Power Grid Blog
2012 Paralympics
August 27, 2012 | Jennah Bedrosian
Unlike the video above, many online videos aren't captioned.
Wednesday will mark the opening day of the 2012 Paralympic games. On August 29th, 227 American athletes will battle for the gold over the course of 11 days.
This is the part of the blog were I was going to write about all the ways you can watch the games, when I realized the a lot of the video footage is not captioned. As you probably know, captions make the internet and media in general, accessible for everyone. Captions allow people with hearing loss to be a part of the daily discourse, participate in their communities, and most importantly, they are a cornerstone of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was passed 22 years ago.
Captioning videos is not difficult. I taught myself how to do it a few weeks ago, after a couple minutes of googling. Youtube actually has its own handy instruction guide and the whole process takes only a few minutes.
As a part of the communications team, I try to only share content that is accessible to all. This sometimes has its own difficulties. The way we share information, send stories, and participate in our culture is directly linked to how accessible we make our content. As we celebrate in the strength of our athletes and the greatness of our country, we should not leave anyone out.
Coverage of the 2012 games will be available online; including live coverage on USParalympics.org, as well as on the U.S Paralympics YouTube channel. Video footage will also be re-aired on Universal Sports Network and online at UniversalSports.com.
Join us in celebrating these amazing competitors! Will you be watching? Tell us who you’ll be cheering for in the comments below.
Comments
Submitted by Grant at 08:40 PM on September 2, 2012