No.RecommendationRecipientThematic Group SourceAssigneesStatus
10

The next evolution of language services must adopt further extension of live scribing for all meetings and generally extend the current interpretation and translation processes and make translation available in a timely manner.

ICANN Staff (language service)TG2
  • Accessibility
  • Technology Taskforce

COMPLETED

Summary

Implementation Details 

Having made ICANN realizes the fundamental importance of inclusion and diversity, the At-Large Community has played a key role in accelerating the evolution of ICANN’s Language Services.

At-Large has researched and tested various captioning and translation tools, and this effort has resulted in the successful implementation of live captioning services during its teleconferences in FY16. This service will be extended in FY17. Collaborating with the Language Services team, At-Large is also exemplary in offering a wide array of interpretation options during its teleconferences and publishing translations of policy advice statements. Enjoying the growing demand of its services and the increased resources and budget allocation, the Language Services team have been strengthened in recent years. As a result, there has been a much faster turnaround for its translation and transcription deliverables.

The aforementioned efforts have facilitated the participation for non-English speakers and people with disability and special needs in ICANN activities.

Next Step

At-Large would like to see ICANN’s Language Service team continues growing strengthen and improving the quality and efficiency of its services. Specifically, At-Large will request ICANN to provide captioning services to more teleconferences and face-to-face meetings.

Actions: 

  • : 
    • ATLAS II IT to identify the recommendations that require ongoing efforts (i.e. the recommendations that cannot have the 'completed' status, per se) and single them out in a separate category 

Notes: 


Input from Technology Taskforce: 

Evaluated Caption First which offers an Adobe Connect plugin for live scribing on the Joint Accessibility WG/ Technology Taskforce meeting 2014-09-08. See ATLAS II Recommendation 11 for screenshots and overview.

  • ICANN Language Services provides interpretation for:
    • At-Large F2F meetings in English, Spanish and French
    • English, Spanish, French and Russian for ALAC monthly conference calls.
    • English, Spanish, French and Portuguese for LACRALO monthly calls
    • English, French for AFRALO calls.
    • English, French for NARALO calls. 
    • English, Chinese for APRALO calls. 
  • For At-Large WGs, interpretation is provided on request from more than 3 persons attending a call.
  • ICANN Language Services transcribes audio recordings of ALAC/At-Large meetings and provides a transcript in less than a week which At-Large staff posts on the meeting's wiki page.
  •  
    • Captioning pilot project has been ongoing, providing services in calls in FY16 and will continue in FY17 
    • The turnaround of translation deliverables from language service has been very fast 
    • RALO calls provide interpretations (e.g. LACRALO call has FR, ES, and PT; APRALO has ZH; AFRALO has FR) 
    • Providing language capability has become a core in ICANN engagement and reflected in the budget allocation 

Input from Accessibility: 

  •  
    • There has been serious efforts across ICANN to improve accessibly
    • It is not At-Large's call to complete this recommendation; the completion of this recommendation depends on ICANN Staff's efforts in following this recommendation in improving accessibility  
    • There has been a short-term pilot program for captioning/live transcribing. It is part of the ICANN wide cross community activity (not a CCWG) and has its workspace to provide updates: Cross Community Committee on Accessibility Home. The At-Large Captioning Pilot Project has been working with ICANN IT and language services to implement this pilot program; the completion of this program also largely depends on ICANN Staff's efforts. If this pilot succeeds, captioning and live transcribing shall be provided in ICANN on an ongoing basis. There are many items to be done for this program and the work is far from completion. More information about the project: https://community.icann.org/x/rgAnAw 
    • Some of the ATLAS II recommendations require ongoing efforts (cannot have the 'completed' status, per se) and should be singled out in a separate category 


 

 No.RecommendationRecipientThematic Group SourceAssigneesStatus
11ICANN must implement a range of services to facilitate access according to various criteria (gender; cultural diversity) and user needs (disabilities, etc…).ICANN Board; ICANN StaffTG2
  • Accessibility
  • Technology Taskforce

COMPLETED

Summary

Implementation Details

Having made ICANN realizes the fundamental importance of inclusion and diversity, the At-Large Community has played a key role in the implementation of ICANN’s programs and services to embrace communities that have historically suffered from barriers to access. 

At-Large has researched and tested various captioning and translation tools, and this effort has resulted in the successful implementation of live captioning services during its teleconferences in FY16. This service will be extended in FY17. Addressing the digital divide throughout the native population in North America, an At-Large pilot project will send a student ambassador from the Indian Country in the US, accompanied by two adult coaches, to an ICANN conference to advocate for the rights of tribal communities in Internet policymaking. Spearheaded by At-Large, the Cross Community Committee on Accessibility has been established for the wider ICANN Community to collaborate with relevant staff departments in identifying web accessibility issues, raising awareness of those issues, and improving accessibility as a continued effort. 

