5 minute read
Managing Hearing Loss
The Power of the Written Word
Universal captioning, or subtitling, enhances screenviewing for everyone.
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By Shari Eberts
Hearing Health Foundation uses a CART captioner for live captioning during its webinars. AI (artificial intelligence) subtitles are also increasingly improving. It’s well known that people with hearing loss love captions because they help combat hearing loss exhaustion by reducing listening effort, help us fill in words that we miss during a speech or when watching a movie, and give us confidence that we can participate more fully in a number of different listening situations.
During the pandemic, we seem to be reaching a tipping point where the value of captions is becoming apparent to everyone. Research published by Verizon Media and Publicis Media showed that consumers are increasingly watching videos on the go and in shared spaces. Half of those surveyed said they like captions because they often watch videos with the sound off, and 80 percent of people who use captions do not have hearing loss. Since the research came out in 2019, before the pandemic, it’s a safe bet these numbers are even higher today.
Advances in Technology
Social media sites like TikTok are making their platforms more accessible with captioning. Zoom finally promised to expand its excellent auto-captions to all free accounts starting in the fall of 2021. I had started an online petition to ask for this and garnered 80,000 signatures, earning coverage from the Washington Post and NPR. (You can request early access now at blog.zoom.us/update-on-livetranscription-for-free-accounts.)
Google launched Live Caption, a feature that provides autocaptions for all English-language media content viewed in their Google Chrome browser. It works across social and video sites, on podcasts and radio content, and even on personal videos, and it is compatible with all types of computers—including Apple—as well as on Android mobile devices. As with any auto-generated captions, there are errors, but accuracy and speed will only improve as the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm is refined.
Products developed for a mainstream audience are also finding an eager market in the hearing loss community. Tunity, a smartphone app that lets you listen to a current TV broadcast on your smartphone when the TV is muted, was designed for use by hearing people in loud bars, but it also works well for people with hearing loss. Another such product is Otter.ai, a speech-to-text app that was created for transcribing business meetings, but can be used by people with hearing loss for real-time captioning.
Benefits Validated
In a 2018 TEDx talk, Svetlana Kouznetsova, an accessibility consultant, points out that captioning is part of good universal design. Not only does it make it easier to view videos in a variety of settings such as on mute, but it also makes it easier to understand complicated or confusing content. It improves intelligibility if the speaker has a strong accent, when learning a new language, or for someone with auditory processing differences.
According to a 2015 paper in the journal Policy Insights From the Behavioral and Brain Sciences titled “Video Captions Benefit Everyone,” more than 100 empirical studies demonstrate that captioned content benefits the public at large. The research found that whether the viewer has a hearing loss or not, captions improve video
The research found that whether the viewer has a hearing loss or not, captions improve video comprehension as measured by higher rates of recalling facts, drawing inferences, defining words, and summarizing main ideas.
comprehension as measured by higher rates of recalling facts, drawing inferences, defining words, and summarizing main ideas.
Make It Mainstream
In another TED Talk from February 2020, “How Technology Has Changed What It’s Like to Be Deaf,” writer Rebecca Knill says she is on a mission to change how we think about disability so that the world is more inclusive. Knill, who uses cochlear implants, points out that Millennials shifted the mindset around phone calls and voicemail by making texting mainstream.
“Smart designers include multiple ways to access technology, but segregating that access under ‘accessibility’—that’s just hiding it from mainstream users. In order to change how people think, we need to be more than accessible, we need to be connected,” she says, noting that the Apple iPhone iOS includes the automatic transcription of voicemail. “Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime no longer say ‘closedcaptioned for the hearing impaired.’ They say ‘subtitles,’ ‘on’ or ‘off,’ with a list of languages underneath, including English.”
A few years ago I saw an exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York City, on disability and design. The exhibit beautifully demonstrated how creativity and design can help everyone overcome everyday obstacles. I remember a quote on the exhibit wall that read: “Disability is a design opportunity.”
I love the optimism of that quote—that design can help make things accessible for all. This has been demonstrated countless times through things like wheelchair ramps, which assist anyone or anything rolling on wheels (strollers, luggage), sound-absorbing materials that improve for everyone the acoustics of a restaurant or meeting space, and now AI-generated subtitles across screens and devices.
When design is universal, we all benefit.
Staff writer Shari Eberts serves on the Board of Trustees of the Hearing Loss Association of America and is a past chair of HHF’s Board of Directors. A version of this originally appeared on her blog, livingwithhearingloss. com. For references, see hhf.org/summer2021-references.
Report Captioning Issues So Fixes Can Be Made
Television subtitling problems are fairly common, especially during live programs like the news or sports. I do my best to report captioning issues so the broadcaster or distributor can make fixes for other viewers. Most can be reported to the Federal Communications Commission at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov. Or reach out to the provider of the content directly via their website.
A Shoutout to Loops for Entertainment
While not audio-to-text, hearing loop systems are invaluable for improving access in entertainment venues. Wires installed around the perimeter of a large room, such as theaters and performing arts centers, pick up the sound system and send it directly to a tiny copper telecoil (T-coil) receiver that can be built into most hearing aids and cochlear implants. Be sure to request this helpful feature. The excellent sound quality is because the T-coil receives the sound directly. You just need to enable the T-coil setting on your hearing device; nothing else is required. Note that due to their small size, the smallest hearing aids may not have space for a T-coil. If you don’t have a T-coil in your hearing device, you can try hearing loop receiver earphones (you may need to remove your hearing aids to use them) or a neck loop. —S.E.
Share your story: Do you have a favorite captioning app? Tell us at editor@hhf.org.
