Live captions in education made more accessible

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Monday, 2 September 2013 15:44pm

A new version of Ai-Media’s live captioning system Ai-Live has been launched which is easier to use and more accessible to people with a range of disabilities. The service is used by people who are Deaf or hearing impaired to provide information within classrooms, lecture theatres and at work. Live captioning is a crucial part of providing equal access in education.

How Ai-Live works:

  • A teacher wears a microphone while speaking
  • The audio of the teacher’s voice is sent to a captioner in a remote location over an internet connection
  • The captions are displayed on the student’s laptop or tablet less than seven seconds after the teacher spoke

Re-speaking is a method of captioning which uses voice recognition software to convert speech to text. Captioners using this method repeat what they have heard in a clearer voice so that the captions are accurate. The captioners are also able to correct any errors before they are sent.

Because many students use laptops in class, live captions allow the Deaf or hearing impaired student to blend in with their peers. And as the captions include everything the teacher says, the student is able to participate more easily in class discussions.

Ai-Live 4.0is a significant improvement on previous versions and has been enhanced to cater to the needs of people who are Deaf or hearing impaired and also have low vision, colour blindness, limited dexterity, dyslexia or an autism spectrum disorder.

The new version includes:

  • Font choice, including the dyslexic font
  • A range of font and background colour combinations
  • Large buttons
  • Saveable preferences, so that customised settings are remembered across sessions
  • Enhanced support for iPad and Android tablet users

Speaking at the launch, Media Access Australia CEO Alex Varley said “The new version of Ai-Live 4.0 is a good illustration of how the disability market has matured and expects more than just a basic service.

“The interface of Ai-Live 4.0 is very user friendly and has a lot of simple to operate accessibility features all based around a clear, plain display that can be customised to the user’s needs. Just showing up with a laptop or tablet and throwing a few captions in whatever format the supplier decides is no longer good enough. Disabled consumers want a high level of service, individual choice and to be treated like everybody else. This is the basic philosophical approach of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Ai-Media certainly meets that.”

Ai-Live is used in schools, universities, TAFE, workplaces and events.

The new system has been developed to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, the international standard which determines an accessible website.


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