The aforementioned efforts have facilitated the participation for non-English speakers, underserved communities, and people with disability and special needs in ICANN activities.

Next Step

At-Large will continue collaborating with ICANN staff to raise accessibility awareness, ensure the lasting success of existing programs and services, and help develop future programs and services for accessibility improvements.

Actions: 

  • : 
    • Olivier Crepin-Leblond to send the ICANN Board Chairman and ask whether they require any further info on REC 11 and how ICANN has been acting on this recommendation. Olivier Crepin-Leblond will ask ALAC Chair's permission first. 
  • : 
    • At-Large Staff to ask Chris Gift's team re the implementation of this rec 

Notes:

  • ICANN can meet it's strategic goals for inclusion and diversity through the implementation of services that embraces the various communities which have historically suffered from barriers of access.

  • ICANN should use caption technology for all its calls, meetings and presentations. This tool not only makes all ICANN activities and programs accessible to Deaf, blind and low vision consumers, but also the English only calls to be translated into multiple languages courtesy of Google translate. Having the captions available in English also helps people in the ICANN community whose first language is not English as most people can read English even if they can not speak or understand it.

  • Captioning technology review for conference calls (joint work between the two taskforces): https://community.icann.org/x/8xvxAg
  • Prioritization from the primary objectives for the taskforce – including an identification of the key short, medium and long term opportunities: https://community.icann.org/x/EcXhAg

  • The discussion has been furthered with key ICANN staff during the Accessibility Working Group meeting during ICANN 51: https://community.icann.org/x/kxvxAg

  • : From At-Large side, this recommendation has been completed. Its status depends on the progress on the ICANN Staff side. 

Input from Technology Taskforce: 


ATLAS2 Recommendation 11 reads as follows:

Recommendation

ICANN must implement a range of services to facilitate access according to various criteria (gender; cultural diversity) and user needs (disabilities, etc…).

Rationale

ICANN can meet it's strategic goals for inclusion and diversity through the implementation of services that embraces the various communities which have historically suffered from barriers of access.
Implement online tools ie. Captions First to provide visual aids to the disabled attendees and those with English as a second language. Enhancing their experience

ICANN should use caption technology for all its calls, meetings and presentations.  This tool not only makes all ICANN activities and programs accessible to Deaf, blind and low vision consumers.  Additionally it adds an added feature in that the English only calls can be translated into multiple languages courtesy of google translate.

As a US corporation, closed captioning is mandated under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in all areas which is why ICANN should adopt captioning on all its calls to best meet these obligations under the Act. Accessibility is the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible; It is not to be confused with usability, which is the extent to which a product (such as a device, service, or environment) can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.

Captioning is essentially the same as a transcription of the audio portion of a program as it occurs (either verbatim or in edited form), sometimes including descriptions of non-speech elements. Other uses have been to provide a textual alternative language translation of a presentation's primary audio language which is usually burned-in (or open) to the video and not selectable (or closed). Captioning is done by trained operators who can either be local or remote as long as they have a direct feed to the speakers.

Having the captions available in English also helps people in the ICANN community whose first language is not English as most people can read English even if they can not speak or understand it.

The link below will bring you to the archive of the call and the demonstration of how captioning works. We demoed two caption Pods, the one built into Adobe Connect and the one developed by Captions First. in the call below you can see how this works.

https://icann.adobeconnect.com/p1h7z2vs214/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal

The difference between the two captioning systems is that the Adobe Connect version only displays text line by line and the Captions First system does it word by word.  It also allows for more lines of text to be displayed as well as changes to the color of the captions and the font.  These changes make it more easier for users to see and read the text. See image below.

Screen Shot 2014-10-01 at 5.19.24 PM.png

Additionally changes in the background colors allow persons with disabilities like Dyslexia to see text better, which also helps this disadvantage group as well. See image below.


Screen Shot-change of colors.png

 Captions First also provides a separate website for those people with limited bandwidth to see the captions on a separate web page that only displays text. This issue of limited bandwidth is another issue that is mentioned in this recommendation. The call showcases how this is done as well.See image and links in the image below.

 You can also see how the language translation feature works as well.  Later in the call it shows how to use the google translate button along with the captions to translate the captions into multiple languages.

Example of  English to German and Japanese

Screen Shot 2014-10-01 at 5.03.39 PM.png


The cost for the raw and live captioning of the Adobe connect call is $130 and hour plus 18 an hour to clean up the transcripts and makes sure that all people are identified. Transcripts are available within a few days. Caption first can also provide captions in Spanish as well as English. However, Spanish captions cost $165 an hour. The Spanish captions can work along with the Spanish Interpreters. Both captioners can be hired with a few days notice.


 

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