Video Script for Martine
Video script for Martine from the page Stories of Web Users (in the 2020 Update version).
Summary
- Older adult
- Female
- Deaf
- Hears some sounds
- Reads lips
- Needs captions
- Needs easier to read text
- Uses sign language
- Uses video relay service
- Uses video conferencing
- Student
- Takes online courses
Script
| Seq. | Time | Audio | Visual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0:00 - 0:15 | Hello! I’m Martine. I’m 62 years old and recently started to take online courses at my local university. I have been deaf since birth. I can hear some sounds but not enough to hear speech. | We see Martine signing directly to us viewers (documentary style into the camera). We briefly see that she is communicating through a sign language interpreter who is speaking what she signs (the audio we hear). |
| 2 | 0:15 - 0:40 | Sign language is my first language, and the one I’m most comfortable with. It is the language that I think and dream in. I booked some hours with a video relay service that provides real-time interpretation. I use that for lectures and meetings with other students that are scheduled in advance. I sign to the interpreters who speaks what I say, and who signs back to me what the others say. | [Different scene, Martine is no longer speaking to us, the viewers.] We see Martine in a video conference meeting with multiple people online. We see two sign language interpreters join the meeting (the windows for the interpreters are labeled accordingly, and we see Martine take particular attention to these two windows). |
| 3 | 0:40 - 0:50 | In video conferencing apps, I need to be able to pin the window of the speaker and interpreters so that they are always visible. Unfortunately, some apps don’t have this functionality. | [Continuation from previous scene.] We see Martine activate the “pin to screen” function for the interpreters and for the current speaker. We see her signing back to the interpreter to speak up in the meeting. We don’t really see the exact signs or hear the interpreter while the scene transitions, we just see that she is actively participating in the meeting. |
| 4 | 0:50 - 1:15 | I can lip read to some extent when I can see the full face of the person, and when they speak slowly and clearly. Sometimes I need that for lectures and events that I hadn’t scheduled. It doesn’t always work with some accents, when several people speak at the same time, or when I don’t see the person speaking. It is also exhausting for long periods. | [New scene.] We see Martine in what seems to be an online lecture (as opposed an online meeting, as she was in the previous scene). This time, there are no sign language interpreters present. She is focusing on the mouth of the lecturer speaking. She is trying to understand what they are saying but the person is sometimes turning away from the camera (not speaking directly to the audience of the lecture) to point at a board or otherwise gesture. Martine is looking increasingly exhausted. |
| 5 | 1:15 - 1:38 | Writing can also be difficult for me as someone who primarily uses sign language. For me, writing is like a different language with different grammar and words. Some courses have unnecessarily complex sentences with difficult words. I prefer courses with better writing and with clear structures, like headings and lists. | [New scene.] We see Martine having difficulty understanding a page with with long and justified paragraphs, little spacing, few headings that are hardly distinguishable, and without any structure. Then we see her looking much more relieved reading another page with much more structure and smaller blocks of content. |
| 6 | 1:38 - 1:48 | For recorded classes, my university is increasingly adding captions. Unfortunately, not all courses I want to take have captions. | [New scene.] We see Martine browsing through videos of recorded classes (as thumbnails). We see that only one has a “Captioned” marking in the selection she is currently browsing through. Martine selects that one video, and starts watching it. |
| 7 | 1:48 - 2:06 | Some videos have automatic captioning but it is too inaccurate for me. The acronyms, names, and technical phrases that are used in my classes turn out wrong, which is confusing. The automatic captions also don’t identify who is currently speaking. | [Continuation from previous scene.] We see Martine opening another video with automatic captioning turned on. We see a sentence with obviously garbled words, so that the sentence doesn’t make sense. Martine looks puzzled. |
| 8 | 2:06 - 2:20 | Quality captions identify who is currently speaking and background audio that is relevant. They are also synchronized with the audio. This helps me better understand, because what I read from the lips matches the captions. | [Continuation from previous scene but now resembling scene 2 where she is watching a lecturer speak.] We see Martine opening yet another video with marked as “Captioned”. We see her observe the mouth of the speaker, similar to scene 2. |
| 9 | 2:20 - 2:33 | Additionaly, my university is now also using a video player that allows me to change the text size and colors of the captions. I wish I could also change the position of the captions because it sometimes is in the way. | [Continuation from previous scene.] We see Martine adjusting the captions to the text size that she prefers. |
| 10 | 2:33 - 2:42 | I often need to increase the text size. Because, frankly, none of us are getting any younger [chuckles]. | [New scene, continuation from the 1st scene.] We see Martine signing again directly to us, as in the first scene (documentary style into the camera). She chuckles sheepishly as she plays on her own age. |