There are currently a few interesting projects in the works at the CLT, and all of them attempt to make social and cultural experiences more accessible and entertaining for users who are deaf, hard-hearing, blind and visually-impared.
I am a part of the project called SignLink Studio.
This project focuses on bringing a better online experience and accessibility for deaf and hearing-impaired users. There are already techniques used around the web to improve access for the deaf to online media and content, however most of them are text-based approaches such as closed captioning. This works, but it is not the optimal way for deaf people to communicate, especially not for those who are born deaf or suffer from it very early.
Deaf people communicate primarily in sign language. This is their first language, the one they think in, the one they translate everything into inside their head. For them, having to communicate in text is much like having to communicate in a second language for the rest of us. This is not something we do seamlessly, we will translate things to ourselves in our head to our first language to have a better understanding of it.
I have this kind of experience myself. I may think and be really comfortable with English now, but it was much different when I first came to Canada. Communicating was difficult, because I constantly had to switch between English and Polish. Doing this over a long period of time can be very tiring for someone who is not used to it.
The goal is to create an online environment which is designed and more comfortable to use for the deaf community.
Our project has 2 parts to it: A software called SignLink Studio (SLS) and a Content Management System (CMS) associated with it.
SignLink Studio is a software which allows users to record and edit videos and embed annotations, captions and other information right into them. Those annotations are called SignLinks, which allow the user to make a clickable area inside the video, which can link to another website or some other online content (it's like a video hyperlink). You might be familiar with youtube video annotations which have a similar purpose. The software is designed for deaf people to record and edit their sign language videos and then export them onto a website.
The SignLink Studio CMS is a program that supports content from SLS and it optimizes a website for simple navigation for the deaf, by using as little text as possible in favor of visual cues, in majority based on sign language. It`s like an online forum, except unlike a typical forum, most of the text content can be replaced by images and videos. The CMS can be installed onto a website and used by its members.
We also have a deaf person working with us and she gives us feedback on the project and how to improve it. She also demos the project to the deaf community and gets more feedback from them, that way we can make sure the software and CMS are as deaf friendly as possible.
I am working with one other person developing the SignLink Studio Content Management System.
So far, I am really enjoying the job. The job is quite relaxed and I am actually quite interested in the project and I am enjoying working on it (you know I mean it because it's 7:30pm and I am still in the office, heehee). The hours are also really flexible (so todays extra hours can translate into more sleep tomorrow, heehee). The work environment is just fantastic, I felt at home right away. It might have something to do with the fact that I already knew some of the people who work here before. A few of them are from upper years in Computer Science, two of them even used to be my TAs :)
I think this will be a great experience for me. I'll even get to learn some sign language. I already learned a few things, like "I must have coffee now".
Oh, in fact I actually have to demo our project tomorrow. *shrug*
Also, here is how my work station looks like. I love it! :)
And there's more exciting news on my job front today!
I really wanna share it, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow.
I'll write a separate blog post about it (that way I can also blog more often) ;P
So STAY TUNED!
It's time for me to leave my office and head down to The Edge Studios with a few friends. City and Colour (Dallas Green) is celebrating the release of their new album Little Hell, which comes out tomorrow, and they will be performing for free. And I can't miss pretty, free, live music. <3
No comments:
Post a Comment