Technology for accessibility developed by Dicapta

Technology

Since its creation and in a continuous way, Dicapta has focused its efforts on developing technological tools that allow the creation of accessibility elements more effectively and efficiently to guarantee access to education, culture, and information for people with sensory disabilities. The result of its efforts is the creation of the following systems:

Management System for the Production of Accessibility Assets

Dicapta developed a proprietary administrative platform to monitor the different workflows carried out by the company.

From closed captioning to audio description, accessible real-time conferences, dubbing, and subtitling, the platform eases the control of all the processes that make up the workflow. The client, the administrator at Dicapta, and the professional and technical personnel working in the production processes converge on the platform to maintain real-time and structured production control.

The link to this platform is private and is not accessible to unauthorized personnel.

System view. On the left, the tools menu. On the right, a list of projects, with team members assigned to them and progress indicators.

C&CC Cloud & Captioning

Automated captioning system for TV stations.

C&CC is an inexpensive and easy way to generate captions made possible by integrating machine learning algorithms with a speech-to-text system on the cloud. The system learns from the peculiarities of a TV station and its narration style to generate the captions.

Closed Captioning Performance Supervisor

Our Closed Captioning Performance Supervisor reviews captions delivered in real-time by video broadcasters and provides the metrics needed to comply with federal regulations. Additionally, it gives immediate feedback if something goes wrong.

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Rule 79.1, video producers, programmers, and distributors are required to monitor and maintain records and information on activities that ensure that the delivery of closed captioning to viewers comply with the defined criteria for quality standards for closed captioning.

Screen with captions at the bottom. To the left of the screen, three sheets show statistics for accuracy, integrity, synchronicity, and average speed.

PlayMeAudio

System view. On the left, the tools menu. On the right, a series of rows with description texts and, next to them, time stamps for each text.

PlayMeAudio is a global audio description generation system.

It generates from the audio description (AD) script, using machine learning technologies to produce neural voices, or from a voice talent narration, the complete audio description track with a single click.

Using artificial intelligence techniques, the system finds out when the AD should be inserted and adjusts the audio levels to suit existing regulations. This results in higher efficiency and more efficient results in AD production.

Acces4All App

The Access4All app allows accessibility elements associated with audiovisual content to be synchronized and played from a mobile device. It makes it easier for a user of captions, audio description, or ASL, among others, to enjoy the content with the accessibility they need regardless of where the content is played (television, streaming, movie theaters, etc.). All the accessibility elements are available in the Digital clearinghouse on the cloud Access4All.

Access4all also allows people who are deafblind to access the caption streams with their braille display. The app is available on the App Store and Google Play Store.

Dicapta developed the Access4All app with the sponsorship of the Department of Education under the Television Access grant.

On the left, at night, on the street, a young man wears a winter jacke. His hands are next to his ears and hold the sides of a hood. On the right, a phone with the Access4all app on the screen.

Access4All Digital Clearinghouse on the cloud

Animation. A cloud in the center, under it several hands are holding phones with the Access4All App open. Around four people watch or listen on their phone or computer.

Access4All is a clearinghouse that aims to increase access opportunities using technology.

The clearinghouse allows storing and sharing different types of accessibility elements, such as subtitles, audio description, and ASL. This makes it easier for accessibility to be reused, minimizing costs for audiovisual content owners and increasing access for content users.

Accessibility located in the Access4All clearinghouse can be synchronized with the media content anytime, anywhere, by anyone who needs it.

Digital Aided Descriptions (DAD) Platform

Digital Aided Descriptions (DAD) is a platform that allows students to create, as a team, descriptions for images which may either be selected by a teacher or that are part of sets of images suggested by the DAD platform. DAD promises outstanding results when utilized in a diverse classroom. Instead of the teacher needing to fully describe images for blind or visually impaired students, sighted children will work with the visually impaired children to develop comprehensive descriptions. This way, all the children involved will enhance their vocabulary while developing collaborative skills. This web-based tool will allow the teacher to monitor, read, and correct students' work in real time.

Phase 1 of this project was developed with funds from a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90BI0027).

A girl with headphones.. Over her image, there is a dark transparent background that has a yellow banner with the letters DAD.

GoCC4All App

Animation. Waves come out of a TV toward the front. In front of the TV there are a braille keyboard, a phone displaying text in large letters, and a speaker that floats over a phone.

The GoCC4All is an app designed by Dicapta Foundation, Dicapta Corporation's social enterprise, to deliver emergency alerts and TV captions in an accessible way to individuals with disabilities, especially those who are deaf-blind..

The emergency alerts module delivers geolocated emergency alerts. It allows the provision of an emergency contact that will receive the extreme and severe alerts that the user receives-along with the user's location-. It also features an SOS to send the user's location information to the emergency contact. The Watch TV module allows accessing captions using the screen or the voice-over feature of a mobile device or using a braille display. Users can easily modify the captions' size and duration and adjust the app to the braille display's line size and output type.

GoCc4All has been tested and improved in collaboration with the Hellen Keller National Center (HKNC). It delivers emergency alerts from the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), a national emergency alert system managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). GoCC4All was developed with funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) under the Field Initiated Program Grant #90IFDV0004-01-00.

It is available on the App Store and Google Play Store.