If You Use Zoom, Facebook Live, or Any Other Audio/Video Platform, Please Talk Loud Enough to Be Heard – August 16, 2020

I am hearing impaired. The last time I tested back in 2006 I had a 60% loss in one ear and 40% loss in the other ear. I can’t consciously lip read, but if I can see your face, between what I hear and your face, I can generally get most of what you are saying. With masks being an issue, I can’t read your lips through your mask. If you use a clear face shield, that’s not an issue, but very few people use face shields. I bring this up because too many people posting videos, including audio only, don’t talk loud enough on Zoom, Facebook Live, YouTube, or other social media.

It’s important to realize that not everyone has great Internet. For most of the billing cycle, my home Internet is 2G. Out and about, I may get good or better Internet connection. However, several of the places limit how much Internet you can watch and videos tend to take a lot of bandwidth so I avoid using their Internet to access them. Also, many devices have poor speakers that don’t have a lot of volume to them. I used to listen to someone in person talk and he gave out copies of what he was going to talk about. It was odd because he basically read it like a script. There was no deviation from the print copy.

In addition to the above, if it’s an option, include Closed Captioning (CC) and a transcript. Just an FYI, CC and transcripts on YouTube have a bad habit if you are using the auto-generated options of having words that you didn’t say. Not sure how the auto-generated CC and transcripts come up with some words that don’t sound anything like what the person said, but with YouTube, you can edit CC and transcripts.

One way some YouTubers get around the transcript issue is include transcripts as part of the video on one side of the screen. I find that helpful as they tend to include copies of what they wrote.

The problem with transcripts and CC is if your viewing audience includes people that are also visually impaired whether or not they have a hearing impairment. As I am both hearing and visually impaired, the transcript issue isn’t a problem if the person doing the presentation has a decent sized readable font