Caption Designs Over the Years

With the recent reactions from the Deaf community and advocates about how hearing-owned companies selling caption glasses as well as using Deaf influencers to sell their product, I had the time to mull it over on why this issue keeps happening again.

I’m all for accessible and inclusive AI and technology but it appears many of these are repurposed.

Let’s look at captions:

I recall when captions first came out, my parents purchased a caption box for me. We use them by connecting the cable to the tv and switch channels using the caption box. I was able to enjoy television by reading the captions.

Eventually, tv’s had captions installed in them and caption boxes were no longer needed.

Then there are captions for videos online.

Then there were auto-captions leading to rely on AI.

Then it became a tool the masses could use in their smartphones to access information and conversations around them.

Now, captions are implemented in glasses.

With the rapid rise of technology going caption boxes to caption glasses, the one thing remains is the design of captions are still the same.

I’m not a designer, just a Deaf consumer who consumed these products.

Also, I communicate in ASL.

Over the years, these captions give one-way access to information then folks took this as an attempt to access conversations but it only achieved one-way access. And not inclusion where Deaf folks can be part of the conversations in their language which is sign language.

So, I implore folks exploring access and inclusion using AI or devices to take into consideration how to contribute and create true access and inclusion where people can have conversations and interact in their languages especially sign language.

I have yet to see this happen.