Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Deaf members

[Hafidha Sofia (hafidhaao]

Can’t speak for your neighbor or fellow member but I will break down what I’ve 
observed and what I’ve been told by my hard of hearing neighbors.  On Zoom:
There is far less “cross-talk.” During in-person meetings, people would 
frequently hold side conversations that made it harder to hear the primary 
conversation or presentation. 
Late arrivals come in quieter, and there is less confusion or disruption to the 
flow of the meeting. 
There is less ambient / environmental noise, such as coffee makers, coughing, 
children crying, chairs scraping the floor, people walking in and out.
Better adherence to “one mic” rule. People are far less likely to interrupt a 
speaker on Zoom. And Zoom isn’t conducive to two people talking over each 
other; because people know that they won’t be understood if someone else is 
talking at the same time, they don’t even try it. In-person, people with louder 
voices or more forceful projection were accustomed to being heard over others. 
There is more consistency of volume when people speak. In Zoom, if a person 
speaks too low, it means they can’t be heard by most listeners, so they will 
adjust their volume in order to be heard. In person, the common experience of 
hard of hearing folks was that speakers would NOT raise their volume or speak 
more clearly at the request of hard of hearing folks. 
More control of volume. On Zoom, individuals can tailor volume of their device 
speakers or wear headphones to get sound just right.
I’m sure there are other things, that’s just off top of my head. For my 
professional work I’m deeply invested in Accessibility in online gathering 
spaces, so I am up for talking and learning about these things any/all the time.

Hafidha
Songaia Cohousing
Washington State, USA

Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 25, 2021, at 9:10 AM, Shari Hirst <sharihirst13 [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> We have a member at Sand River Cohousing that has hearing problems, and uses 
> a hearing aide.  She is able to understand zoom meetings better and asks 
> pertinent questions.  I don’t understand why she is able to understand better 
> on zoom than in person.  I would appreciate your comments.
> 
> Shari Hirst
> 
>> On Apr 25, 2021, at 10:02 AM, Allison Tom <allisonrtom [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> So very many things are more accessible to those of us with disabilities
>> with zoom. I'm certainly looking forward to a more normal life, should that
>> day ever come, but I know that in person meetings will return and my access
>> will diminish.
>> 
>> Allison Tom
>> 
>>> On Sun, Apr 25, 2021 at 12:50 AM Fiona Frank <fionafrank [at] gmail.com> 
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Good call! Or. you can get people to take it on turns to type captions
>>> which are more accurate .
>>> 
>>>> On Sunday, 25 April 2021, Hafidha Sofia <hafidhaao [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> A frequent feedback we’ve heard since the pandemic is that with almost
>>> all
>>>> meetings switched to Zoom platform, those who are hard of hearing have
>>>> reporter improved access to conversations and proceedings. They can hear
>>>> and follow the flows of meetings much better.
>>>> 
>>>> This reminds me: Zoom now has artificial intelligence closed captioning
>>>> (they call it “Live Transcription”) for all Pro accounts now. It has to
>>> be
>>>> enabled in the Settings on the Zoom account; under “Settings,” find
>>> Closed
>>>> Captions setting and make sure to tick the button that enables “Live
>>>> Transcription.”
>>>> 
>>>> Then, during meetings, the host has to turn on Live Transcriptions.
>>>> 
>>>> Those AI transcriptions aren’t always accurate but they can help folks
>>>> follow along with what’s being said.
>>>> 
>>>> Hafidha
>>>> Songaia Cohousing
>>>> Washington State, USA
>>>> 
>>>>> On Apr 24, 2021, at 1:31 PM, Dean smith via Cohousing-L <
>>>> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> I’m wondering if other cohousings have deaf members and how they get
>>>> along.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Dean Smith
>>>>> Sunnyside Village Cohousing
>>>>> 
>>>>> Sent from Dean’s iPhone
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
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