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[LTA intro music]

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LiveTextAccess.

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Training for real-time
intralingual subtitlers.

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This is Unit 1.
Understanding accessibility.

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Element 3. Embedding accessibility
in working environments.

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This video lecture focuses
on how to accommodate

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hearing accessibility features
in working contexts.

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The information we provide

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can be useful
for accessibility managers,

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event organisers or any institution

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or person who wants to make
an environment

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easy to use for all and possible to use
for persons with a hearing loss.

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My name is Rocío Bernabé Caro

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from the Internationale Hochschule
SDI München, in Germany.

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I have prepared this video lecture

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in collaboration with the European
Federation of Hard of Hearing,

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in short, EFHOH.

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On completion of this training sequence,
you will be able to describe features

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that can be embedded into environments
to make them accessible.

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These features or accommodations
that we mention

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will help you exploring
the accessibility of working contexts

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and classifying them accordingly.

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We have selected features
that are transversal to all types

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of real-time communication situations.

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We approach the topic
from an end-user perspective.

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To do so, we include information

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from the Hearing
Accessibility Guidelines

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published by the International
Federation of Hard-of-Hearing People

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in 2021.

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The agenda of this video lecture
is very straightforward.

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We will start by looking
into the features one by one,

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by describing how they contribute
to making participation easier,

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more inclusive and effective.

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At the end, we will stress
the main points in the summary.

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Let’s take a look
at some accessibility features

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across real-time contexts.

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Accessibility is an ability.

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That is the ability of a product,
a service, etc.,

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to be reached, used or entered by people

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with the widest range
of abilities possible.

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Real-time communication situations
can therefore be defined and classified

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by this ability,
the ability to be accessible.

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Since the Convention on the Rights
of Persons with disabilities,

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in short, CRPD,

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embedding accessibility in general
and in real-time contexts

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has both, evolved and gained momentum.

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As reported by Guozhong Zhang, in 2013,

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before the Convention,

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embedding accessibility
into environments

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often meant creating
“separated solutions”.

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For instance, accessible rooms
or websites were separated

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from the main building
or the main website.

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In this line, access was being provided;

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however, the solutions
were not necessarily inclusive.

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With the CRPD and the acknowledgment
of accessibility as a human right,

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the approach became more holistic;

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towards integration.

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Integrated solutions take
a wider stand on accessibility.

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That means that

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they include accessibility features
already in the planning stage

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and also aim at designing
environments for all.

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Improving hearing accessibility
in real-time communication

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starts by knowing the needs
and preferences of target users.

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This you have learnt
in the previous lectures of Unit 1,

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so we will not repeat it here.

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Then, the next step is to realize

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that hearing accessibility
is more than providing

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a linguistic solution, such as,

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sign language, subtitles,
or speaking loudly or using a microphone.

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Hearing accessibility also means
making a venue accessible

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by considering features,
such as lightning and acoustics,

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and hearing assistive technology

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to improve access to sound
through loops or FM systems, etc.

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The way content is presented
also plays a key role.

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This includes the communication skills
of a speaker, of course,

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but also the communication as a whole.

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That is the program,

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the announcements
during a conference, etc.

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Lastly, providing access
through real-time subtitling,

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which, as we have learnt already,
is complementary

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to hearing assistive technology
and not a replacement.

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Let’s take a closer look
at these four categories now.

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The set-up of a venue can impact
the visual and aural fatigue

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of participants
or visitors significantly.

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Some of them may seem obvious to you,
like good lighting and acoustics,

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but others, such as the seating position
of the person with a hearing loss,

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might be less known to you

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and/or to persons
without a hearing loss.

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Aida, Marcel,

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could you expand on this first
3 venue features, please?

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[Aida] I think, in general,

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the seating position
of the person related the light

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in the room and also the acoustics.

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The light must come in from behind,

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so that the light will brighten up
everybody else's spaces.

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This enables lip reading.

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And also it really must be
good acoustics.

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There are different rules about acoustics
from one country to another,

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but where I come from, we say that

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reverberation must not be
more than 0.6 seconds.

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And this is very important
because it affects

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the microphones in our HAs
and also in our ALS.

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[Marcel] Yeah, and sometimes the student
is seating in front of the classroom,

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so close by the teacher,
so that it is easier

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for the student to understand things,

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easy to see the face of the teacher,

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or reading the lips.

