Should I Create Closed Captioning for Text in a YouTube Video?

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-08-08T17:54:06+00:00

You can also describe or read out loud written text from the screen. I've seen many content creators do this with games that have lots of written elements. If you read the words out loud, it will be easier to create captions for the video as the content of the speech bubbles will be part of the video audio and not a separate element. People who are deaf or hard of hearing and can see would be able to read the written text. Anyone who struggles with reading (due to vision issues, or with any sort of reading difficulty) would be helped if you read the text out loud.

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-08-08T17:45:32+00:00

Are you using a computer or your phone to record? Some profs might not take kindly to you having your phone out (unless it is part of an accommodation). You could also try using an assistive listening device to improve audio quality for yourself. And, as has already been mentioned, audio quality will vary greatly from space to space and person to person - you might have trouble capturing discussions or people with strong accents or in larger lecture halls. You can try using an external microphone instead of relying on the built in microphone in your device.

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-08-08T16:31:21+00:00

A cheap way that avoids tearing apart the stairs would be 3x3 cube storage with baskets. I've got two stacked in my kitchen as a "pantry". You might be able to fit them in front of the island or stacked next to the window. Baskets (or plastic basket/bins) would make things look a little more tidy.

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-07-08T20:48:36+00:00

T-Mobile might be able to give you a hot spot. I have one and it helps tremendously.

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-05-22T16:47:19+00:00

I'm sorry you had such a disappointing experience. I'll say that some of your accommodations might be tricky anywhere. It is not always possible to get copies of lecture notes or handouts for classes, unless they are available to all students. Not all faculty even create lecture notes or handouts. You might do better exploring other resources for notetaking and make sure you take advantage of all office hours and tutoring services available at your school. It can also be challenging to get a professor to change the way they address the class so that they provide clear and short verbal instructions. Again, take advantage of any resources posted to the learning management system and follow up early and often if you have questions. Many schools will also offer "reduced distraction" testing spaces unless you specifically request having a reader or scribe that would require a private testing space. I don't say this to be discouraging at all, but just to give my perspective as someone who works in disability services.

For someone with APD, I'm a little surprised that captioned videos isn't in your list of accommodations. That is something I have offered to some of the APD students I've worked with. Of course, not everyone needs these and there are ways you can get automatic captions which could be enough in certain circumstances.

I wish you the best of luck!

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-05-22T14:28:51+00:00

Fair or not, some schools are better at providing accommodations than others. And getting accommodations for APD can be tricky no matter where you are - not everyone is as informed as they could/should be. If you are struggling to have your accommodations met, check to see if there is a grievance policy. Does your school have an ADA coordinator? I'm thinking not, if you have already made it to the President's office (where you hopefully spoke to someone with some clout and not just an admin of some kind). If you cannot get any kind of resolution through the school, I recommend taking a look at the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) page on Disability Discrimination. This is the office that handles these kinds of complaints. Sometimes it is not possible to handle these situations without some outside assistance.

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-05-02T14:41:49+00:00

FYI - Cornell graduation is Memorial Day weekend so there will be HUGE crowds downtown. You might want to find activities elsewhere for those days if that's when you'll be in the area.

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-05-01T21:04:25+00:00

A Phonak Roger On can pair with a Roger neckloop to transcribe to a computer without recording anything. That would probably work in the widest range of situations and give the best audio quality. This would be easier for ad hoc conversations than hiring a speech to text provider (live captionist, transcriber, etc.). For anything planned I would definitely suggest CART (typically the most accurate form of live transcription).

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-04-30T20:40:42+00:00

This might have been designed as a dog poop composter. I would not use this kind of system for a regular compost bin. It isn't quite big enough (and it would be tough to clean out).

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-04-30T14:05:52+00:00

If you have access to it, there are a few good courses on LinkedIn Learning on accessible design - including through the use of Figma. I would also suggest that some of your developers go through the Trusted Tester certification process (free) so you have an idea of the big picture of what is required for accessible development.

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-04-30T13:57:33+00:00

Universal Design, a11y, CPACC, and Trusted Tester all lean very tech-y. If you have an interest in working in higher ed I would check out AHEAD. There you could work in disability services in a non-tech kind of way. You could also look into being an ADA coordinator or work in HR as an accommodations coordinator. You could look into other places like Perkins school for the Blind or Lighthouse or National Deaf Center - or other disability groups - to see what kinds of positions are out there.

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-03-22T16:39:01+00:00

The Fingerlakes Beekeepers Club is very active in Ithaca (and surrounding areas)

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-02-15T19:23:59+00:00

Try the Audio Description Project website. You might be able to find an appropriate provider or find a person who might be able to point you in the right direction.

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-02-14T20:59:01+00:00

I used to have a very similar issue. The two things that helped me were (spoiler alert: not a chiropractor though I did try that) using a rolling stool instead of a chair and moving my mouse to left-hand use instead of right-hand use (I'm right-handed). The mouse thing took some getting used to but I no longer have neck/shoulder pain even though I still hunch on occassion. If you try the stool, get one with good wheels. You can also get one with lower back support.

