2007-01-15
In Accessibility ,Apple ,Flashforward / Tags: /
During the keynote I noticed that in a corner there was a lady signing the presentation to a delegate. I looked over at a later stage and a man had replaced that lady. They were taking turns to sign the presentation. I was really impressed with this and chatted to Lynda about this after the keynote. Lynda informed me they provide a Sign language interpreter at FlashForward conferences on request. Good one! I do hope that other conferences do the same.
Aral’s commentary was really comprehensive on the Keynote and worth having a read.
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Not super surprising… I think it may even be a legal requirement. Even way back in the dark ages when I went to college (at Rochester Institute of Technology) they had interpeters in almost every class–mainly because there was another school connected (The National Technical Institute for the Deaf). I did notice at MAX this year a bunch of interpreters… and they took turns too. One told me that both the technical aspect and the speed at which most speakers talk made it really necessary.
Good point, that was really cool. I noticed in several of the seminars that I attended and throughout the exhibition hall, there were many people signing. There was actually a booth near the “Information” booth where those who required interpreters could sign up.
In the Keynote, I sat next to a man who was legally blind without his glasses. His Mac was monochrome with enlarged text….it was his blog. In the same light I saw 2 people in the exhibition hall who needed seeing eye dogs and a tour guide to make their way around.
I was really impressed with the services provided for those who needed the assistance. My hat goes off to the planning teams @ MacWorld
Hi Phillip
You are right – it is a legal requirement. I mentioned it because often people ignore legal requirements like this – sad but true. Glad to hear they do the same at Max. I was chatting to some people in the UK and they have never actually had a request before.
I can imagine how tiring it must be to sign a technical presentation – we had a deaf class at the collage where I used to teach. We had to extend the course duration as our interpreter did not understand the content. We ended up having to teach most of the course without a sign language interpreter. Thankfully it was a small group of students.
Hi Homer
Great to hear they were supporting visual impaired people at the conference & expo as well.
I used to teach at a university with a high proportion of students who are Deaf, so my lectures were routinely signed. One of the initiatives there was to compile a BSL/English Glossary for Art and Design terminology, which one aim of was to make a signed technical session run more smoothly for students and interpreters. There are almost 2000 signs, and you’ll find it here: http://www.artsigns.ac.uk
Hope you find it useful.
- Pete