<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-GB link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Really interesting article and future developments may prove invaluable to Deaf sign language-users. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>I do agree that captions can be difficult to read with lower levels of reading skill. It also depends on how they are done though. Moving captions are very difficult to read if you need to look at words for a length of time. Much easier if they are static on the screen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>It will also depend on whether written English is the native language. The difference in word order for ASL/BSL can mean that the reader is slower and so captions can be difficult to read. It is the same for Deaf or hearing speakers of other languages too. I often advised academic staff that a transcript of videos may prove more useful than captions but this is a matter of student choice. Students with dyslexia, dyspraxia and AD(H)D also reported that they found captions distracting so captions that can be switiched off are good.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>My daughter is profoundly Deaf and had her first hearing aids at 3 months old. I put all available captions on TV when she was very small so she got used to them. She learnt to speak nouns and verbs fairly easily but conjunctions were difficult so I taught her to use them by reading them first. By the time she was 5 years old she was getting a good idea of what was going on in children’s TV programmes (those that were captioned). She reports that captions were vital to her through secondary school and university. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Best wishes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Lynn<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US> athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces@mailman13.u.washington.edu] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Nast, Joseph<br><b>Sent:</b> 17 May 2017 16:15<br><b>To:</b> Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list@u.washington.edu><br><b>Subject:</b> [Athen] Food for Thought: Research in Machine ASL Translation<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Interesting article on slate.com:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/05/computer_avatars_can_translate_written_spoken_words_into_sign_language.html">http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/05/computer_avatars_can_translate_written_spoken_words_into_sign_language.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Particularly jarring quote from Harley Hamilton, computer scientist at Georgia Tech affiliated with the Center for Accessible Technology in Sign (<a href="http://www.cats.gatech.edu/">http://www.cats.gatech.edu/</a>): “For kids, captioning is almost a waste of time… ” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>NOTE: According to the article, Mr. Hamilton’s reasoning seems to stem from Galludet University’s 2011 report entitled “Reading Research & Deaf Children” (<a href="http://vl2.gallaudet.edu/files/8713/9216/6286/research-brief-4-reading-and-deaf-children.pdf">http://vl2.gallaudet.edu/files/8713/9216/6286/research-brief-4-reading-and-deaf-children.pdf</a>) which reports 18-year-olds who are deaf on average have a reading level that “… has remained relatively stable at the third to fourth grade level for more than half a century.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:18.0pt'>Joseph M. Nast<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:18.0pt'>Assistive Technology Specialist<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:18.0pt'>Lone Star College Cy Fair Disability Services<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:18.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:18.0pt'>Office: CASA 109<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:18.0pt'>Phone: (281) 290-3207<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>