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| Real-time captioning can help people at conferences |
The Robert H. Weitbrecht Telecommunications Access
Award is given every two years by Telecommunications
for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI) — an
advocacy organization in the United States focusing
on addressing equal access issues in telecommunications,
media, and information technology. The award
recognizes an individual, organization or company
that has made an outstanding contribution to improving
the accessibility of telecommunications, media
and information technology for people who are
deaf, hard-of-hearing, or deaf-blind.
Before instant messaging via computer, or texting
on mobile phones, people with hearing impairments
relied on a device called the teletypewriter, or TTY,
connected to a phone. This device came into being
because of Robert H. Weitbrecht (1920–1983), who
was born deaf and grew up to become a physicist
and a licensed amateur radio operator.
Weitbrecht became interested in Morse code in
order to communicate with hearing people via radio.
In 1950, he obtained a radio teletypewriter that
could receive messages. He was able to modify it
so that it could also send messages by radio. Deaf
people who knew about his work asked him to adapt
the radio teletypewriter so it could be used with a
normal telephone. After years of work, he developed
an acoustic coupler that allowed the TTY to be used
with a telephone. In May 1964, Weitbrecht made the
first long-distance phone call with a TTY.
Helping the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Communication access real-time translation
I was privileged to receive the Robert
H. Weitbrecht Telecommunications Access Award
at the 18th TDI Biennial International Conference,
which took place in Washington, DC, United States,
on 30 July–1 August 2009. It was in recognition of
my “pioneering contributions in Communication
Access Real-Time Translation (CART) over the years.”
CART involves two main processes: the translation
of spoken English into machine shorthand, and the
translation of machine shorthand into written English
that appears as captioning on a screen. It is a technology
that helps people with hearing impairments
to play a full part in society and the workplace.
As I sat waiting to receive this award, I refl ected
on my own professional journey. I started my career
as a court reporter. I loved the work, and the
field was challenging and rewarding. As technology
evolved and software was developed that would
take my stenographic notes and translate them into
English text, I was challenged to hone my professional
skills so that the text was instantly readable.
Once I had achieved this, I chose
to work with people who are deaf
and hard-of-hearing. Since 1989,
I have been providing CART services
and I have never looked back.
In my heart, I feel this work is
what I was meant to do with my
life.
There is deafness in my family.
My brother went to the Colorado
Deaf and Blind School many years
ago. I remember him learning sign
language, wearing hearing aids
and learning to lip-read. The philosophy
of the time was not one
of simultaneous communication.
As a family we did not learn to sign, although my
brother became fl uent in American Sign Language.
When I chose to go into this new field of access
to communications, only a handful of my peers were
involved. The company Caption First, of which I am
president, had its beginnings in 1989 in Chicago and
our focus was on captioning for television news. But
after receiving a Federal grant for providing this service,
the news broadcaster decided not to go forward
with the project and we never had the opportunity to use the grant money. This turned into a blessing ultimately,
as I was then able to focus on helping people
directly. The company focused on making a difference
in people’s personal and work lives through
communication access real-time translation.
In the beginning, the CART technology consisted
of an overhead projector and a liquid crystal display
(LCD) panel, a tripod screen, and text enlargement
software that ran with a DOS
program. Time went on and the
technology changed. The ability
to support people remotely was
a huge step forward. To do this,
telephone lines were used initially,
but now we are able to send text
through the Internet at lightning
speed and with a high degree of
security.
The real-time text can be
viewed by one person on a computer,
or by several people in
different locations at the same
time. And for groups of people,
the text can be projected onto a
large screen. The latest breakthrough is the ability to
have the audio sent to the CART provider and have
the text delivered back to the same hand-held device
almost simultaneously. This allows users to go to
parties, exhibition halls, dinners — wherever — and
to have communication access anywhere, any time,
in an inconspicuous manner. Everyone has a mobile
communication device in their hand nowadays!
The ability to merge real-time text with webcasts
has been maturing and evolving. This technology is also leading to on-demand playback at the consumer’s
convenience, as well as to an explosion of
archived media becoming accessible.
A personal journey
Over the years I have had the privilege to witness
people’s journeys with hearing loss, whether it
was sudden, progressive or from birth. I have been a
part of people’s lives as they learned sign language,
adapted to hearing aids and received cochlear implants.
I have witnessed communication failures, and
I have had the privilege of helping communication
to flow.
Because of this, I have learned lessons about
adapting, planning, asking for support, acceptance,
and finding humour in difficult situations. These life
lessons have helped me in my personal journey, and
with the substantial loss of vision that I have recently
had to deal with. Because of the experiences of my
deaf friends and colleagues, my journey has been
made easier, and I am grateful.
Why was I chosen to receive the Robert Weitbrecht
Telecommunication Access Award? I would like
to believe it is because I listen carefully to what is
needed and then I find a way to “make it happen.” I
would like to believe it is because I am an advocate
for equality. I believe in a level-playing field, so that
the users of CART and captioning can fail or succeed
based on their own skills and expertise. I would like
to believe I was chosen for this award because I stay
ahead of the technology, always looking for ways to
make the words fl ow smoothly to wherever consumers
need to see them. I would like to believe I was
chosen because of my dedication and passion for
quality and professionalism.
Regardless of the reasons, I am deeply grateful
for the honour. And I look forward to many more
years of listening, learning, and making a difference
in people’s lives.
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