ACCESS IN HAND: Sign Language and Subtitled Guides For Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Visitors Author: Nancy Proctor, Ph.D. Head of New Product Development Antenna Audio Limited Affiliation: Udi Landau Regional Manager , Antenna Audio ulandau@antennaaudio.com www.antennaaudio.com
For many deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors, handheld technology offers the first chance to tour museums in complete independence, receiving sign language interpretation and/or captioning via a PDA. Through the handheld Sign Language Guide, deaf visitors are able to see video footage of signed interpretation with captioning for key words and phrases. The PDA can also provide subtitling and text-based content, as well as interactive multimedia interpretation and services, for visitors who are hard-of-hearing. Often, the same PDAs, wireless infrastructure, and even interactive multimedia content deployed for audio-visual tours can be used to increase access for deaf and hearing-impaired visitors. Sign Language and Captioned Guides increase access not only to the museum, but also to the fields of study addressed in the museum: by seeing subtitled signs for art and other specialist terms which they may not have seen before, for example, deaf visitors both learn about the objects on display, and also learn the signs and words necessary to enable them to participate more fully and delve more deeply in these topics. Those access systems are implemented in three distinct museums: Tate Modern in London, the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, and the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. Tate Modern opened the world’s first British Sign Language Guide in October 2003. Deaf visitors to the permanent collection displays are able to see video footage of British Sign Language interpretation with optional English text subtitling and keyword captioning. Sign Language users can also access all of the non-audio-based services and interactive features of Tate Modern’s Multimedia Highlights Tour, including Tate Txt-messaging service and interactive gaming. In spring and early summer 2004, an American Sign Language Guide is being implemented at the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, alongside audio tours for visually-impaired visitors and for children. A handheld captioning solution for hard-of-hearing visitors will also be available at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.
