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#SeparatelyTogetherUG Series: Sign Language Interpretations on TV Stations; What’s good, what’s lacking

April 28, 2020 in Blog

The #SeparatelyTogetherUG Series features various persons with disabilities sharing their experiences throughout the COVID-19 crisis. We intend to use these stories not only as a means of staying in touch with the disability fraternity but to aid advocacy efforts to see to it that the needs of persons with disabilities are not forgotten in any interventions in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

Television stations all over Uganda over the past years have taken steps to provide sign language interpretation particularly for news coverage. In these times, where getting information from reliable sources such as TV is crucial, is the sign language interpretation provided sufficient?

What is apparent from these stories is the need for collaboration between the Uganda Communications Commission and National DPOs to come up with Standard Operating Procedures for Sign Language Interpretations and Captions. Social Media can no longer be considered an alternative means of communication but a major communication tool and should be treated as such by media channels. Reliance on radio for communications to rural masses leaves out a huge majority of persons with hearing impairments in rural areas with no regular access to social media or TV.

Olysius Kayiwa says I am a social media fanatic; this means that I can easily access COVID-19 information since it's always on there. In my case as a deaf person, I find social media more effective than TV stations even with Sign Language Interpreters, because a lot of information is missed during presidential addresses, even during the media briefings. That's why you see several deaf people go to social media after the addresses to get a clear picture of what was said. Don’t get me wrong; having Interpreters on TV is not bad, in fact it shows inclusion and it is the right move in the right direction when it comes to access to information by deaf persons.
Akoth Jackie says I prefer going back to WhatsApp to get full stories from presidential addresses. The Sign Language Interpreter Box inserted on the screen is too small to bring out clear information.

Iligant Juliet says Having an interpreter during news and live presidential briefings can be effective but the only problem is putting interpreters in a very small box where most of us can't even pick up the signs. So if they want it to be more effective then it’s better to stream the interpreter live too. I suggest putting the interpreters next to the president so they interprete live especially when the president is holding a press conference. The sign language interpreter box can work on TV news but they should widen the box.Akware Evaline says Local TV stations with sign language interpreters for news are more effective than Facebook/Twitter/WhatsApp as a good percentage of deaf people are not fluent in English. There are more positives than negatives, especially for deaf people that cannot read. The downside is sometimes the interpreters are not experts in sign language, and sign language is unique and can differ from person to person and place to place.

Bonnie Lecturer says Is there a way to get interpretation for church services? As a Christian and a Catholic, I always get left out during live mass on all TV stations. Church of Uganda services are live with sign language interpreters but we the deaf catholics are left out without interpretation. On a positive note, I have never missed any single addresses concerning the lockdown. I get all content from the (sign language) interpreters.Edgar Bwire says Turning to local TV programs was not very helpful for me since such programs (that have sign language interpretation available) are strictly reserved to a given time of day. It is easy to miss out when I am busy with other things. Also, my TV subscription run out and I had to entirely look for information on WhatsApp and Facebook. I am happy that the president, in most cases, addresses the nation on TV and social media at the same time.Don Mohamed says “Social media has been the game changer for persons with disabilities in this Covid-19 season. Video clips with sign language have been an amazing source of information. Local TV stations have really tried in their efforts to provide Sign Language interpreters but the game goes back to social media, where captioned videos also ensure that the hard of hearing who may not know sign language are also covered.” Kimbugwe Mohamed, Digitalisation and Human Rights Technical Advisor, GIZ UgandaMoses Sserwada says Honestly in my particular case, being hard of hearing and not fluent in Ugandan Sign Language, providing just sign language interpretation is not effective. I always revert to social media to get information through reading. However, some social media information is distorted. I tend to miss first-hand information for example from presidential press briefs. He makes jokes at times and I see people around me laugh. I request them to rephrase for me and I laugh at a later time! I wish local and national TV stations could provide captions. Over 2 million people with hearing disorders are not very conversant with sign language. It would greatly benefit by just reading captions in real time and make informed decisions or take actions. For information on TV to be deemed effective to the hearing impairment fraternity, Sign Language and captions need to be promoted alongside each other to make communication more inclusive and accommodative for many hundreds and thousands who don’t use sign language but have a hearing impairment.

 

 

The Make 12.4% Work Initiative looks at triggering the private, public and development sector to open up employment opportunities and livelihoods programs to persons with disabilities.

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