Event accessibility interview from hearing loss community

At Nov 2023, sunflower ai conducted an interview through people having hearing loss. The topic is whether live captioning will be of any help in live events for people with hearing loss. Before we hear about what they say, let’s find out some background information:

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Facts:

1. About one in six Australians have some extent of hearing loss. By 2050 [1], this number is projected to increase to one in four. This number represents over 4 million Australians who have deafness of various degrees. 

2. Events such as meetings, conferences,  fundraising activities, festivals, and ceremonies are important parts of the lives of many people. However, these events/venues are often not communication accessible for deaf and hard of hearing people. 

3. Specific provisions (such as, sign language interpreting; induction loop (or hearing loop); and captioning) are usually needed to facilitate access to information and equal involvement.

4. People who have hearing loss that needs access requirements (usually means sign language interpreting; induction loop (or hearing loop); and captioning) in attending events are legally entitled to expect them to be provided according to the The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [2].

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With backgrounds introduced, let's hear what people having hearing loss say about live captions in events:

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Interview conducted time: Jan 2024

Interview topic: event accessibility for people with hearing loss

Interviewees attended: 7

Interviewer: Austin Philip

Questions interviewed: 5

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As we can see from this interview, involving captioning, as well as sign language interpreting and induction loop in live events, is a great way to improve event and communication accessibility. Sunflower AI is an AI based live captioning service provider. We are providing high accuracy, less latency and cost effective live captions for events such as CSIRO ON CORE Events.

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References:

[1] Listen Hear, The Economic Impact and Cost of Hearing Loss in Australia (2006) – Access Economics.  

[2] Communication Accessibility Guidelines (for deaf and hard of hearing)August 2013.

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