Too many sound descriptions on TV

Sunny

Sunny

SF VIP
Location
Maryland
I hope this isn't offensive to anyone, but I have to wonder about the overuse of ASL (American Sign Language) on TV. Why do so many events, especially political events, have a person standing next to the speaker, gesticulating continuously? I find it distracting and kind of annoying. Most TV broadcasts now offer the option of subtitles, with a choice of various languages. Why isn't that enough?

Our cell phones give us the option of sending/getting messages via reading or hearing them, just by clicking a button. I really think using human ASL interpreters for TV speeches is overkill, retro, and has an irritating overtone.

What seems even more ridiculous to me is the use of subtitles for absolutely every sound in a movie, even the music! The scary killer is sneaking into the building? Immediately the caption pops up, saying, "Scary music." If a person can't hear, is their enjoyment of the movie enhanced by reading that there is music being played? Feels like AI is behind this. (There is a sound being sent. Uh-oh, gotta tell the audience about it.) I've even seen captions telling me that there is a door closing sound when you see the door being closed. Why do I care? I guess because it distracts from the dramatic rhythm of the story, even though it's obviously needed for the spoken word.

Most "smart" devices are better than this. But I don't think the TV producers have caught up.
 

Sunny said:
Immediately the caption pops up, saying, "Scary music."
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A long time ago I tried working with the Amazon Mechanical Turk earning a few cents per task. One of the tasks was listening to a brief bit of music and then selecting words from a list of feelings the music evoked.

So whenever I see a description of music on the closed captioning I critique it to see if I agree, ha ha.

None of the ASL or close captioning bothers me, you may be right about better more modern solutions, but, as we here on this forum are more aware of than most, not everyone has adopted the most current technology.
 
Sunny said:
I hope this isn't offensive to anyone, but I have to wonder about the overuse of ASL (American Sign Language) on TV. Why do so many events, especially political events, have a person standing next to the speaker, gesticulating continuously? I find it distracting and kind of annoying. Most TV broadcasts now offer the option of subtitles, with a choice of various languages. Why isn't that enough?

Our cell phones give us the option of sending/getting messages via reading or hearing them, just by clicking a button. I really think using human ASL interpreters for TV speeches is overkill, retro, and has an irritating overtone.

What seems even more ridiculous to me is the use of subtitles for absolutely every sound in a movie, even the music! The scary killer is sneaking into the building? Immediately the caption pops up, saying, "Scary music." If a person can't hear, is their enjoyment of the movie enhanced by reading that there is music being played? Feels like AI is behind this. (There is a sound being sent. Uh-oh, gotta tell the audience about it.) I've even seen captions telling me that there is a door closing sound when you see the door being closed. Why do I care? I guess because it distracts from the dramatic rhythm of the story, even though it's obviously needed for the spoken word.

Most "smart" devices are better than this. But I don't think the TV producers have caught up.
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With screen captions these days it seems the need is less. I noticed the other day while at the VA that there are organizations that provide free transcriptions upon request. I use the setting on my phone that transcribes voice mail. So often a caller will leave a phone number other than the caller id that is hard to orally understand, and the transcription really helps. I agree that the signing is sometimes very distracting.
 

Sunny said:
I hope this isn't offensive to anyone, but I have to wonder about the overuse of ASL (American Sign Language) on TV. Why do so many events, especially political events, have a person standing next to the speaker, gesticulating continuously? I find it distracting and kind of annoying. Most TV broadcasts now offer the option of subtitles, with a choice of various languages. Why isn't that enough?
Click to expand...
The people who are there in person do not have the option of "subtitles" or closed captioning.
Shouldn't they be able to "hear" what is going on too?
 
In my doctor's surgery they have a large television with sub-titles and no voice. I find it difficult to keep up with the reading and
wondered if they could slow it down for us slow readers?
 
That Lady in PA said:
If it is so bothersome, you have the option to turn them off.
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Of course I do, but I like the subtitles for the spoken part of the movie, which is often blurry and indistinct. For some reason. women's voices are less clear, and I find British programs a lot harder to hear clearly. There is a reason for subtitles, I just think they are being overused to a ridiculous extent. The door closing one is one example. But if there's a gunshot or any other sound effect which is not visible but may be a legitimate part of the story, the subtitles should show them. All I'm asking is a little judgement in when they should be used.
 
That Lady in PA said:
The people who are there in person do not have the option of "subtitles" or closed captioning.
Shouldn't they be able to "hear" what is going on too?
Click to expand...
Good point. I hadn’t thought about that. Maybe the time will come when there’s just a screen with the transcript.
 
Scoffs. I hadn’t thought about that being part of the script until I started seeing it in the subtitles.
 

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