Ai-Media we re all about Access.

Transcription

1 Ai-Media we re all about Access. BROADCAST SCHOOL UNIVERSITY TAFE WORK CONFERENCE ONLINE VIDEO COURTS Alex Jones and Tony Abrahams founded Access Innovation Media (Ai-Media) in 2003 as a social enterprise dedicated to ending the experience of exclusion that people with disability face. Since that time, the Company has been making a difference for people who are deaf or who have difficulty hearing. Ai-Media commenced offline broadcast captioning in 2004 for Subscription Television clients, and introduced live broadcast captioning in 2010 on SKY NEWS and FOX SPORTS. Live broadcast captioning is delivered using a combination of stenocaptioning and respeaking technology. The respeaking technology has been developed over the last four years, and is the platform that underpins the delivery of our Ai-Live businesses. Page 1 of 6

2 Page 2 of 6 We use proven technology to generate offline captions. We have developed customised automated workflow processes to improve productivity at scale. Our proven live broadcast respeaking solution utilises proprietary technology, training and respeaking methodology which is a part of our accreditation program, Ai-Skills, and a scalable delivery platform. We believe respeaking will form the core of our live captioning delivery into the future.

3 Accessible Online Video Solutions Ai-Media proactively supports the Federal Government s recent initiative to focus on web accessibility. The Web Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 indicates that providing captioned (open and closed) videos and transcripts on websites meets these online requirements. Many of our clients now are aware of the ability to integrate YouTube Channel as a part of their Social Media strategy, and often embed the YouTube video player on their external websites - so this is an area of growth for captioned content online globally. The accessibility features and publishing functionality offered by YouTube means that the addition of closed captions and transcripts is an easy implementation when clients work with Ai-Media. We simply create a professionally formatted Closed Caption file that is matched and timed to your video and you upload the file via YouTube s upload manager. We have the ability to deliver clients formatted Closed Caption files to marry to their online videos plus files that can be integrated within video editing projects. We can also provide high resolution Open captioned videos (subtitled) for upload to online media players that may not offer captioning functionality or features. View some of Ai-Media s online videos at: We also create matched transcripts to accompany these captioned videos, so that sightimpaired visitors to a website are able to access the content of the video as well. This text alternative can be used with screen readers and other accessibility technologies. Closed Captioned file pricing starts at $56.00 for a video of up to 4 minutes in duration. For longer durations, prices increment at $14.00 per minute over 4 minutes (or part thereof). Open Captioned Video pricing starts at $80.00 for videos of up to 4 minutes duration. For longer durations, prices increment at $20.00 per minute over 4 minutes (or part thereof). Matched transcripts ordered with the Closed Caption file or Open Captioned Video can be ordered for an additional $ To learn more about Ai-Media s numerous accessibility services go to: To discuss your Online Video captioning requirements contact: Jo Booth Development Manager Ai-Media jo.booth@ai-media.tv Telephone: (02) /(0412) Page 3 of Inclusion/ ?ref=mf

4 Why improve communication options for people who are deaf? Because deaf people can do anything, except hear. Without the ability to hear, how can we give deaf people access to the information they need to get a quality education and a head start in life? How can we give deaf employees access to the information they need to perform their jobs well? A report by Access Economics in 2006 found that our current systems are failing us deaf children are 2.4 times less likely to complete high school than their hearing counterparts. How was the Ai-Live solution developed? In 2006, speech recognition technology improved to the extent that a skilled respeaking captioner could listen to the teacher and respeak the content into trained speech-recognition software. Because the respeaker makes noise, this solution was only effective in classrooms where all students were deaf. To become a mainstream solution, remote respeaking is Page 4 of 6

5 required. The solution captures what is said in a classroom and within 7 seconds provides in text the dynamic communications and learning between the teacher and the class. Ai-Media and the NSW Department of Education worked together on a preliminary pilot to deliver realtime captioning direct to students laptops in a classroom environment. Utilising the advances in speech recognition technology paired with remote respeaking methodology the solution was called Ai-Live. In April 2010, following 3½ years of work, our Ai-Live preliminary pilot has shown a way forward. Ai-Live was launched officially on April 23, 2010 at the National Deafness Sector Summit in Sydney, Australia. Ai-Live is a whole-of-life solution for deaf and hearing impaired Australians, as it provides direct access to mainstream classrooms, lecture halls, conferences and workplaces. It has the potential to be used for health, legal and other professional services. 1. Teacher wears lapel microphone 2. Audio delivered to remote Ai-Skills captioner, who listens to content and respeaks, with punctuation, into Ai- Live 3. Ai-Live delivers text of the classroom discussion to the student s laptop or ipad 4. Notes available after class Ai-Live is a whole-of-life solution for deaf and hearing impaired Australians, as it provides direct access to mainstream classrooms, lecture halls, conferences and workplaces. It has the potential to be used for health, legal and other professional services. This award winning and versatile solution can be used in any environment that requires access to mainstream language. Any compatible web enabled device, such as ipad, laptop and smartphone, can be used to access this secure service. Ai- Live provides deaf and hearing impaired people with a future to look forward to and offers an inclusive life experience as well as the independence that some people take for granted. After all, there is no reason why any deaf or hearing impaired people need to be left behind - in the classroom, the workplace or in society. Ai-Live transforms the educational experience and outcomes of deaf and hearing impaired students. When a deaf student receives instruction in a non-verbal Page 5 of 6

6 language, e.g. in Auslan, it impedes the development of phonological awareness and does not build the literacy essential for integration into mainstream society. Ai-Live provides direct, same language access to mainstream classroom content which enables the deaf student to build a larger repertoire of vocabulary and increase their understanding of grammar and punctuation, plus it allows the deaf students to communicate directly and immediately. The innovative nature of, and need for, Ai-Live was recognised by the ABC s The New Inventors program, winning its episode and People s Choice Award in June 2010 and was recognised in the final series in September Ai-Live is supported by a provisional and PCT patent application, relating to the innovative method and systems for streaming and updating text strings to a web server. Page 6 of 6