Google takes gigantic leap on access to online videos

Sometimes you come across a piece of news for deaf children and young people so good that it takes a while for it to sink in. That was the case for me when I found out that Google has developed speech recognition software that has the potential to ensure more online videos on most of its websites will now be subtitled. Including Youtube videos.

Personally, if you’d asked me a week ago about universal online subtitles, I would have said it’s a great idea, but probably technologically impossible. Well, thanks to deaf leadership at Google, I’ve pretty much been shown to be a complete Luddite.

The importance for deaf children and young people? Well, to give one example, listen into a playground conversation and I bet many children will be talking about the latest youtube craze or embarassment. Now deaf children and young people can be involved in those playground chats.

Hopefully, everyone who uploads videos will make use of the new software. And that all other providers of online subtitles will take note and follow suit quickly. I am particularly thinking of BBC news online and their continuing abject failure to caption stories featuring deaf children, despite assurances to the contrary…

As it uses speech recognition software, there are bound to be some painful (and amusing) typos. But it still a massive step forward. If there was an award for most promising and exciting technological development for deaf people in 2009, this would have to be one of the contenders. Maybe the 21st century is about to arrive for deaf children and young people after all?

New survey on TV subtitles: have your say

Image courtesy of RNID

When I ask deaf young people what their pet peeves are, invariably they mention the quality of subtitles on TV. So I was pretty pleased to see that RNID have commissioned some research to look at what people think about subtitles. And they’re currently asking deaf people to feed in their views to help with their future campaign work on this. It includes some interesting questions about whether it’s more important to have speed or quality when it comes to live subtitles. Where do you stand on the trade off?

I’ve filled it in and taken the opportunity to have my annual whinge about subtitles on the X Factor… Why not have your say and help make a difference?

And if you feel really outraged about particular programmes with rubbish subtitles, there’s some information on NDCS’s website about how to complain to individual broadcasters. Go on, make a fuss, you know you want to…

Cinema access website one step closer to winning top award

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Your Local Cinema.com had been nominated as Best Arts Project for the National Lottery Awards. Well, they’ve gone one better and made it to the finals!

Wowzers. If you want them to go one step even further and win the thing, then you need to get voting. You can vote online (click on ‘Best Arts Project’) or you can vote over the phone. The number is 0844 686 8020, it costs only 5p from a BT line and it’s an automated line so you can hold the line for 15 seconds without saying anything and it’ll be fine. It would be fantastic if they win…

I wasn’t allowed to talk about it before but the reason I was doing a TV interview a while back was for a feature encouraging people to vote for Your Local Cinema.com. You can see the video here but be warned that there are no subtitles. It leaves me in the slightly odd position of not being entirely sure of what I’m saying. I’ve had words with them by email and hopefully it will be sorted soon. Fortunately, I’m too pleased that they’ve made it to the final to be absolutely furious about it.

Anyhow, get voting! Votes must be in by noon on the 14th August.

UPDATE (12/8/09): You can now see the video with subtitles here.

Deaf power at the cinema after another subtitles cock-up

I went along to see a subtitled showing of the new Star Trek film last night with my fellow deaf trekkie geek friend. As is so often the case, it was the only showing in central-ish London this week and not at a particularly convenient time of 5.30pm on a Monday. But I was so keen to see it that I arrived at work at 7.30am so that I could bunk off early from work.

Clearly, I wasn’t the only deaf trekkie in town and the showing was well attended with around 15 deaf people, all very excited.

And then all extremely mutinous and outraged when there was – once again – a five minute delay in the subtitles appearing on the screen. I half considered ripping my chair out and throwing it at the screen.

Instead, a large group of us went outside to berate the man in the projector booth and demand that they restart the film. Initially, he said it was impossible. But we stood our ground and continued to demand what we had paid for – a subtitled film. After around ten minutes, the manager appeared and agreed to restart the film. Clearly, not so impossible.