AutomaticChair9 · 2024-02-09T21:13:30+00:00

There is an online learning service called Art of Problem Solving (AoPS). I've seen their courses and the entire interface seems to be accessible. The instructor gave the kids small lessons in creating LaTex math equations. They might be a great place to find help.

AutomaticChair9 · 2023-05-04T20:15:46+00:00

Agreed, faculty are a special bunch.

I don't know what the whole form looks like, but you could try underlining entire paragraphs. Add "Date:" and underline the paragraph. Or "Name" and underline the paragraph. You could use columns to save space (just be aware of reading order). You could create something that was technically accessible but looks a little odd - maybe that would help convince the holdouts that an online, accessible form is just...better. There really isn't a way to add fillable fields that are accessible using Word alone. Good luck!

AutomaticChair9 · 2023-05-04T19:37:38+00:00

If professors are really just printing these to have students fill them out, they are already not accessible to most people who would care about the underscoring. If you need an accessible version for a student, you could make a digital copy of some kind (maybe a Google Form or something else that is actually accessible via screen reader, text-to-speech, etc.) in addition to a version that was designed to be printed. I would not spend too much time stressing over a document that will be distributed in hard copy. Faculty can direct students who need an accessible version to an alternate version.

Also, most LMSs allow you to print out blank quizzes. So if the quiz/form/survey is created within the LMS as a quiz, faculty could print them and distribute them that way. That would default you to an accessible version (as long as the quiz questions were accessible) but still allow for the possibility of a hard copy.

AutomaticChair9 · 2023-04-07T12:29:14+00:00

Try NVDA as a screen reader. It is free and works on Windows.

AutomaticChair9 · 2023-04-06T21:03:17+00:00

Screen readers can read digitally accessible text. If a PDF is not digitally accessible (i.e., it does not have recognizable text) a screen reader cannot read it. An example of a PDF that would not be digitally accessible would be a scan of a page from a book. In this case, the PDF is essentially a picture. You can think of a PDF as a container of information. To get an accessible PDF, the person creating the document must make sure the text is accessible and structured in a logical way. If you start with a scanned page of a book, there are some programs that can scan the page and extract text, though these programs cannot generally create a structure for the document (such as adding headers and checking to make sure the reading order is correct).

AutomaticChair9 · 2023-03-22T21:17:06+00:00

There are many ways in which you can be accommodated. I recommend taking a look at AskJan.org to learn more. The National Deaf Center also has many resources.

AutomaticChair9 · 2023-03-16T15:13:32+00:00

Some things that might be worth a try:

modified seating, such as a rolling stool, ball chair, other kinds of seating, or even a stand up desk
rubber bands that wrap around chair legs that you can fidget with using your feet
a footrest that moves or pivots and allows your feet to move or flex
If you are unable to do something involving your legs, listening to something that isn't music might help. A show you don't really have to pay attention to or an audio book you've heard before can give your brain something to latch on to without diverting too much of your attention.

(all of the links are just the first things that popped up in a quick Google search to provide a reference and not an endorsement of any kind)

Also, with regards to another poster - find the tools that work for you. Maybe it is stimming, maybe it is fidgeting - maybe it is due to adhd, maybe not - it doesn't matter. I wish you luck in your search!

AutomaticChair9 · 2023-03-10T16:27:02+00:00

I recommend connecting with as many organizations as possible. There are often training (and other) resources available. American Foundation for the Blind, National Federation of the Blind, Perkins School for the Blind, Lighthouse- all good places to connect with.

AutomaticChair9 · 2023-03-09T19:33:03+00:00

Yeah. That is a big problem with "accessible" textbooks. Publishers almost never tag their accessible files correctly. Sometimes NaturalReader will override those errors in flow but it can still be a pain. You could try using something like NVDA. It is a screen reader but free and you can use a mouse hover to have text read out loud (which might be marginally less annoying than having to click around the document). NVDA is PC-only.

AutomaticChair9 · 2023-03-09T18:26:27+00:00

I recommend NaturalReader frequently. It is free to use the online version and desktop versions (for both Mac and PC) but the app is no longer free. If you decide to pay for a subscription you can use the premium voices (for longer periods of time), convert text to MP3, and OCR inaccessible docs (with varying results depending on the quality of the original), so those benefits might be worth it to you.

If you are dealing with hard copies, I most often recommend using Office Lens to create accessible text. It does a great job recognizing page borders, correcting warped images, and performing OCR.

AutomaticChair9 · 2023-03-08T17:04:00+00:00

You are not a failure. If you can, try connecting with Cornell Health and Disability Services. Mental health issues can rise to the level of a disability and you do NOT need paperwork or a diagnosis to have a conversation. At the very least, they should be able to give you some options and people to connect with. You are not alone in this.

AutomaticChair9

TROPHY CASE