THE DEAF AND TELEVISION
Improving Media Access for Deaf people
The access for Deaf people to the information broadcasted on television requires specifically designed technical facilities and procedures in order to give access to information. These facilities and procedures might vary from captioning/subtitling, the use of South African Sign Language Interpreters or a Deaf presenter using South African Sign Language. The Deaf Community has no access to the largest part of information broadcasted on television due to the complete lack or insufficiency of specific arrangements, legal standards and policies aimed at enabling access.
For many Deaf people, Sign Language is the only accessible means of communication. The communicational difficulties encountered by Deaf people is comparatively greater in South Africa, a country where South African Sign Language did not enjoy legal recognition until recent times, and today still not being used in some schools for the Deaf as a medium of instruction. As a consequence, some Deaf people are able to communicate only at a very low level. This forms a serious impediment in their access to information, in developing their relationships and their full intergration into the life of the community.
Current legislation does not provide any guaranteed broadcasting space for representation of the interests and problems of Deaf people within the media, although only one subtitled programme on a five minute news broadcast on SABC 3 and etv, with a Sign Language Interpreter everyday of the week, is merely not enough. There are no requirements to television stations in order to make their programmes accessible to the Deaf. Exclusion from access to information of a particular group with specific needs is both a cause and an effect of the economic, social and political marginality of that group. Deaf people find themselves at the edge of society not just as a result of their exclusion from access to information, but also in relation to other essential aspects of their life: education, employment, social safety and access to culture. The lack of access to important sources of information is only aggreviating their situation.
There are several possible options open for improving access for the Deaf to visual media. I am going to discuss the three (3) options under three categories, namely:
SIGN LANGUAGE
Sign Language is a naturally occoring language which develops as a result of the need to communicate among members of Deaf Communities. Sign Language is a language that occurs in the visual-gestural modality. This means it is produced using the hands, face, head and upper torso and is processed by the eyes. In contrast, spoken languages are produced using the mouth, tongue and vocal cords and are processed by the ears.
Different Sign Languages have developed in different countries where Deaf Communities exist, for instance:
± British Sign Language (BSL)
± American Sign Language (ASL)
± South African Sign Language (SASL) etc.
Sign Language is not a universal or international Sign Language as many people incorrectl believe Sign Language is a living language made by real people – the Deaf – making them dynamic, constantly changing and developing like any natural human language which is capable of developing new vocabulary when needed. (presenter to give an example)
George Veditz (1904) an American Deaf teacher who eventually became the president of the American National Association of the Deaf said "As long as we have Deaf people, we will have Sing Language"
Historical Background
Deafness and Deaf people are as old as humanity itself but the earliest recorded history of the communication and education of Deaf people was in the 16th century. Deaf children of very rich parents in Spain were placed under the care of a monk to be taught how to speak. Speech was required in order to acquire wealth.
This marke the beginning of the oral (speech) method vs Sign Language controvesy which raged on for centuries.
In 1880 there was an attempt to eradicate Sign Language from the face of the earth, where it was decided in a conference in Milan (Italy) which banned the use of Sign Language in schools for the Deaf.
Sign Language became an underground language. Deaf children used Sign Language outside the classroom situation and so it remained a living and natural language.
In 1960 a scientific research report on American Sign Language showed that Sign language was is a natural human language with its own grammer, independent of any spoken language. Sign Language could be analysed at tany of the same levels used for spoken languages in terms of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and discourse analysis.
In the 1970’s Total Communication (TC) was developed. This is a system adapted by the oralists in an attempt to represent English visually. TC invloves signing and speaking at the same time. Remember English or any other spoken language has its onw grammar, so does Sign Language. When you use both languages at the same time, you violate the grammar of both languages.
The 1980’s saw the advent of the bilingual-bicultural approach. According to this, Deaf people use Sign Language and written/read/spoken language.
Some basic facts about Sign Language
÷ Sign Language is an intergral part and an identifying feature of membership in the Deaf Culture.
÷ Sign Language has its own grammatical structure independent of any spoken/written langauge. (presenter to sign the difference and give examples)
÷ The majority of the Deaf people (90%) are born to hearing parents and therefore do not acquire Sign Language as a mother tongue. They acquire Sing Language at school from their peers. Sign Language is the first language of the majority Deaf children.
÷ The minority (10%) of Deaf children are born to Deaf parents and these children acquire Sign Language as a mother tongue.
÷ South African Sign Language (SASL) despite regional differences and variations has the same grammatical structures countrywide.
÷ There is not a one-to-one abstract than any spoken language. It is capable of expressing al that natural human language is capable of expressing with all its subdety and complexity.
÷ That is, SASL, can be used to tell jokes, ask riddles, express sarcasm, tell lies, create idioms etc.
Giving you a brief overview of Sign Language, I can substanciate why it’s also important to use South Sign Language when broadcasting programmes for the Deaf people of South Africa. Most South African Sign Language on television should be targeted towards viewers’ benefit significantly from SASL, whose understanding and enjoyment of programmes is dependant on it. There are two ways of providing Sign Language access to programmes:
(i) Presentation : A programme or programme segment may be presented in SASL. In such cases a Sign Language presenter, narrator or reporter, will provide the main langauge (Deaf person). The signs must then be interpreted into a "voice over" with the addition of subtitles if applicable. Where a "voice over" is used it should accuretly convey the presented Sign Language.
