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Sign-Speak is dedicated to creating tools that enhance communication between Deaf/Hard of Hearing and hearing individuals—built by the community, for the community.
The Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport unveiled a new program ROC will implement to make traveling a breeze for those who are deaf and hard of hearing.
Travelers will now find QR codes all around the airport to download the free app Aira ASL. One button press in the app and users will directly connect to a live interpreter to be used for anything at the airport, from TSA to restaurants, and even flight/gate changes.
Not only will travelers who are deaf and hard-of-hearing gain completely free access to this live interpretation service, but ROC airport will be training their employees with this app too, guaranteeing confidence and clarity for everyone.
NALscribe is a free, easy-to-use live speech captioning tool to help people with hearing difficulties understand speech and conversations, designed to increase hearing accessibility and inclusivity for all users.
National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL) developed NALscribe to increase understanding and decrease stress levels for the hard of hearing and those communicating with them.
NALscribe is especially beneficial when the person speaking is wearing a mask or face-shield, when communication is more difficult because the lips are hidden and sound is muffled.
Full functionality is available to anyone to download and use – at no cost to install or run.
ACCURATE SPEECH TO TEXT SCRIBING
NALscribe accurately converts speech into text in real-time as a person is speaking. Designed for business use with iPad (e.g. customer service, health appointments) and iPhone/iPad personal use to support people with hearing difficulties, NALscribe provides continuous speech captioning with no timeout and unlimited minutes. It’s always ready to go and won’t cut out unexpectedly mid-sentence – meaning less time fussing with controls and more time concentrating on clients and your core business.
OFFLINE MODE
NALscribe is designed to be used on- or off-line. While slightly higher recognition accuracy is available online, offline mode provides enhanced speech data security / privacy or where no reliable internet connection is available.
AUTO ERASE SCREEN
NALscribe can automatically clear captions depending on the desired privacy
ACCESSIBILITY
Designed to support communication for anyone with hearing difficulties NALscribe includes features to make communication more accessible for all.
Caption size can be adjusted to be very large to ensure ease of reading. NALscribe also automatically scales other textual content according to the text size user preferences of the device. Very large text is optimal for use in business settings where a common iPad is used to increase accessibility for all customers. VoiceOver is also supported for vision accessibility.
NALscribe has an option to switch to dark background and includes automatic paragraph formatting of text to improve readability.
LANGUAGE SUPPORT
NALscribe includes transcription for spoken languages including English (Australia, US, UK and Canada), French, Spanish, Arabic, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin), Korean, Portuguese, Danish, Dutch and Russian. Language models can be downloaded to be used offline (with selected devices with iOS13+) at no additional cost, with no limits on use.
SAVE, EDIT AND SHARE TRANSCRIPTIONS
Save and share transcriptions to ensure no details are lost from a conversation. Entire conversations can be saved, viewed, edited and added to over time.
Transcripts can be edited on screen or prior to sharing to ensure accuracy, then shared by email or text message through NALscribe, so all participants of the conversation have access.
RISK MANAGEMENT
NALscribe’s profanity filter stops offensive or derogatory language from inadvertently appearing on the screen (English).
TRANSLATION
NALscribe provides translation (with iOS15+) between 12 supported languages: English (US, UK), French, Spanish, Arabic, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin), Korean, Portuguese and Russian. Transcribed words and phrases can be selected on screen and a written and audio translation is available. All languages can be downloaded to be used offline and at no additional cost with no limits for use.
Starting Monday, the Metropolitan Transit Authority will make it easier for deaf and hard-of-hearing New Yorkers and tourists to communicate with transit staff by scanning a QR code. That code will lead them to an app called Convo Now, which will connect them with a live sign language interpreter so they can more easily engage with MTA staff and get answers to any questions.
The pilot program kicks off in over a dozen locations (listed below) and will be free to transit users. The QR codes will be posted on green signs on a window or booth, and will direct users to a live ASL interpreter in the Convo Now app, making it easier for MTA employees who may not know ASL to engage with more riders. The program is launching through the Transit Tech Lab, an initiative created by the MTA and the Partnership Fund for New York City to make the city’s transit more accessible and efficient.
Quemuel Arroyo, the MTA’s chief accessibility officer, says New York is the perfect location for this pilot program because of the high volume of residents and tourists.
“No other transit system in all of North America has the volume that we have, over 6 million customers daily between our trains, our buses, our railroads, and we’re giving that service to everybody,” Arroyo said. “That customer base has a myriad of needs, and that’s what makes this case study so important and so impactful.”
Transit staff can be found within booths, by fare machines or on platforms, depending on the issues of the day. Ideally, deaf and hard-of-hearing transit riders can find a staff member and communicate with them via Convo interpreters.
Convo Now is one of a handful of services looking to boost digital accessibility by tapping into mobile technology. Big Tech companies have also been focused on expanding their offerings to a wider range of users in recent years, increasingly leveraging AI to do so. For instance, Google has rolled out more expressive captions to better convey emotion and tone, Apple has improved Siri to better detect atypical speech and Amazon has added text-to-speech and captioning features to Alexa. This is all part of an effort to make platforms and services available to more people – and more customizable and helpful for everyone.
Sign Language learning app – Learn easy phrases! This is a favorite new app for my friends who are learning sign language.
Despite being attached to our phones, it is easy to miss an alert or notification of incoming calls or messages. For those who are hearing impaired or deaf, the risk of missing alerts or notifications is increased.
Michael wrote in with the following question to highlight this important issue:
“My wife is deaf. Is there a Bluetooth device that will light a flasher or vibrator when her phone rings in her pocket?” — Michael, Sugar Land, Texas
Depending on her specific device, several setting options are likely already available on her phone that can increase the chances of her getting alerts or notifications by flashing or vibrating.
How to set up your iPhone to flash an LED light for calls or notifications
If you have an iPhone, you can use one of its settings to make it flash a bright LED light every time an alert or call comes in. This is a visible indicator, which can help those who are hard of hearing or deaf have a better chance of knowing they received an alert or call.
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