HOH Accommodation for TESC Synergy 2007

I attended a TESC Synergy conference several years ago, and was excited at the prospect of attending the 2007 events. I requested CART services through the Synergy coordinator. Afterward I was stunned at what I learned about captioners (they have their own needs), Evergreen meeting rooms and their drawbacks for HOH, and other issues.

Meeting the Needs of the CART Client

• One captioner didn't caption my words. I realized this is a drawback for me because I use the transcripts after the fact. If my own comments are omitted, it may leave a chunk of useful information or transitional content to help me understand the discussion. I have subsequently learned that this is a matter of coordination between the captioner and her/his client. Different clients want different services.
• When possible, for question and answer sessions, microphones should be provided for questions, and speakers should insist they be used. If guest microphones are not available, speakers should rephrase the questions.

Meeting the Needs of the Captioners

• One captioner explained that she couldn't caption for long periods of time. This poses a particular problem when Evergreen prides itself on four-hour seminars. Captioners, like any service provider, need regular breaks. Additionally, there may be laws to this effect. One 15-minute break during a four-hour session may not be adequate, and faculty should be made aware of this.

Preparing for CART Services

• It would be helpful if speakers would provide copies of their written notes to the captioner and the guest. This way the captioner wouldn't have to caption if the speaker was speaking from a prepared speech.
• It also helps if the captioner has a bibliography and glossary in advance of the event. This way s/he can have difficult words loaded in the CART dictionary.
• If there is an admission fee, the captioner should be given free admission. They are an adjunct to the event.
• The captioner should be given contact information for the client, and the client should be given contact information for the captioner. This way, in the event one person is detained, the other person can be contacted.
• The captioner and guest need to be permitted early access so they can set up the equipment and seating arrangement, lay out and tape any electrical cords.
• Signs need to be placed at the captioning location to reserve the space.
• The captioning location needs to be near an electrical outlet, with an extension cord and safety tape.
• A small table is needed for the CART laptop.
• It would be helpful to have a room layout and seating chart for the session in advance. This would allow planning of the location for the captioner.

The Longhouse

• Seating in the Longhouse consisted of fixed bleachers on the sides and standalone chairs on the main floor with an aisle in the middle. When my captioner and I arrived, we discovered they had provided a small table by a pillar at the far side of the room, right next to an electrical outlet. I didn't like this arrangement because I prefer to sit front and center so I can read the speakers' lips and engage with them more directly. However, when I asked my captioner to move her equipment to the front, she was extremely reluctant to do so. She was concerned about people passing by and knocking over her expensive equipment. We were both concerned about the safety hazard of blocking passage in case of an emergency. Another drawback was the absence of a nearby electrical outlet (although the media folks would have loaned us an extension cord). We agreed upon a different arrangement. I would sit at the front and use my ALDs and hear as much as possible. She would sit in the "protected" alcove and caption, and provide me with a transcript after the fact.
• Live is better than remote – As it turned out this was an extremely unsatisfactory experience for me. I constantly wished I had my captioner by my side when I missed a word or phrase. Throughout the event I was torn between wanting to be close to the speakers and wanting to sit beside my captioner so I could fill in the blanks "live". (This is probably why it's called "real-time" captioning. :->)
• After discussing this with my captioner, we agreed that event sponsors "should" arrange the CART service. A section of chairs at the front and center could be replaced by a table for the CART laptop. A long extension cord needs to be provided so there is access to the electrical outlet. Also, safety tape needs to be provided to tape the cord to the floor so people don't trip over it.

Lecture Hall 1

• This room has steeply-tiered fixed seats with fixed armrests and fold-up writing surfaces. It appeared the nearest outlet was located at the side of the podium on the stage. The distance to the podium's outlet and the absence of a long extension cord and tape were obvious problems. But the fixed seats and fold-up writing surfaces were a problem also. For one thing, the fold-up writing surfaces are slick and slanted. There was no place to put the CART laptop without danger of it sliding off. Additionally, the CART operator couldn't move her arms freely while she was captioning.
• Fortunately the room had a section of seats removed in the middle and we located a nearby electrical outlet. We placed two free-standing chairs in the gap between the seats. This way my captioner had elbow room for captioning, and the equipment was set back at bit from the aisle so it was out of the traffic pattern.

Seminar II, C1107

• It is generally recognized that the lecture rooms and classrooms in Seminar II are very poorly designed for people with hearing loss. This is surprising considering these buildings were constructed in the 21st century. Concrete floors, walls and ceilings are the beginning of the problem. Windows with no coverings contribute to glare. And while mechanized window shades are available, they are still "hard" surfaces which contribute to background noise.
• Apparently all the furniture in this room – chairs, tables, podium, etc. – are free standing. The tables are typically arranged in long rows. There are no electrical outlets in the middle of the room, so a long extension cord is necessary, along with safety tape so people passing through don't trip over the cord. The room has a very noisy air conditioner and there is evidently no way to control (i.e., turn off) the device. Also, the ambient temperature is slightly above freezing all the time, which poses a problem for captioners who must be able to feel their fingers. (By coincidence, my captioner had captioned in this room for an MIT student for a whole quarter. She was miserable.)

My draft web page is located at http://www.talkshop.info/hoh/TESC-HOH-Guide.htm. Suggestions to tour and review Evergreen's web site and policies are located at TESC HOH Review. If you have comments about these materials, please contact me at my public email address: mailto:infocus@techline.com. Thank you very much for your interest and involvement. ~ Janis Aaron Moore