(ii) Intepretation : Alternatively, a person may interpret live or recorded programmes or programme segments. The image of such an interpreter is usually superimposed on a programme.
Broadcasters should remember that the presentation of programmes in Sign Language and programmes for the Deaf people (e.g. which combine presentation and interpretation) are both valid methods of meeting the requirements of the Code, and are particularly appreciated by the relevant Deaf audience.
GUIDELINES : GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Choice of Sign Language
The main body of the intended audience uses South African Sign Language (SASL) as its most accessible format. The choice of Sign Language should reflect this allowing for regional Sign Language variations within regional programmes. Therefore, South African Broadcasters can’t use foreign programmes for the Deaf because it is not enhancing SASL and it is not reaching the target audience. Broadcasters can promote and enhance the use of SASL by using SASL.
2. Intended Audience
Where practible, the style of the presenter should be appropriate for the intended audience.
3. Off Screen Indicators
The use of SASL presenter should indicate the presence of off screen sounds (e.g. ringing of telephone) where these are important to the understanding of the programme.
SUBTITLING AND CAPTIONS
Captions can increase access to films and programmes not only for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals, but for those with language disabilities and for whom English is a second or in some instances, a third language. Captions provide a written display of words or sounds which are scroled across a display unit such as a television, blank monitor or movie screen. Captions may be either open or closed, and are produced either pre-programmed or real-time.
Types of Captioning
A. Open : Open captions are included as part of the regular programming and viewed by all
B. Closed : Such captions are visible only after being decoded. Televisions manufactured after 1990 automatically decode these signals, the message on the screen.
C. Pre-programmed : Captions prepared in a studio to accompany a pre-produced programme. Such captions are then encoded ontot he video track in either open or closed format.
D. Real-time (live) : Captions which are displayed instantaneously with the event or broadcast, such as sports events, newscast, trials, speeches or theater productions. Increasingly, real-time captioning is used as an alternative to Sign Language or interpreter (oral/sign) in America.
7de Laan
The Deaf people in South Africa have taken ownership of 7de laan for the mere fact that its accessible through the subtitling provided. They have "sign-names" for characters and its become a discussed topic over tea time.
EMERENCY
Let me share an email received by the Federal Communications Commission in America following the events of September 11th from a woman who is deaf:
"I would like to thank someone for the the captioning that helped me understand all the events of this past week. I live alone, am totally deaf, and without the captioning, I would have been totally in the dark. This means SO MUCH to Deaf people, and especially at a time of crisis"
When a tornado, a hurricane, a flood, a forest fire, a spill of dangerous chemicals or collera hits a community, in an emergency, people get information from a variety of sources:
Television
Radio announcements
Civil defence etc.
Deaf and hard of hearing people have very limited access to these critical weather and information sources. In an emergency, they experience fear and frustration. They make poor safety decisions since they are uninformed about the nature or scope of the emergency.
DEAFSA believes that many broadcasters and public emergency agencies are not aware of their legal responsibilities to modify their information procedures. New techniques and technology is available to help make sure that Deaf or hard of hearing people KNOW about emergencies and HOW TO RESPOND.
Sign Language Interpreters
C Sign Language interpreters are bilingual: They are fluent in two or more languages, e.g. English and South African Sign Language (SASL). Sign Language interpreters conduct themselves according to professional ethics.
C Sign Language interpreters are bilingual-bicultural professionals who are sensitive and responsive to environmental factors which are sensitve and responsive to environmental factors which could foster or impede the message to be conveyed.
C Sign Language interpreters work within two languages – the source language (language in which the orginal message is conveyed, e.g. SASL) and the target language (the language into which the original message is interpreted, e.g. English). An interpreter takes the message expressed in the source language and expresses that same message in the target language.
C Sign Language interpreters are bi-cultural which means they are at home in the culture of the majority (hearing) and the culture of the minority (Deaf).
C Sign Langauge interpreters must convey the message from source language to target language so that it is accessible to the users of the target language.
C Sign Language interpreters are to Deaf people what the "white stick" and wheel chair/crutches are to the blind and orthopedically disabled. Sign Language interpreters can be used as the ears and voice of a Deaf person.
How to use a Sign Language Interpreter
In any given interpreting situation, there are certain issues and arrangements that must be considered. Remember that although there are physically two persons (the Deaf person and interpreter) present in the interpreting situation the interpreter is the voice of the Deaf person in order that the hearing person understands what is being signed, and in addition the Sign Language interpreter is the ear of the Deaf person so that the Deaf person understands what is being said.
C It is therefore important that you address the Deaf person directly, e.g. "How are you?" and not indirectly, e.g. (to the interpreter) "Ask him how he is".
C The Deaf person will answer directly, by e.g. signing "I am fine", to the hearing person not indirectly, e.g. (to the interpreter) "Tell him that I am fine".
