captionblog

Update on Caption Action 2

2009-09-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

Caption Action 2 on Facebook is getting closer to 10,000! Help us get HR 3101 passed in Congress.

Caption Action 2 Growing!

2009-07-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

Caption Action 2 on Facebook is continuing to grow! We need to grow much bigger in order to have a chance of any real impact on Congress. Please join Caption Action 2.

Caption Action 2 on Facebook

2009-06-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

On Facebook, we have created two groups. One is a regular group, Internet Captioning. The other group is a special group called a cause. The cause, Caption Action 2, will let us engage in activities such as fundraising to help get legislation passed to require captioning on the Internet. Caption Action 2 is at http://www.causes.com/captionaction2.

HDMI Does Not Work for Captioning

2008-09-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Banjo's World has a captioned vlog about the problems with HDMI and captioning. Even though Banjo explains it in layman's terms, I don't fully understand it. However, the bottom line is clear - if you are deaf and buy a HDTV, the captions may not work! Of course this is not fair, and given that analog television is going away completely by February 2009, it is even more unfair! (I have yet to buy a HDTV myself. You better believe that if the captions don't work after I buy a HDTV, I'm going to give certain companies and federal agencies hell).

We Asked for It, We Got It

2008-06-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

More major network channels are setting up video players on their sites..and the good news is, the players show captions! More and more captioned programming is now available through Fox.com (read the review at Disabled in the Digital Age) and others. Plus there is a new online tv broadcaster, Hulu.com, that makes some captioned programming available.

As great as this is, there are still networks that don't provide online captioned programming. Ironically, one of them is the Disney channel. Disney makes full length episodes of popular shows like Hannah Montana available for online viewing, but there are no captions (at least there weren't as of May 2008).

This is a good start. Part of me wonders if the networks are rushing to provide at least some captioned programming in hopes of avoiding government requirements to provide captions on the internet? After all, because the law that requires captions on television does not apply to the internet, there is now pushing to get a new, updated law that will apply to the internet.

New Options for Finding Captioned Web Videos

2007-07-14T09:48:00.001-07:00

Blinx.com is a new web video search engine that has a captioned category: http://www.blinkx.com/videos/captioned
Another one, which doesn't seem to have a captioned category, lets you search on captioned:
http://ovguide.com/

Still More Options in Captioning Web Video

2007-05-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

The Proud Geek blog has been reporting on additional methods for getting captions on your web videos. Thus far, he has posted about Jumpcut and Windows Movie Maker.

New Options in Captioning Web Video

2007-04-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

I hope Harkle.com can keep up. There are four options I have learned about this year for web video captioning:

Project ReadOn - lets you submit a video and request captions. http://www.projectreadon.com.
BubblePly - lets you make your own "captions" and is not the same thing as professional captioning. http://www.bubbleply.com. The folks behind BubblePly are also working on a similar function for subtitling.
DotSub - Subtitling in multiple languages, including English. Videos are posted online for viewing at DotSub.
Veotag - Similar to BubblePly and DotSub. Add text to a video. Videos are posted online at Veotag.

Now if only Google Video would add a search option for "captioned" or "subtitled." Until they do, you can search video.google.com using "captioned OR subtitled."

Technology Improves, Same Old Concerns

2007-01-19T16:40:00.000-08:00

2007 has barely started, and already deaf bloggers are expressing concerns about the failure of technology/media companies (e.g. Apple, Netflix) to consider the needs of the deaf when developing new products and services:

Noelle Perse (January 19, 2007)
Sonny James (January 18, 2007)
Michael Markman (January 17, 2007)

Subtitling and Captioning

2006-12-10T06:46:00.000-08:00

Some people may wonder why I list subtitling companies as well as captioning companies. The answer is simple: there is little difference. Subtitling software will frequently support closed captioning also. The skills involved are the same - putting words on the screen. For a prospective customer seeking open captioning services, a company that does subtitling probably could do the work.

Including subtitling services providers greatly expands the pool of potential services to select from when doing competitive shopping for captioning services.

Captioning Service Explosion

2006-12-03T15:15:00.000-08:00

Captioning and subtitling services, especially offline, are becoming so widely available that anyone who wants to caption something, can find a captioning service provider. This weekend alone, I added over 30 companies internationally. The database now stands at over 240 records, with some companies having multiple locations (I actually need to go back and add in more addresses for some companies).

