By Samantha In Products, Accessibility, Activism, Featured | No Comments »
Sprint has a live captioning service available for hard of hearing people whom struggle to hear conversations on the telephone.
Here’s the gist: if you need to make a call, you log in to the CapTel website (once you are registered), input your own telephone number and the number you want to call. In a second, your phone will ring and shortly thereafter, the number you are calling will ring. As the conversation takes place, captions appear on your your computer screen - in the window you just input your numbers into.
If you want to receive a call, your caller calls a special number you have been assigned and enter your telephone number. Moments later, your phone will ring, and the conversation will be captioned on your computer. This seems more complicated than it really is. Do it once and it’s a cinch.
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By Samantha In Hearing Aids | No Comments »
Ear wax is a common substance to all of us, right? But what is it really? It’s a yellowish, waxy goo called cerumen that is designed to clean and lubricate the skin of the ear canal and protect the whole ear against bacteria, fungi, insects and water. Too little of it makes putting in a hearing aid painful. Too much of it can exacerbate hearing loss and mess up your hearing aid.
Normally, tiny glands in your ear create a watery substance that gets mixed with bits of dead hair, skin, dirt and dust creating wax. Jaw movement like chewing and talking moves the ear canal in a fashion that the ear wax slowly works its way out, until it dries up and falls out. Modern behavior such as wearing hearing aids, ear plugs, head sets or cleaning with a q-tip hinders this natural shedding. That’s when we end up with what is called “excessive ear wax.”
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By Samantha In Technology, Products, Activism, Featured | 3 Comments
When Amazon announced Unbox, I was tickled silly. This new Amazon product makes it possible to download a rental movie (you can buy movies too) from the Unbox site and watch it on your TV or PC. In less than an hour, you can download a movie to watch at home and not be bothered with returning the video to a store. You can even start a download from your PC at work to be ready for when you get home. See why I was so tickled?
But guess what? Closed captioning isn’t included in the download. My first movie, About a Boy, is full of Hugh Grant voiceovers. I missed every word. I complained straight to Amazon. Here’s what they said:
Greetings from Amazon.com.
Thank you for writing to us about closed captioning and Amazon Unbox
videos.
Unfortunately we do not offer closed captioning at this time. The
availability of content through our Amazon Unbox service depends on
our agreements and arrangements with various content owners. We are
constantly working to establish and improve these agreements so we can
offer the largest range of content possible.
It is always important for us to hear how customers react to all
aspects of shopping at Amazon.com. Strong customer feedback like
yours helps us continue to improve the selection and service we
provide, and we appreciate the time you took to write to us.
Thank you for your interest in Amazon Unbox video downloads on Amazon.com.
Bummer.
Join me in telling Amazon that their agreements with their content owners need to include closed captioning. Go to Amazon.com, and look for the contact us button on the side. Surely 31 million people deserve this support!