video that I couldn't understand so Wing and I created Viral Signs. It's not subtitled or captioned because we pull the content from others that include audio. The target audience of Viral Signs is not for the hearing community. But without realizing it, there are Hard of Hearing people out there who don't know ASL and still can't understand the video. This leads to my next reason
Proficiency in English
Every time I caption something I misspell a word or miss a comma. Sometimes even when I have someone else proofread the captions. It's kind of embarrassing to find out that there's a typo after the fact that the video has been released to the public. In my "VP3D" PSA video I spelled "message" as "massage"yeah, that got a few of my friends snickering. I corrected it but I couldn't re-publish it because I didn't want to reset my personal record-breaking view count. Besides, I shouldn't really care, people understood what I meant and honestly, even professional captioned TV shows and movies contain a few typos (note the post image from TV series, "Lost"). My point here is that it's no secret that the majority of the Deaf population are not proficient writers and to add on top of that, translating ASL to English is not a walk in the park.
Cost/Time
When I was in college I took an interesting technology class that was focused on Accessibility. We had an assignment where we had to add Closed Captioning to a 10 minute clip. They had the equipment and the transcript ready, all I had to do was match the line with the dialogue in the video. Easy enough but I'll be the first to say this, it was probably the most boring assignment I've had in my entire college life. So, whoever puts the CC together for TV or movies has, in my opinion, a pretty dull job. But at least they get PAID to do it! Regardless, when I want to expand the target audience, subtitles/CC is important. One thing I've learned is that it is literally time consuming especially when you don't have a transcript to work with. As they say, time equals money and if it takes 4 hours to transcribe and subtitle a 5 minute clip (for free), it's a real drag.
So, these are some of the biggest reasons I could think of why ASL videos do not contain subtitles/CC. The question remains though, we ask the world to caption their content for us, should or would the world expect the same from us?
Proficiency in English
Every time I caption something I misspell a word or miss a comma. Sometimes even when I have someone else proofread the captions. It's kind of embarrassing to find out that there's a typo after the fact that the video has been released to the public. In my "VP3D" PSA video I spelled "message" as "massage"yeah, that got a few of my friends snickering. I corrected it but I couldn't re-publish it because I didn't want to reset my personal record-breaking view count. Besides, I shouldn't really care, people understood what I meant and honestly, even professional captioned TV shows and movies contain a few typos (note the post image from TV series, "Lost"). My point here is that it's no secret that the majority of the Deaf population are not proficient writers and to add on top of that, translating ASL to English is not a walk in the park.
Cost/Time
When I was in college I took an interesting technology class that was focused on Accessibility. We had an assignment where we had to add Closed Captioning to a 10 minute clip. They had the equipment and the transcript ready, all I had to do was match the line with the dialogue in the video. Easy enough but I'll be the first to say this, it was probably the most boring assignment I've had in my entire college life. So, whoever puts the CC together for TV or movies has, in my opinion, a pretty dull job. But at least they get PAID to do it! Regardless, when I want to expand the target audience, subtitles/CC is important. One thing I've learned is that it is literally time consuming especially when you don't have a transcript to work with. As they say, time equals money and if it takes 4 hours to transcribe and subtitle a 5 minute clip (for free), it's a real drag.
So, these are some of the biggest reasons I could think of why ASL videos do not contain subtitles/CC. The question remains though, we ask the world to caption their content for us, should or would the world expect the same from us?
Technical problems aside, it's only fair and even beneficial to have captions on ASL segments. It helps Deaf viewers to put English to their signs, just as it helps hearing people learn ASL.
ReplyDeleteThe real problem is the numbers. Very few people view ASL films, but millions view speaking films. There is money in the millions, but not much in the few ASL fans.
Those who caption ASL films are doing it out of love and respect for ASL and for people who want to know the Deaf community better. These special people deserve kudos and everlasting honors.
If ASL (Or BSL) is not captioned then the people that produce them are wasting time getting involved in debates anywhere, since the feedback would be limited to another ASL person, to get fair balance Sign has to be made accessible. I find the ASL or BSL blogs are put out by deaf well able to make them accessible but won't, they can hardly complain then they are ignored or misunderstood. It is an conundrum deaf demand access but an sector of it, sees access as an discrimination against them. Is it all just a defence mechanism to protect culture ?
ReplyDeleteI have two deaf siblings and noticed that there's no captioned fitness programs available. I'm the producer of Functional Fitness on Public Television and decided to put captioning on some of the programs for people with hearing loss and make them available on Amazon video on demand. You're right it is expensive to add captioning and that's why a lot of production companies don't add it. But if we get enough interest we will continue to make our exercise programs accesible to people who are hard of hearing. For more information on each title available you can go to:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.healthwiseexercise.com/online-classes.htm
Healthiest Regards,
Glenn Poyer
Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews
I always add captions on all of my ASL videos, because I want both Deaf and hearing people be able enjoy my videos.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's cost money to put captions in movies, TV shows, and other films.
Not all films are captioned, because of money... Wouldn't it be nice if it is cheaper to put captions on all films?