C The interpreter will say, "I am fine" (in the first person singular "I"). This does not mean that the interpreter is speaking for him/herself but for you, if you are speaking for the Deaf person when he/she is signing.
C Make sure that the interpreter and the hearing person are seated/standing on one side facing the Deaf person.
C This makes it easier for the Deaf person to look at both the speaker and the interpreter.
C Make sure that the signer’s face has enough light (Deaf person/interpreter). Light should not shine behind any person signing.
C In a big meeting, e.g. conference, seminar, symposium, board meeting, etc., make sure you have at least two interpreters to take turns at 20-30 minute intervals with a break every two hours.
C Remember that Deaf clients have the right to choose the interpreter they prefer. In preparation for the meeting, ask the Deaf participants which interpreter(s) they would like to use.
C If you do not understand what the Deaf person is saying, use the interpreter to ask him/her what he/she means. Likewise, when the Deaf person does not understand, repeat whatever you said or rephrase it. It is not the interpreter’s responsibility to rephrase or paraphrase the message for either of you.
C Do not start a personal discussion with interpreters when they are on duty. Common questions to the interpreter while on duty are: "How did you learn Sign Language?", "Where did you train as an interpreter?" and/or comments like "You sign beautifully", "It is amazing to watch you perform", etc.
Many of these same factors apply to telephone interpreting.
Areas and situations that need interpreter services
® Health Services.
® Teriary Educational Institutions.
® Legal and Judiciary Services.
® Media (especially visual media such as TV).
® General Information.
® Employment.
® Counselling (marriage, psychological, AIDS/HIV, etc).
® Banking Industry.
® Chain stores.
® Public meetings and conferences.
® Religious events (services).
® Social events (wedding, lobola).
® Police stations
® Correctional Services.
® Theatrical performances.
® Parliamentary proceedings.
® Telephone services.
Code of Ethics
Sign Language interpreters adhere to a professional code of ethics, including the following:
(1) Sign Language interpreters keep all assignments related to information strictly confidential.
(2) Sign Language interpreters render the message by faithfully conveying its intent and spirit.
(3) Sign Langauge interpreters do not counsel, advise or interject person opinions related to the interpreted assignment.
(4) Sign Language interpreters use the preferred language of the person(s) for whom they are interpreting.
(5) Sign language interpreters accept assignments using discretion with regard to the interpreting skills required, the setting and person(s) involved.
(6) Sign Language interpreters conduct themselves in all phases of the interpreting situation in a manner befitting the profession.
(7) Sign Language interpreters strive to further individual knowledge and skills in order to maintain high professional standards.
GUIDELINES : GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Choice of Sign Language
Same as Sign Language
2. Intended Auidience
Where practicable, the style of the SASL Interpreter should be appropriate for the intended audience.
3. Off-screen Indicators
The SASL Interpreter should indicate the presence of off-screen sounds (eg. ringing telephone, gun shot etc.) where these are important to the understanding of the programme.
4. Signing Competence
SASL Interpreters should sign with a level of competence and fluency at least equivalent to accreditation of SATI (South African Translators Institute)
Synchronising
Apart from interpretation of live programmes where it might be impractical, Sign Language interpretation should start at the same time as speech. The use of autocues has been found to be a useful aid to deaf interpreters and can help towards synchronism. The timing of signed sentences should be as close to speech as possible. Equally with Sign Language presentation, a "voice-over" sentence should also be as close to the sign language as possible. It should te noted however that Sign Language and English have a different grammar structure so that the two cannot match each other directly. Every effort where practicable, should be made to provide equivalent information to all viewers.
Monitoring
Broadcasters should monitor the effectiveness of their service through contact with Deaf people and their representatives.
REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETING
1. Quality of display
The presentation of the signer on the intended display screen should be of sufficient size and resolution to show all movements of the full upper torso, together with arms, hands, fingers, shoulders, neck and all relevant facial expressions. All important gestures that convey meaning through Sign Language must be easily and accurately recognised.
2. Choice of dress and background colours
It is important that the person sign can be clearly distinguished, for example, by means of contrasting plain colours and suitable lightning. The visual apperance of the interpreter (e.g. choice of clothing and dress accessories) should not cause undue distraction to the viewer.
CONCLUSION
Deafness is actually a widespread social phenomenon. There is an irrefutable reality where society unfortunately continues to set endless obstacles to Deaf people’s natural desire to be treated on an equal level. To Deaf people, living in our society implies being daily confronted with oral communication a condition in which the Deaf are seriously penalized.
In addition to this, more barriers are created by the numerous means of communication used by hearing people – television is one of them. This instrument and means of mass communication per excellence still represents a serious communication barrier dispite the exciting subtitling service which however is far from meeting Deaf people’s legitimate expectations as it currently accounts for only 5% of all television programmes. They want to be able to choose the programmes, they like in full autonomy without feeling obliged to select only the subtitled ones.
More provision of SASL programmes, longer news bulletins with SASL Interpreters and captioning/subtitling will limit these barriers.