The Reality of YouTube Autocaptions

[jesse_the_k]

(x-posted from my personal journal)

You may have seen Google/YouTube announce the magic of auto-captioning last November.

Gee whiz, they even had a deaf programmer write the blog entry. Things are good, right?

Watch this Bill Moyers interview with David Simon on YouTube. It's got captions. They're automagically generated with voice recognition. Compare the audio tracks and the caption track and be stunned at the high level of errors. Notice that White speakers' words are around 80% correct and Black speakers' words more like 30% correct.

Yes, it takes time to make good on technology's promise. In the meantime, disabled people put up with sub-standard services—and often at premium prices. When they're perfected, they'll be generally available.

These bad captions are particularly frustrating because the original sources were already captioned! Since the 1980s all network PBS (US public television) has been captioned; the same has been true for all HBO (paid US cable network) productions since 1995.

Arghhh.

Mammography: You're Doing it Wrong

[jesse_the_k]

On Thursday I had my annual mammogram (yes I am that old).

For the last decade, I've done this breast x-ray using my power wheelchair. The firm pressure on my breasts and the pushing & pulling of my limbs is pain enough; I want somewhere comfy to sit during the procedure.

But my brand-new wheelchair decided to suddenly sacrifice one of its motors to the Gods of Uncertainty ... so sasha_feather kindly chauffeured me & my rolling walker to the clinic.

As I entered the x-ray room, I noticed a chair just out of reach. I asked the x-ray tech, "Can you grab that chair for me. I prefer to sit down."

x-ray tech Oh, no you can't do that. We have to do the mammogram standing up.
J the K I think it will work fine with me sitting. Anyway, I'm not able to stand that long.
x-ray tech I'm sure you can do it this time. We can't get good results if you're sitting down.
J the K Wait a minute, are you saying that, for the last ten years when I've come here in my wheelchair, those films are no good?
x-ray tech Umm, let me get that chair.

Yeah, no.

I'm also going to complain to the clinic.