Good morning <<First Name>>,
I hope you've had a great start to 2022! We've got a great article this month for you with some captioning tips from one of our talented Usability Analysts that you all love hearing from- Melanie Hawkes. We also want to encourage you to get your registrations in for the Perth Web Accessibility Camp, as we'd love to see you there (details are in Amanda's piece, or in our Events section at the bottom)!
Finally, this is a goodbye from me for now! I am headed off on my maternity leave for baby #3 and hope to have some good news for you soon! I've been working with ADWebKey (previously Web Key IT) for the past seven years and am so grateful for my managers, both past and present, fellow colleagues and the lovely audience here that reply to my newsletters and offer encouragement and suggestions from time to time.
Thank you all so much, I'll leave you in the very capable hands of Karl McCabe for the next few months.
Yours always,
Emma Murray
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Captioning Tips
24th of January, by Melanie Hawkes (Usability Analyst)
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Captioning videos is an important (and easy) way of ensuring they are accessible. In my job at the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, I have been captioning for years and will share what I've learnt:
- Upload the video to YouTube first. The auto-English captions that generate are pretty good and will save you heaps of time, especially if you don't have a script. I edit the captions in there, adding punctuation and adjusting the timing to match the audio.
- You can delete ums and ahs, repeated words and false starts. If the person is rambling, try and get it to a coherent sentence (without leaving too much out or changing what is said). It helps to cut these out when editing the video, but sometimes it isn't possible.
- Be consistent with spelling and grammar. I've started a list of frequently spelled words, like bushfire and firefighters (one word), flood boat (two words), or whether you use 'Narrator' or 'Voiceover', for example. Follow your company's style guide (if you have one) or write your own.
- If you have two lines of text, try to get both lines a similar length. You don't want one line with most of the words and the other with only one or two words. Use Shift + Enter to break lines.
- If the person speaking changes, identify them in the captions, especially if you can't see them. People using the captions may not hear the voices changing. I use >> before the new speaker, but you can use anything. Just be consistent.
- Don't forget to add background music and sound effects information (if there's time between speech). I put it in square brackets.
- If there is text on the screen and it is exactly the same as the audio, I usually delete the caption text. Don't forget to add it back in when you write your transcript. More tips on writing transcripts next time.
If you want to see some good examples of captions, have a look here.
It isn't difficult to do them, but it does take time. I take pride in doing my captions well, and I hope my viewers appreciate them.
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Recent News
7th January, 2022
We are looking at hiring a Usability Analyst who uses Dragon Naturally Speaking software for dictation. If you are interested or know someone who might be- please apply!
6th January, 2022
We are looking at holding our next 5 day Digital Accessibility Course at ATI Mirage in Perth CBD from 9am-4pm each Wednesday in March. If you are interested in joining us, please see the course outline and email us today!
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 From the VP
31st of January, by Amanda Mace (Vice President)
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As in previous years, I am proud to once again be a part of the Perth Web Accessibility Camp (PWAC) planning committee and am looking forward to seeing you all on the 22nd whether in person or online as a part of this amazing event. The day, including morning/afternoon tea and lunch, is only $50 per person.
Curious about the fantastic speakers? Below is the announcement from the committee with a full list of speakers.
The Perth Web Accessibility is excited to announce an incredible line-up for this year’s event. Featuring an array of international and local speakers from the W3C, government and industry experts, this event will no doubt be a highlight in everyone’s accessibility calendar.
Guest speakers include:
- Judy Brewer (W3C WAI)
- Jeanne Spellman (W3C WAI Silver Task Force)
- Dr. Marianna Lopez (University of York)
- Thomas Logan (Equal Entry)
- Gian Wild (AccessibilityOz)
- Bri Norton (OZeWAI)
- Dr. Scott Hollier (Centre For Accessibility Australia)
- Amanda Mace and Shane Fynn (AbleDocs)
- David Vosnacos and Vithya Vijayakumare (VisAbility)
- Matt Putland and Rosie Luscombe (Vision Australia)
- Geoff White (Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, WA)
Tickets for in person attendance
Tickets for online attendance
See you next month,
Amanda Mace
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 Win or lose, Dylan Alcott is changing perceptions of people with disability like me
Originally published on The Guardian by Kate Thomas on January 26th, 2022. Original article can be found here.
