Name of the Presentation

Live captioning in New ZealandSydney, September 2015ACMA Citizen Forum on live captioningStephanie Turner, Operations Manager, AbleWendy Youens, Chief Executive, Able

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Live captioning in New Zealand1New Zealand has closed captioning and audio description for some free-to-air and pay television channels.

There is no legislation requiring broadcasters to caption their channels.

Able is fully funded by NZ On Air and provides all captioning and audio description for NZ TV.Introduction to the NZ media landscape

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Live captioning in New Zealand2

There are five main free-to-air TV channels. Four are captioned, and three are captioned to a level of 60%. Two are audio described to a level of 10%.

Able chooses programmes based on timeslot, viewer priorities and suitability.

Able captions four news bulletins per day, plus special live events and breaking news.

No regional news or 24h news channels.

Ables captioning service

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Live captioning in New Zealand3MethodHybrid pre-prepared + truly live

SetupBroadcaster sends bulletin clips Automation software copies and polls bulletin lineup and autocue scripts

PrepCaptioner formats scripts and types up clips

BroadcastA video and audio link with the broadcasterCaptioner sends captions out in real timeSpeech recognition software is used for any truly live portions

How we do live captioning

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Live captioning in New Zealand4Training/resource

Broadcasters/communication/scripts/late media

Nature of live captioningDropped stories/late changes/breaking newsTechnical failuresThe nature of news and current affairs most difficult to captionWhat are the challenges?

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Live captioning in New Zealand5

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Live captioning in New Zealand6

Correcting mishearings can lead to missing what people are saying next.

Human error can play a part simply accidentally hitting the on-air key can take you offline during a live bulletin.

Simple names can be misheard, such as John Key = junkie.

Maori names can present some interesting challenges: Hone Harawira became Honey Hardwire, and Tariana Turia became tarry on a terrier

Specific examples from Ables live captioners

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7Technology improvements automation

Captioners will move to quality check and proofreading

Increased news bulletin captioning in NZ

More captioning in general

More online captioning by NZ news sites searchable and accessible content The future where are things heading?Live captioning in New Zealand

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Live captioning in New Zealand8www.able.co.nz

wendy@able.co.nzstephanie@able.co.nz

+64 9 916 7152

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