Live Remote Captioning Mell Elton, Disability Liaison Unit

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Live Remote CaptioningMell Elton, Disability
Liaison Unit
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LRC A Snapshot

• Audio in a teaching environment is captured and
  delivered to a remote stenocaptioner, steno
  converts to text and this is streamed via the
  internet to a computer in real time
• Minimal delay, high degree of accuracy
• Successfully applied as a service for students in
  2006
• In 2008 4 students will be using LRC
• Focus is primarily on profoundly deaf students
• Complementary support method

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Other Support Models

Auslan using Deaf student Non-signing deaf
student
Learning Environment
Learning Environment
Moving from academic English to Auslan in real
time can be problematic
Student
Student
Ability to enable communication is limited
Interpreter
Interpreter
Notetaker
Notetaker
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LRC Benefits

• Gets around some issues with other support
  methods
• "LRC has opened my eyes to the possibility of
  obtaining near-100 per cent of all spoken
  material from a presentation, in the language of
  the speaker themselves!  Also, being able to
  re-read the live transcript helps consolidate my
  understanding."
• "Before LRC, lectures and classes used to be a
  constant source of frustration for me as I was
  able to only glean fragments of information from
  them. Now I am able to access that information
  almost in its entire, and enjoy it!"
• Portable / transferable e.g. between
  institutions, interstate and (theoretically)
  internationally

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LRC Model - Overview
Learning Environment
Student
Text via internet
Audio (high quality)
(Remote) Captioning Environment
Stenocaptioner
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LRC Model - UOM

• Portable equipment
• Academic Support Worker
• Set up, troubleshoot
• Compatible venue
• Phone line, Internet
• Stenocaptioner

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How it works Audio Capture

• Voice captured by lapel microphone / transmitter.
• Signal received by a receiver
• Receiver connected through amplifier and Line
  Isolation Unit to telephone line.
• At designated time, stenocaptioner dials into
  learning environment and hears lecturers voice

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How it works Text

• Stenocaptioner converts sound to text
• Text streamed to web via secure server
• Student accesses transcript in class via laptop
  and internet
• Student (and lecturer) provided with non-edited
  transcript after the session

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Limitations and considerations- Technology and
Equipment

• Requires access to
• Working analogue phone line
• power supply
• Reliable broadband internet connection
• Costs - portable audio-capture equipment
  2,200,
• Costs - stenographers
• Method/cost of audio capture will vary depending
  on technical set up of learning environment

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Limitations and Considerations- Subject venue

• Venue compatibility
• Class style
• Subject matter preparatory material
• Subject requirements
• Last minute class changes

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Limitations and Considerations- student and
academics

• Student English literacy
• Student preferences and requirements
• Academic acceptance of captioning

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Students experience of limitations and
considerations

• Despite the potential of LRC, specific
  preparation is needed to maximise its potential
  in certain environments.
• It is not ideal where there are likely to be
  more than a couple of speakers within a session
  and where spontaneous participation by various
  people is expected
• The one short coming about LRC is that when
  simple technological problems occur, I can miss
  an entire lecture.

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LRC as a Complementary support model

• Sole support method
• LRC Participation Assistant
• With Interpreters discussion, group work
• With notetaker demonstrations, referring to
  objects/tables

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Tertiary Institutions a range of experiences
and systems

• Monash Uni portable equipment, student set up,
  multiple microphones
• Ballarat Uni portable equipment
• NMIT hand held microphone, conference phone,
  stenocaptioner in person
• Latrobe Uni portable equipment, (past
  integrated system), multiple stenocaptioner
  providers
• Edith Cowen Uni mobile phone, VOIP
• UWA portable equipment from UOM

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LRC the year (s) ahead

• Consolidating experiences, trialling new systems
• For the Uni of Melb VOIP

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CONTACT DETAILS

• For more information visit our web site at
• www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability
• or contact
• Melleta Elton Resource Coordinator
• Disability Liaison Unit, UOM
• T 03 8344 6626
• E melton_at_unimelb.edu.au