Well, it’s been a long time in the waiting. In 2005, Apple released the video iPod and began selling movies and television shows in their iTunes Store. Unfortunately, deaf people everywhere were locked out of one of this decade’s hottest gadgets because the iPod or the iTunes Store didn’t support closed-captioning.
This was mystifying for two reasons:
- Apple had already included closed-captioning support in their Quicktime video playback software. Presumably, a modified version of the Quicktime software was installed in each iPod. Was it really that hard to add captioning support for the iPod if it was already built into the Quicktime program?
- Apple was selling television shows like The Office or Lost, shows that would naturally be closed-captioned if you had watched it over the air. Why couldn’t the iTunes versions of those shows be closed-captioned as well? (Yes, I know, there’s probably lots of reasons starting with technological difficulty but big picture here, people).
Well, now there’s been a change. Apple rolled out an entirely new set of iPods (there’s five versions of them now!) along with an upgraded iTunes 7.4.
This article here revealed that both the new iPods and iTunes now offer support for closed-captioning!
iTunes 7.4 now adds closed captioning support for video playback. Closed captioning will only be played with video files that contain the necessary closed captioning information…
As of this writing, none of the iTunes-purchased videos we tested had any closed captioning information available. It is also unclear whether Apple will identify videos with closed captioning within the iTunes Store, or how this support will work with self-encoded content. Presumably third-party software developers will find a way to convert closed-captioning from other content sources to take advantage of this at some point as well.
The new lineup of iPod devices announced yesterday also includes the closed-captioning capability, and offers the ability to turn captions on or off within the “Video” settings.
That’s a huge step forward for Apple. It’s about time–two years was too long.
But unfortunately, maybe that was the easiest step. Past blogs have lamented about how difficult it is to caption internet media–you still need to use a combination of programs and make different subtitle files and intermediate video compressions and other tech gobbledygook (here’s an example, by the excellent techblogger
Jared Evans). I even heard that Bob Davila’s vlogs take days to caption. DAYS!
And I suppose Apple would need to work out with their various content providers (Disney, CBS, ABC) on who’s actually responsible for closed-captioning the media.
So will we see closed-captioned video on the iTunes store anytime soon? I’m doubtful, but if it does happen, Apple can count on at least one new iPod user (me!). Kudos to them for finally making the first step towards accessibility for their portable music and video players.
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24 Comments
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I hope we deaf people won’t go blind trying to read the tiny captions on an iPod!
I doubt it. The song titles are readable on the widescreen iPods and the iPhone. If the titles and the text is readable, then the captions should be readable as well.
I think this is a step in the right direction and I’m glad the makers of these gadgets are opening doors. Technology advances so rapidly. In 5 years, we will see things we cannot even imagine right now. As long as the deaf community continues to make our needs known, someone will respond.
Kudos to Apple!
~ LaRonda
I have waited for closed captions to appear on every small gadget. This is a must for everyone who don’t want to be left out.
I’m surprised that this post has garned ONLY five comments so far while other posts have garned multiple comments. Don’t the Deaf community see how amazing it is that Apple has included closed-captioning support on their iPods? C’mon, people!
haha…yah, I know.
See, not many deafies own MAC, including me!
Also not many deafies use iPod or iTunes!
If I had an iPod, I’d be really excited! But I don’t - 250 frigging bucks? I’d have to get one for each of my kids before I could get one for myself! :P
But iTunes? AWESOME! Though, it drives me crazy with the 99 cent for each song.
On a second thought, if they really do caption for iPods…I’d tell the kids, “Sorry, but your momma was born in this world FIRST and I went through HELL giving birth FOUR times so I think I’ll own an iPod first! You want one? Go mow some lawns!”
;)
Thanks for the heads up, Adam!
I saw this, and it’s great news. If they get captioning working for TV shows I will definitely not be watching TV anymore! Already got rid of cable. I might even cancel Netflix and watch the occasional movie from iTunes instead.
I am thrilled that Apple has FINALLY made the adjustments! It took too long though. There are many videos and film for iTunes and iPods that still aren’t captioned yet.
As for many Deaf people who claim: “iTunes, what FOR?! I don’t listen to music!”.. Please. I have news for you.. iTunes have the ability to download RSS feeds to vlogs. That means I am able to view all of Grant Laird Jr’s vlogs as well as SeekGeo’s vlogs directly on iTunes! Each time they upload a brand new vlog, it is automatically uploaded to my iTunes in a form of a podcast whenever I start up the program. Usually, I get to see their vlogs before many viewers do when they check their websites via DeafRead. One close friend in Utah informed me that he used iTunes to download my vlogs and then sync them into his iPod. He is able to see what else is new with me while I am over here in Baltimore! ;)
Want to be ahead in the game?? Get iTunes. It’s worth it.
P.S. I have my sights on getting the iPod Touch this winter.
I have always understood that it was impossible to caption anything smaller than 13″ screens, which is maybe why little TVs, iPods, etc etc have not picked up captioning.
