This could explain why captioner Javier Arriaga was welcomed onto the stage at the Deafness Forum Captioning Awards this month with cheers and whistles. Presenting him with the award for ‘Most consistent captioning’, Media Access Australia CEO Alex Varley called him “the best captioner in Australia, probably the world”.
Arriaga didn’t mean to become a captioner, he just needed a job. After graduating from a mass communications degree all he wanted was something, anything to do with television. Twenty-three years later, he’s still working tirelessly to supply consistent quality captions.
“I was looking for something related to television. At first I just liked watching TV but I quickly started to love doing something that people appreciated,” said Arriaga, now Head of Production at The SubStation. “You’re not just doing a job, not just typing away, you’re doing something that people get pleasure out of.”
“To be a good captioner you need excellent English skills, you need to be a good listener and have good general knowledge. You also have to be dedicated, caring and passionate so that you can do the job justice,” said Arriaga.
Sadly, many captioners aren’t allowed the time which Arriaga’s standards demand. Due to ever tighter budget constraints for providers, captioners are often forced to cut corners. There has been a worrying trend to use live captioning, which can affect caption quality, for content that can be captioned prior to broadcast.
“The real challenge for the industry is to make captions cheaper for the client without losing quality for the viewer. I’m constantly amazed at the talent of voice captioners and stenographers in live captioning, but it’s vital that live captioning only be used for live broadcast. If caption providers try and cut corners then ultimately it’s the viewers who miss out.”
Chris Mikul, Project Manager at Media Access Australia and Arriaga’s former boss, gave more high praise. “I worked with Javi at the Australian Caption Centre for almost twenty years, and he is undoubtedly the hardest working person I know. He’s been known to work through the night to get an urgent captioning job done and he inspires a similar dedication to quality in his staff.”
Arriaga has seen massive changes in the industry, with captions moving from the fringe to the mainstream over the course of his career. Not only has technology advanced, but legislators and the media have stepped up to the challenge of making entertainment accessible.
“DVD companies have embraced captions. They were quick to realise that if they don’t include captions then people who are Deaf or hearing impaired won’t buy their DVDs. Companies such as Roadshow, who have achieved 100% captioning, don’t have to caption if they don’t want to. Unlike television, they aren’t bound by quotas so their dedication is really commendable.”
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