I like it.
It acknowledges what I have repeatedly said for a long time... that there are many deaf and hearing people who do not understand sign language vlogs.
It is silly to insist on an ASL translation of a spoken (or cued) captioned vlog because anyone who knows ASL should also know how to read English! Captions make a vlog accessible to everyone regardless of their communication preference.
When I watch a signed, captioned vlog, I can alternate between the signs and captions as needed. First I try to understand the sign, but if I can not, I can read the captions. If I am very tired when watching the vlog, a captioned vlog is much easier for me to follow than a signed vlog as a signed vlog requires more of my mental energy to understand.
Furthermore, when I compile my weekly "Blogs of Interest" post, I tend to favor vlogs that are captioned or have a transcript. If I can't understand the vlog, I figure that most of my readers won't understand it either because, judging from my e-mail, most people who find my About.com site via internet search, are hearing.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
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13 comments:
That really shows your true colors. With that attitude which favors the hearing over the Deaf, you shouldn't be running deafness.About.com.
I am very disappointed in you, Jamie!
It is all about enjoying a certain vlog based on communication preference as well not just accessibility.
Some people may find that reading English requires more of their mental energy to understand like you are finding it the same way watching a signed vlog. Even some people, like me, find it very distracting when ASL vlogs are subtitled. It may be great to have this on-off option. But for me to do captioning, it is already challenging enough for me to do a vlog. For a less than five minutes interview, it took me weeks to finish captioning. To spend the time translating from ASL to English is another "mental energy" to do! Will there ever be a solution to satisfy everyone? I think not.
However, the best I could do is to provide transcripts or summaries.
Back to the point, for a blog aggregator to demand ASL vloggers to add subtitles or transcripts is not reasonable because there are vloggers out there who may not feel comfortable to translate in writing or even want to expose their below writing level. Why put them in the position of intimation? This policy drives them away and does not embrace ASL users who don't have English proficiency. This, in my opinion, is discrimination. Talking about double standards!
Refer to "Oh I See"'s vlog and comments after... all very good points... People have a right to express themselves in ASL as people do in English. Why require those who want to use ASL to use English also??? Language oppression happening here. Deaf Village's policy is ridiculous.
Jamie,
I am alos in agreement...ASL vlogs should be at the very least transcribed or offered with an one paragraph summary. I understand that subtitling is tough. I hate subtitling myself, and believe a summary should be offered at MINIMUM.
I believe that DV's Captioning Requirement should be optional instead of mandatory. It causes to create new discrimination against vlogger's native language is not English. In my personal opinion of DV founders, they obviously have own malicious motives against vloggers because many DR readers knew some DV founders used to be whiners against the non-captioned vloggers in the past. In fact, some vloggers can't help if they don't have good English writers. Is it fair?
Since birth, I am native ASL signer and of course, I enjoy reading CC on movie or TV. However the problem with captioned ASL vlog causes me to read it difficult when the motion of the signing movement and the popping CC causes much distracting to me. It's really different from the CC on either movie or TV when hearing actors rarely use their moving hands except lip movements.
As you know, both ASL signers and non-ASL signers have infomation barrier problems in our hearing world so they are in same boat.
About one year ago, new vlogger excited to put her creative vlogs in the DR but sadly, some negative comments made by non-ASL signers that repeatedly attacked her by demanding the CC. it demoralized her vlog works until she decided to quit it. Is it fair?
go dbcunity!
http://live.yahoo.com/dbcunity
Well, there are 99 out of 100 are hearing aren't use captioning. So what?
I do post few vlogs with captioning where I decide whom I show for.
Wow, it is not true that anyone who knows ASL would know English. There are many international Deaf who are able to understand ASL vlogs easily, but don't know English. We all know there are many deaf who use ASL and weren't given ample opportunity to learn/understand English. There are also many who came from Mexico (legally) and know Spanish, LSM, and ASL, but are currently learning and have not yet mastered English.
Other people have commented in the past: the captions pull together more people than ASL-only vlogs or spoken-only vlogs. As a common ground, it makes sense that it should be required.
Not to be overlooked is having translated text along with it. Not only does this make it easier for people who prefer to read than to watch ASL on unclear or dark blogs, it makes it faster to skim through the material.
The advantage to having text is that is shows up on search engines and is easier for people to find.
Not to devalue ASL; it is vital to have it to preserve the personality and the expressiveness of the vlogger. Just don't use it to shut out the world.
Vlogs with CC will prove the AGBAD and hearing parents that deaf people are truly bilingual -- ASL and English! If without CC, AGBAD and hearing people will laugh, "Deaf people are not bilingual.
You need to reconsider your statement - "anyone who knows ASL should be able to read English." Unfortunately, this is not true. Many Deaf people, because they were denied access to language at an early age, are unable to read/write English well. Those Deaf people may be vloggers themselves- now they are required to TRANSLATE their own vlogs? Translating is a difficult skill, especially from ASL to English. This is just yet another way to discriminate against Deaf people with weaker English skills. Until ALL bloggers that discuss Deaf issues in their blogs are required to provide an ASL translation, vloggers should not be expected to do so.
Ennis - "However the problem with captioned ASL vlog causes me to read it difficult when the motion of the signing movement and the popping CC causes much distracting to me."
The above can be said by hearing people who say captioning is distracting and ruins the "purity" and "integrity" by having a whole screen cluttered with letters popping up near the bottom, sometimes at the top.
Again, no maliciousness were done against ASL users. No one sat around a table and planned to somehow "stick it" to them. No, the concern was access considering the fact that some 30 million people with hearing loss do not know ASL but English.
Secondly, Barb, there are no double standards. If you really believe that then you need to go after CNN, for example, and myriads of other news shows for not providing Text to ASL translations of the many, many news every single hour of the day, 24/7. Or better yet, go after television shows or movies that do offer captioning but no ASL translator seen signing away in the lower corner of the screen. How come no hue and cry on demanding that for every captioned show it be translated into ASL.
There are no double standards, Barb. English is, at a minimum, a language accessible to most people. ASL is not.
And, oh, Jamie does a great job on running deafness.about.com. And I certainly don't see where "deafness.About.com" caters to Deaf people only. It's about "deafness" and not about "Deaf culture" per se.
I thought it was crazy that DBC was trying to reach out to hearing parents of deaf babies but didn't caption most of their videos. I am studying ASL but not an expert yet. If you want your message to reach the hearing parents, you have to provide captions or at least a summary.
If you can't write in basic English than you're going to have a hard time selling us on the "B" in DBC!
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