More New Additions

2006-12-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

Added this week:

Caption Solutions
Visual Data Media Services
Intex Multilingual Communication
Merrill Corporation
Bridge Multimedia
NJ Captions

One More Improvement

2006-11-27T19:23:00.000-08:00

The services search page has been improved again, to add another option: select companies doing all service types. A user can select any number of services and find companies that perform all of the selected services. For example, a user wanting to find a company that does both live and multilingual captioning can select "Live" and "Multilingual" and get a list of companies that do both.

Improvements to Captions.org

2006-11-25T18:54:00.000-08:00

The following improvements have been made to captions.org:

1. Searching on services - Now it is possible to select individually from Film subtitling, Internet, Offline, Subtitling, and Multilingual. Before, it was an awkward, confusing list.

2. Multiple selections can be made for service type. For example, a business searching for a captioning service provider capable of both offline captioning and multilingual captioning can search on that and get a list of companies capable of multilingual captioning and a second list of companies capable of offline captioning. Comparing the two lists will enable a business to find a company capable of both, or the separate lists can be used for splitting up the needed services among different captioning service providers.

3. Multiple selections can be made for state/country. For example, selecting companies in California and Canada will produce two lists, one of companies in California and one of companies in Canada.

4. All services provided by a company are displayed when selecting by state or by first letter group.

5. The jobs list has been updated, with all jobs prior to 2006 removed and the list now displaying by date as the default view.

New This Week

2006-11-22T16:19:00.000-08:00

Just added to the database:

Visual Vox
Line 21, Inc.

Captioning Posts on Berke Outspoken

2006-11-21T16:29:00.000-08:00

Recently I have made several captioning-related posts on my Berke Outspoken blogsite. Here are the captioning posts, in reverse chronological order.

Improved FCC Captioning Petition List
Millions of $ But Wants Partial Exemption
Only $60 to Closed Caption for 30 Min? You've Got to Be Kidding! (Cheers to Aberdeen Captioning)
Jewish Temple Does Not Want to Caption
Is This "Careful Consideration?"
So HOW MUCH Does It Cost to Caption Anyway?
(This one is a personal favorite)
Poor Churches Never Required to Caption?
Captions in Our Future? Depends on the FCC!

New Additions This Week

2006-11-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

This week's newest service providers added to the database are:

SmartCaptioning
Raycom Post Production

Another New Addition

2006-11-13T19:37:00.000-08:00

Another company has been added to the database. Newest addition is offline captioning service provider Smartcaptioning.

FCC Captioning Exemption Petitions

2006-11-13T18:47:00.000-08:00

The long list of captioning exemption petitions has been placed as a sorted list on the web at http://www.captions.org/fcc_list.cfm. The list is sorted alphabetically, by state and city. Select All or select any number you wish, and click the button to get a list you can copy and paste into a personal e-mail to the FCC. Hurry..we only have until November 27 to respond!

Still More New Additions

2006-10-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

This week, the following companies have been added to the database:

Atlantic Pacific Media

Transfer West Duplication

Eastco Multimedia Solutions

Devlin Video International

USA Studios

Rhino Moon Captioning

The Captioning Studio

Post Modern Group

Interface Media Group

Post Production Captioning, LLC

Church Letters Asking for Exemptions

2006-10-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

Ed's Telecom Alert has all the details on the church letters asking for exemptions from captioning. Reading the letters, a common theme emerges: the churches feel that because their programming is funded by donations, they should not have to caption.

New Captioning Service Providers Added

2006-09-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

The following companies have just been added to the service provider database:

601 Post
ALS International

BroadcastServicesUSA
Broadcast Text International AB (Canada)

California Captioning Services

Caption Masters
Caption Midwest

CaptionLink

ClosedCaptionedCA (Canada)

Creative Caption & Video
DRTV Productions

Duplication Station
Independent Reporters (Canada)

OneStopMediaShop

Runfola Reporters

Studio Post
Teatown Communications Group

Some of these companies have multiple offices internationally, making it difficult to know what address to put in the database. I can't put all locations because not all locations may do captioning.

Captioning Still Viewed as a Luxury?

2006-09-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

MishkaZena's blog posting "Bad news! FCC permits more 'no captioning' shows" calls attention to the fact the FCC has been granting more and more exemptions (including permanent ones!) for captioning.

Movie Theater in Sterling, VA Does Right Thing

2006-07-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

The Regal Countryside 20 in Sterling, Virginia reportedly shows an open captioned movie not once, not twice a week, but EVERY DAY.

Regal Countryside 20
45980 Regal Plaza
Sterling, VA 20165
703-404-8603