Uniform subtitling
Uniform subtitling system on websites
Phase 2
Type of project: Prototype
Disability concerned: Hearing impairment
Topics: Communication, Leisure, Education
Status: Completed
The prototype developed as part of this project demonstrated the feasibility of a generic controller for subtitling and transcribing any video onto web pages.
In Switzerland, around a million people live with a hearing disability. Of these, 10,000 are deaf from birth, while the remainder are precociously or late-deafened. The latter group also includes the hearing-impaired elderly, who are an increasingly important user group. Depending on their hearing ability, users are more likely to orientate themselves acoustically or visually. This is why people with hearing loss have different needs when it comes to displaying subtitles or transcripts, which also depends on the content (TV programme, online course, information or announcement).
The prototype developed as part of this project demonstrated the feasibility of a generic controller for subtitling and transcribing any video on web pages. The user tests carried out with this project highlighted the importance of such a controller for people with a hearing disability, but also their expectations of such a generic controller, so that they can benefit from full barrier-free access to all digital information on the Internet. The objectives of the project were firstly to demonstrate the feasibility and possibilities of such a generic controller.
The next step was to find the optimum layout for user-friendly and adaptable subtitling and transcription, as well as a simple way of adapting video transcripts or creating them if they don’t already exist, using an integrated VTT editor. The SW prototype was developed iteratively and tested on several occasions with experts and concerned users. The user tests carried out clearly demonstrated the usefulness of such a generic controller, and the usability of the SW prototype was continuously improved thanks to the user tests, so that it is now at a good level.
