I don’t forget other people have different challenges from the deaf. Just received a note about [TextAloud](http://www.nextup.com/TextAloud/index.html), a text reader solution that costs $30. TextAloud software translates any written text into speech including web sites,emails, documents and PDF files. TextAloud doesn’t require other hardware. Users export their reading into sound files for listening on portable …
Category: News
Netflix and Captions
I heard the news on Twitter from an unexpected source: @marleematlin. I happened to browse Twitter and caught her tweet. It’s great to have someone with her name speaking out about Netflix’s lack of captions on streamed movies. Like it or not, celebrities can make things happen a little faster than as ornery folk. Netflix …
CaptionTube: YouTube Captioning
[Mashable has a post on CaptionTube](http://mashable.com/2009/04/16/captiontube/), a service that makes it easier for users to add captions to their YouTube videos. [CaptionTube](http://captiontube.appspot.com/) requires a Google account (I think many of us have this by now). I tried out the service on my [skydiving video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8qKFrwQCXU). It was easy! I just played, paused, entered captions. However, the …
March 2009 Accessibility Updates
Laura Carlson reports many exciting accessibility updates. Why should businesses bother captioning? National Association of the Deaf (NAD) reports that 32 million Americans have some type of hearing loss and another 32 million Americans were born in another country (learning English). 18 million Americans are five-years-old or younger (reading). Now the latest happenings: The Paciello …
Word on the Tip of Your Finger?
Many of us have said, “It’s on the tip of my tongue… I know it. I can’t remember the word I’m looking for.” It happens to signers, too. This study indicates that it’s the brain’s misplacing of a memory — not a phonetic or vocalization issue. Deaf Signers Feel the Words on the Tip of …
Audism Free America to Protest
Audism Free America Targets The Volta Bureau The purpose of the one-day rally is to call attention to how the Volta Bureau/AGBell Association has been an active force in the denial of linguistic and human rights of Deaf citizens through its practices of Audism. Audism is the assumption that behaving in ways of those who …
Deafness Isn't Amazing… It's Just Is
Well, everyone knows by now that Amazing Race 14 has a mother and son team where the son is deaf. Only one episode has aired (I write this watching the second) and Margaret and Luke won the first leg. Cool! So far, when we hear from Margaret and Luke (other than giving directions to each …
Translate Lectures into Sign Language
Two University of Michigan grad students in the College of Engineering’s Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, have developed a system that translates sign language into speech using cell phone technology.They call it MSigns, which stands for Mobile Sign Language Systems. Love the idea… of course, I’d like something that can convert spoken language …
Amazing Race Stars Deaf Contestant
I love The Amazing Race. If I had the energy, I’d like to appear on it and have the opportunity to travel… but it’s hard to take in all the places and thoroughly enjoy them when you’re constantly go, go, going. Besides, I don’t function well on little sleep. Meet Margie and Luke, a mom …
Closed Captioning on Inauguration YouTube Channel
The Inauguration YouTube channel features videos recorded by President-elect Obama, Michelle Obama, Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) Executive Director Emmett Beliveau, and others. President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden are working on making this the most accessible inauguration in history. PIC is partnering with Project readOn to add closed captioning to our YouTube videos. Read more …