I was quite proud of the group for making a stand and refusing to give in easily. The error was inexcusable and there should have been no debate about restarting the film and making sure people got what they paid for. One guy remarked that he’d driven 2 hours to come to this cinema to see the film.

I’ve emailed the cinema to ask what happened. I’m fairly resigned to the fact that it will happen again and again. But at least we know what to do next time. My hope is that deaf children as well will feel equally emboldended to go on a riot in a cinema if something like this happens to them.

Deaf power! Rarrgh!

Shameless deaf character says goodbye

So the deaf character on Shameless said farewell last night in typical Shameless fashion – by bludgeoning his Dad to death. I guess it just goes to show that deaf people can be troubled psychotic murderers too though maybe I won’t try and add that to NDCS’s key messages.

So that now’s he gone, what did we think? Some thoughts from me:

1) Without falling into the trap of assuming that a deaf character isn’t “properly” deaf because he/she isn’t deaf ‘”like me”, there was a few bits where Danny seemed to be able to follow what other people were saying with relative ease. I find it impossible to lipread people unless they’re arms length away and I can see their whole face. Danny seemed to be able to do it whilst a nose length away. I think they could have expanded on the communication barriers deaf young people face, but Shameless is a drama, not an educational programme.
2) The jokes around swear words in sign language were all too predictable.
3) It was disappointing he wasn’t on screen that much. But when he was, he was shown integrating well with the various Shameless locals and modifying his style of communication. In last night’s episode, it was revealed he could actually speak, but only when he needed/wanted to. He was a very likable character (apart from the bludgeoning his Dad bit but, in his defence, he did have his reasons).

It was a great performance by Louis Kissaun, who is still 16 and attends Mary Hare school for the deaf. One of my female friends has suggested he has definite heart-throb potential. Hopefully, we’ll see more of him in the future.

And it was great to see a deaf role model, insofar anyone on Shameless can be described as a role model. Admittedly, I’m not sure I’d want young children to be watching Shameless. But I can safely say it’s the kind of thing I would probably have watched when I was 14 so I’m sure there were lots of deaf young people watching it last night. It may have been the first time that many of them saw a leading deaf character on a major TV programme the first time. Who knows, it may have inspired a few to try acting themselves…

And finally hats off to Channel 4. Here’s hoping, they will continue to show a range of deaf characters on the telly.

Anyhow, what did you think?

Big award for pioneering young deaf person

Saw a story today which warmed my cynical jaded heart from This is Local London news. The young deaf person, Dean Rhodes-Brandon, behind yourlocalcinema.com website – which is a lifeline to all those wanting to know where and when they can watch films with subtitles – has won an award for his efforts, which was presented by the Chancellor.

It’s great to see this achievement recognised. It proves that deaf young people can excel, just like all other children. And all the better that Dean has used his talents to widen access for all other deaf people. Although I have my occasional grumble about cinema access, I never had the option of going to the cinema as a child and now I do.

I’m going to have a chocolate easter egg to celebrate.

NDCS interview with Shameless deaf actor

The NDCS website has an interview with Louis Kissaun, the actor who plays Danny, the new deaf character in Shameless. Has some interesting comments on what it was like being deaf, working on the Shameless set. No exclusives on what his character’s hidden agenda is though…

Seems like a great role model for deaf children and young people.

Update on Slumdog Subtitles

I mentioned in my last blog that I emailed the cinema chain responsible for showing a subtitled Slumdog Millionaire in Fulham… with no subtitles for the first five minutes to complain.

The cinema emailed back to apologise and say it took “customer care” seriously. It sent another email later to say this was being investigated internally by the cinema management.

They did also offer me two free cinema tickets as means of apology. Which is nice. I resisted the temptation to take a cheap shot at the lack of cinema showings at reasonable times, meaning that it would probably be a while before I could use the tickets.