Actually, it’s not impossible. That was just the way the law was written back in 1990(?) mandating that all televisions manufactured after 1993 come installed with a closed-captioning decoder chip. This law applied only to TVs 13″ and larger.
Captions will show up fine on a TV of any size as long as it’s equipped with a caption chip.
The issue is that the law has fallen behind technology. As of now, there is no legal mandate requiring that new media devices such as computers, portable video players, iPods, portable DVD players, provide support for closed-captioning.
Yay! about time!
This is good news, especially for my three deaf/hh kiddos who all share one Ipod.
IamMine and others, it’s Mac, NEVER all-caps MAC.
Mac is short for Macintosh. Please don’t ever use MAC to refer to Macs. Thank you.
That said, PAH! It took Apple way too long to include captioning support. It was ridiculous they didn’t do so from the get-go, or at least in the very next version.
Kudos to Apple for finally realizing the need to address this segment of the population.
To the person who said captioning is impossible on small screens, that’s not true. The ADA did not mandate it on screens smaller than 13 inches (which was dumb), but it is possible to caption on any size screen. Legibility, however, THERE’S the rub. ;-)
I feel that the apple made a good choice in supporting the deaf community. I think that with this new ipod and itunes many people in the deaf community will be able to enjoy the technology that many believed they would not get to enjoy. I also think that two years is way too long and it is about time that they had technology that worked for the hearing impaired.
We could survive without relying too much on digital technology to make something out of our lives. More to life than watching some tv shows or movies on mobile technology!
You, Adam, ought to read “Technopoly”, a non-fiction book to see how we are too obessesed with the existence of digital technology.
Deaf people have been better off without the use of telephone for more than 100 years. The existence of telephone really destroy the concept of serenity and social courtesy like calling hearing people late at night, etc.
Social events blossomed for deaf people without use of telephone!
We ought to worry more about our educational system of the deaf than any inconvienence within digital technology. Enjoy life without worrying what hearing people have stuffs to enjoy a superficial life.
You are always wrong on many deaf issues from the Unity for Gallaudet to other issues! You whine about such inconvienence of unworkable cochlear implant device in Sri Lanka due to moist environment. Come on! Live without technology around us.
I can’t wait for the Neo-Luddities movement taking the place in our society in the near future to say enuff with digital technology to trivialize our human existence.
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
Your post is just plain silly.
Great news! I’m glad to hear that Apple is listening to the deaf and hard of hearing community.
Interpreting ASL (Bob’s Vlogs) is vastly different than converting spoken English to text.
I always looked for the lyrics inside of CDs. This will make it so much easier to follow songs now.
Shane,
Bob’s vlogs are not purely communicated in ASL. His vlogs are more like mangled SimCom. I rather read the texts of his vlog message than painstakingly watch his signings. Bob have no eloquent ASL skills as too many deaf people come to tell me. Those deaf individuals ever made fun of Bob’s signings like community (”M” on three fingers from both hands).
My ASL signing style also isn’t great anyway. Althought, I am culturally deaf myself, attended the residential school and had deaf parent and cousins. I am still not satisifed with my ASL signings.
Handful of deaf people have poise and grace within their ASL signings.
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
The captioning decoder files have already been created on all of the major networks which is pulled by our televisions. iTunes just needs to embed that file within the file you are downloading and enable it to be displayed on the iPod/Apple TV. The work has already been done, the wheel does not need to be reinvented, so let’s utilize those files by including them on all digital content. Enough about the font size, I read the lyrics on my Nano all the time, and I have no problem with the tiny print. I’m deaf, not blind. As for RLM - are you amish? What planet did you drop off of?
The thing though, is that the networks don’t include those captioning decoder files when they submit them to iTunes or on their network websites. NBC is supposed to have closed-captioning for its television shows offered online on its website.
[…] adds closed captioning support” meme has already made its way around the deaf blogosphere. Like here. I’m happy to know this; although, it doesn’t appear there are actually any videos that […]
Hello–
All this is great news, but what’s even more embarrassing is the fact that Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, has hearing loss in at least one ear.
I remember the first iPod and how impressed I was by its volume. It was the first media player that was loud enough for my ears, and I couldn’t figure out why that was so until I read somewhere that Steve Jobs needed a little extra volume boost to satisfy HIS own ears. :-/ We need to remind the hearing media about Steve Jobs’s hearing loss problem however minor it may seem as a way of pushing Steve Jobs and Apple to add closed-captioning to the offerings on iTunes.
Raymond Luczak
BOOKS * FILMS * PLAYS
http://www.raymondluczak.com/
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Support *sounds* great, but it’s useless without content.
I rely on captions and subtitles for all viewing experiences. I have no problem reading subtitles for movies ripped to my video ipod (5th gen), but would really like a way to include captions in quicktime, from Elgato’s EyeTV - a program that records TV shows onto my computer (mac). It was the only one that had Closed Caption capability that I could find.
While I can burn DVDs of things I record that still show closed captions, there is no way to export shows to quicktime that play on an ipod and still keep the closed captions.