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You can say that a Hard-of-Hearing (HoH)
person will not look into the light,

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because when you are sitting
near the window,

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and an HoH person is
in the other side of the room,

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sitting in front of you,

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 and he looks to you,
 and you are sitting behind the window,

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then it is very difficult
to see your face,

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and that makes very difficult
to lip-reading,

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and also for the non-verbal communication.

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[Aida] You can see
at the picture here on the slide

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that there's an indication
where the windows are.

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And you can also see
where the crosses [are]:

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that is where the pupil
with HL should be seated,

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with the back towards the windows.

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And also looking out
to the other classmates,

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because that makes it faster to lip read
and know who is in fact speaking

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in this classroom
when you have a debate going on.

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Venues can be equipped
with hearing assistive systems

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and systems that convey visually

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information that is communicated
via a loudspeaker.

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Some examples are loops.

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Hearing loops or equivalents
are often used in venues

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with big rooms
such as theatres, cinemas,

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conference venues, concert halls.

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Users of hearing aids
or cochlear implants

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with telecoils can receive the sound
transmitted through the loop

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with less background noise.

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The drawbacks of loops remain the fact

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that the sound
cannot be provided in stereo

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and their sensitivity to interferences.

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Other types of loops are, for instance,
neck loops, that a person can wear

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and use with personal devices
such as mobile phones

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or audio-guidelines in museums.

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Desktop loops are another example.

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Desktop loops cover smaller surfaces

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and can be installed
at information points or desks.

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Venues can also be equipped with
wireless connections through Bluetooth.

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This type of connection enables

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a quick and easy connection

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with hearing aids
and relay ambient noise.

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This feature comes very handy
at conferences to understand the speaker

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or at classrooms
when other students are talking.

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Another wireless connection
are Infra-red systems, IR systems.

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Here the main issue is
that the IR system needs

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a direct connection to the receiver.

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So, it is very important
where the system is placed in the room

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and where the person with a HL
with the receiver is sitting.

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The problem is
that there must be a direct line,

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which cannot be interrupted.

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One advantage of IR systems, however,
is that they do not cross walls.

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This means that the same frequency
can be used in several rooms,

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and that the information stays
in the room

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and is only available
for the persons in that room.

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Lastly, visual alarm or information
systems should be installed to provide

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a written version of information
that is presented through loudspeakers,

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for instance, fire alarms

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or notifications at theatres or at airports.

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The written information can appear
on a screen in a common area

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or can be sent to a personal phone.

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These were just some examples
of equipment features

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for hearing accessibility.

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The International Federation
of Hard-of-Hearing,

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in their accessibility guidelines,

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describe many others
and their functionality.

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Lastly, a feature that concerns
the health of the real-time subtitler.

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That is their working conditions
at the venue,

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be it a work station at a conference,
an event, or in the classroom.

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Subtitlers work long hours
under very stressful conditions.

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Therefore, organisers should provide them
with a small but adequate workplace

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that includes a table
to put their equipment,

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their bands, and notes, and bags,

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and also with a good quality chair.

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Organisers should ask the subtitler
in what part of the room

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they would like to sit.

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Many subtitlers prefer sitting
close to the speakers,

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if they are not going to be working
in the booth.

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This way they can see well
the speaker and the slides

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and they can be more aware
of their non-verbal communication.

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Of course, of utmost importance is that

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organisers provide subtitlers
with a good and stable audio connection.

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Some of the features
that we have just discussed are

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as valid for online
as for face-to-face contexts.

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However, there are also differences.

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We will discuss these differences
in part 2

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of this video lecture
together with Aida.

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We will also discuss aspects

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that organisers,
participants and speakers

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can implement to improve
hearing accessibility.

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OK, see you in part 2, then. Bye!

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[LTA outro music]

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LTA - LiveTextAccess.

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Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

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SDI - Internationale Hochschule.

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Scuola Superiore
per Mediatori Linguistici.

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2DFDigital.

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The European Federation
of Hard of Hearing People - EFHOH.

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VELOTYPE.

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SUB-TI ACCESS.

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European Certification
and Qualification Association - ECQA.

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Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union.

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Erasmus+ Project:

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2018-1-DE01-KA203-004218.

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The information and views set
on this presentation

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are those of the authors

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and do not necessarily reflect
the official opinion

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of the European Union.

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Neither the European Union
institutions and bodies

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nor any person acting on their behalf

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may be held responsible for the use

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which may be made
of the information contained here.