Overall: the replies were sufficiently contrite and sounded as if it was being taken reasonably seriously. Sadly, I suspect it won’t be the last time a similiar experience happens…

Slumdog subtitles at the cinema for deaf people

I popped over to Fulham on Sunday afternoon to see a film I had been dying to see for ages – Slumdog Millionaire. Despite being one of the most popular films around at the moment, this was the first opportunity I’d had to go and see the film at a time which wouldn’t require me to bunk off from my job and that wasn’t so far out of London that I might risk entering… *shudder*… suburbia.

The only other opportunity came around a month ago when it was shown at Barbican for, apparently, one night only and which clashed with the night of my anniversary. I’m not sure my partner would have approved if I’d suggested popcorn for a romantic dinner – though given how few subtitled screenings there are, I did think about it…

Anyhow, finally got a chance to see Slumdog Millionaire. Bought some popcorn, met my friend, settled down, lights dimmed, film started. And then what happened? No subtitles.

I was furious. My Hearing Friend for a Deaf Person, Catherine, went out to make inquiries and was told that the projector wasn’t working. Catherine told me though that the distinct impression given was that someone had just forgotten to turn the subtitles on. After about 5 minutes, the subtitles finally came on.

It was only 5 minutes, and I did stay and enjoy the rest of the film. But it didn’t alleviate my fury. It’s just not good enough to show virtually no subtitled screenings of this film in central London at a sensible time and then screw up the subtitles. If the sound had been off, I’m sure all hell would have broken loose and people would have demanded the film be restarted. This film just carried on as if it was a minor whoops-a-daisy mistake.

I’ve written to the cinema to complain and will let you know how I get on. But deaf children and adults clearly have a lot longer to wait for genuine access and proper customer care.

Being unreasonable: Film4 and Somerset House’s outdoor screenings

As a deaf person, there are sometimes times when I wonder if I’m being completely unreasonable or just feel a bit awkward for asking that things are done slightly different for me to accommodate my deafness and allow me to do and enjoy things like everyone else. Like requesting that my hearing friends go somewhere that isn’t quite as noisy as the usual haunts for once. Or expecting my GP to remember that I lipread.

This feeling came back to me as a result of an ongoing saga with Film4. Film4 do a series of outdoor screenings at Somerset House in the summer. Somerset House is often described as one of the most prestigious venues in London which makes me wonder why half of the building seems to be given over to the Inland Revenue but I digress…

Last year, a member wrote to NDCS to complain that her 17 year old deaf daughter couldn’t go to any of the outdoor screenings that she wanted to because there were no subtitles for any of non-foreign language films. NDCS made a fuss on her behalf and Channel 4, which owns Film4promised they would look to make it more accessible this year.

And did they? Apparently not. Only the foreign language films are subtitled. After a whole year, Channel 4 have apparently been unable to find a solution.

I’m sure there are some very good reasons why this is difficult. It may involve spending money. It’s probably something to do with the venue. Deaf children and adults can enjoy access to films in other ways. Why bother going to this effort for a very small group of deaf children and adults who might benefit? It’s only a one-off event, a ‘niche’ event, hardly a big deal. In making a fuss, are deaf people being unreasonable?

I don’t think so. I find it hard believe that a solution could not have been found after 365 days to think about it. It may have been inconvenient or taken money away from the budget for Big Brother but what happened to being serious about providing access? Isn’t there a principle involved here? Deaf children and adults have the same right to access cultural events as everyone else – even if they are just one-off “niche” events. In failing to provide access, Channel 4 have sent a signal that the needs of deaf children and adults are unimportant, do not matter and should not be allowed to get in the way of running these cultural events, out of which Channel 4 is gaining valuable publicity and kudos. Channel 4 could have taken a lead. Instead, they’ve ruined whatever good story they had to tell on access for deaf children and people.

This is the 21st century and with the huge technological developments in place and greater awareness of the rights and needs of deaf children, I resent being made to feel unreasonable.