I've been really pleased with the responses to my diary about adding transcripts or captions to diaries with videos - especially in this age with "video+2 sentence" diaries. Many people have been more than willing to take the time to create transcripts for videos they deem important for the Kos Community. For example, Danya Romulus transcribed the Paris Hilton response video last week; as a result, many more people were able to access this viral media. I have friends who are both deaf and hearing who were not able to see what Ms. Hilton said - until Danya stepped up to the plate. But something disturbs me: the number of people who say "transcript for the hard of hearing." More on why this is disturbing, below the fold...
Let's start with the Deaf community, because that's what I know best.
In 2008, we will have an estimated population of 304 million in the United States. According to the Gallaudet Research Institute, approximately 10 million of these are hard of hearing and 1 million of these are functionally deaf.
11 million people. Tell me again: by exactly how many votes was Bush ahead of Gore in the last election? My point should be obvious, but it's not my only point. Let's forge ahead. 11 million people from one of the many communities that benefit from transcripts also have families. They have friends. They have community members. By including transcripts - by making sure the videos and ideas YOU, the members of DailyKos, are accessible - you are potentially guaranteeing us a win in the next election. You are holding out a hand to millions of people who are otherwise doomed to listen to nothing but the so-called liberal media. And we all know exactly how liberal that fourth estate really is.
But as anyone who reads my original diary is aware, the Deaf community isn't the only one who benefits from accessible media. There are people who don't have speakers - people with computer access in the libraries (think people who don't have computers of their own) - blind people (who often use text readers to access online materials) - educators - people who are learning English - people more comfortable with written English - and as Cassandra Waites below notes, people with auditory processing disorders - our original pool of 11 million grows to a much larger pool.
In other words, when you post a transcript, it's as much for yourself, your ideas, and the progressive future of our country as it is "for the Deaf and hard of hearing" - or the broadband challenged, patronizing as that is.
And what about outside the country? While trying to find a channel with which to observe the Olympics without pathetic NBC voiceovers, I learned that often video from other countries is blocked in the United States. I imagine the reverse is also true: videos here, are blocked in other countries. While our first priority is America, it does no harm for other countries to see there are still Americans with progressive values - and transcripts just might be one way to prove it.
Most Kossacks have been ready and willing to transcribe. I intend to keep reminding people, if only because I have deaf (and hearing) students at my school who will benefit from this. As long as I teach, I'll probably feel a moral obligation to be an annoying Kossack - though it may sometimes be depressing. Just remember, this little act (such a frustrating waste of time) could have amazing repercussions, beyond what you expect.
(And there's this, too, Gentle Readers: forcing yourself to listen, word for word, to what is being said, might give you even deeper insight to people's meanings and intentions than you've ever had before.)
Peace.
Shout-outs to Kossacks who've added transcripts: Gangster Octopus, NWTerriD, Muzikal203, Al Rodgers, and many I'm sure I've forgotten... Thanks!