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When I was younger, the Australian Open lit up my family’s lounge room. The blue court light reflected off the walls each time a racquet greeted a tennis ball – thwack. It was normal to address players by their last name: Federer, Williams, Nadal, Clijsters, Tsonga. And like many others, tennis was my alarm clock for summer. But in 2015 another name joined our vocabulary: Alcott.
It’s a name that needs little introduction and is rarely met with a question mark. Dylan Alcott: the first man in tennis history to win a golden slam. Alcott: the guy who crowd-surfed at a music festival in his wheelchair. Alcott: who quoted Wu-Tang Clan lyrics on ABC’s Q+A. And most recently, Alcott: the first person with a visible disability to be named Australian of the Year in the award’s 62-year history. In November, Alcott announced this Australian Open would be his final – and he’s currently on track to take his eighth consecutive title at the tournament.
Over the span of his career, wheelchair tennis has been shot into the spotlight. But Alcott’s legacy isn’t centred on winning. It’s on changing perceptions of people with disability like him, like me, like so many others. In his acceptance speech for Australian of the Year, Alcott said: “I love my disability, it’s the best thing to happen to me … I love the person I am.”
Alcott openly speaks about his struggles and his personal life, all with self-deprecating humour. You can’t turn away, because this man wears his life and heart on his sleeve. With thousands of social media followers, Alcott’s appeal is far-reaching. People look to Alcott, the whole person. They see his disability and its wonderful complexity as part of the human condition. He has normalised disability and made us feel seen – that we can be represented and seen as real, everyday people.
Alcott has spoken previously about having no disabled people in the media for him to look up to when he was growing up. “When I turned on the TV or the radio and flicked to the newspaper, I never saw anyone like me. That’s what I struggled with the most,” he said.
Disability advocate and writer Hannah Diviney tweeted after Alcott’s first-round match: “If you had told Younger Hannah that one day she’d spend a Sunday night with her family watching people who looked like her play tennis on mainstream TV, she’d never have believed you.”
Growing up, I felt much the same as Alcott and Diviney. Not seeing anyone like you in the media can leave you feeling as though there is no one like you and that you can’t be successful. During high school I didn’t believe in myself. I was afraid of life and didn’t know if there was a space for me in it.
Alcott once said that for “every one thing you can’t do there’s 10,000 others that you can”. And he’s made society believe this about people with disability too. He has taken us on a journey to recognise individuals for their humour, their passion, their ability. He – as well as many disability advocates – have moved the dial towards inclusion.
I know this is just the beginning of change, that there’s still work to be done to have people with disability included in education settings and the workplace, true representation in the media and in leadership across Australia. We need to get to a place where people look around and ask if people with disabilities are truly represented in their community, their friendship circles, who they date and the media they consume.
Now when I watch tennis, I see myself reflected on the court. I’m seen on Rod Laver Arena, on the banner at Melbourne Park, in the commentator’s box. And now in his role as Australian of the Year, people with disability are reflected in that role too.
Win or lose, Alcott has helped change the narrative for people with disability, and I want to thank him for this. Enjoy those guilt-free beers, Dylan.
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‘Dylan Alcott has taken us on a journey to recognise individuals for their humour, their passion, their ability.’ Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP
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 Upcoming Events
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Perth Web Accessibility Camp
22nd February, 2022
VisAbility, Victoria Park WA
Tickets for in person attendance
Tickets for online attendance
Perth Web Accessibility & Inclusive Design Meetups
15th March, 2022
Forklore, West Perth
7:30-9:00am
Read more about the Accessibility Meetup group
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