Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
Recurring sounds on TV shows present us with an opportunity to explore questions of consistency and accuracy in closed captioning. When a sound recurs in the same context or originates repeatedly from the same character, should it be captioned consistently? Moreover, given a number of different, presumably viable options for captioning the same recurring sound/character, which option is best?
Continue reading Captioned Hypnosis
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Apple changed the accessibility world when they introduced the iPhone and iPad with a built in screen reader (VoiceOver), an intuitive interface, and an open platform for people to build unique applications that solve personal problems. Within the hundreds of thousands of apps for Apple and Android, there are dozens that standout for their attention to accessibility. Some are accessibility tools while others are simply accessible apps that everyone uses.
This introductory list of applications was chosen for a demonstration to Yahoo! engineers at Independence 2011. They were chosen for their substantial impact (Proloquo2Go), the ability to change a person’s interaction with the environment (Color ID), a focus on solving a particular problem (MoneyReader), or the content provided within the application (Tiramisu).
This is far from a complete list of accessible apps and we welcome your comments on what should be added. While this list contains links for iOS, many of these are also available for Android.
Proloquo2Go:Monday, September 19th, 2011
How would you caption this phone sound? If it can be captioned in more than one way, how do you choose the way that is best? What if the option you prefer depends on the variety of English you speak?
Differences between American and British English can pose problems for some users of closed captions. Quite a few British words are not commonly used in the United States, or have different meanings for American viewers. (Follow these links for entries on the British “engaged tone” vs. the American “busy signal.”) While speech sounds should always be captioned verbatim, non-speech sounds offer greater freedom and present new challenges for the captioner. At times, non-speech sounds need to be considered from the perspective of the language variety typically spoken or signed in the DVD region in question. While it may not be feasible to localize English captions for both British and American caption users, captioners should remember that less common British terms may cause confusion for some American DVD caption users (and vice versa). Continue reading Busy signal or engaged tone? Captions, language variety, and localized accessibility
Thursday, September 8th, 2011
The Yahoo! Accessibility Lab recently had the privilege of meeting with Margaret Dougherty, MS, OTR of Stanford’s Neurologic Rehabilitation Center. Hemianopia was one of the many topics we discussed. A challenged was raised; could we build something that helped people with this condition have a better experience on the web?
Continue reading Hemianopia Tool for Firefox by the Yahoo! Accessibility Lab
