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Re: Captioning Verbatim or for Corrected English

for

From: Aaron Cannon
Date: Mar 10, 2016 11:12AM

A linguist might argue that "ain't got no" is perfectly good usage for
particular groups of speakers, so would not qualify as bad grammar.
However, if I were giving a speech, and said "Most of them haves been
discontinued," I would expect that a captioner would correct "haves"
to "have", because, based on the rest of my speech, it's an obvious
grammar error, and not the way I usually talk--probably just a slip of
the tongue. Heard in the middle of a lecture, it would likely garner
little notice. But seen in text, it would definitely interrupt the
flow.

In short, like much of what we do, I think there are few absolutes,
and a lot of judgement calls, with the underlying principle being to
convey as much meaning as possible without becoming distracting.

Aaron

On 3/10/16, Moore,Michael (Accessibility) (HHSC)
< <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> The original question posted in this thread was about whether or not
> grammatical errors should be corrected in the captions. I would say that in
> most cases this would not provide equivalent access for people who cannot
> hear the video.
>
> For example, if I were to say "I ain't got no money" and the caption read "I
> don't have any money" this does not accurately represent what I actually
> said. Also for deaf or hard of hearing people who sight read, what I appear
> to say and what the captions say is definitely different.
>
> The actual words that people use are an important part of understanding what
> is being said. Mood, formality, culture are often at least partially
> demonstrated through the language that the speaker chooses to use. Thus
> correcting grammar and syntax removes an important part of the information
> that is being presented.
>
> As for removing ah's and um's that would probably make the captions easier
> to read and understand.
>
> Mike Moore
> Accessibility Coordinator
> Texas Health and Human Services Commission
> Civil Rights Office
> (512) 438-3431 (Office)
>
>