REPORT - trans2work.eutrans2work.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Dissemination_Budapest… · Project Nr 561847 – KA2 - CBHE This project has been funded with support from the European

European Commission Tempus Project: Project Nr 561847 – KA2 - CBHE

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Project coordinator: University of Macedonia Project contact person: Lefkothea Kartasidou, Ph.D.

Assistannt Professor of Special Education Egnatia 156, 54006 Thessaloniki, Greece

Tel. +30 2310 891 350, Fax. +30 2310 891

www.trans2work.eu [email protected], [email protected]

School-to-Work Transition for Higher education students with disabilities in Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro

REPORT

PROJECT: TRANS2WORK - School-to-Work Transition for

Higher education students with disabilities in Serbia, Bosnia &

Herzegovina and Montenegro

Document title: Report of dissemination at the World Federation of the Deaf conference in

Budapest, 8.11.2017 – 10.11.2017

University of Maribor Partner:

Type of DEV: Report

Authors: dr. Matjaž Debevc

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the

views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained

therein.





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1 About the conference

The WFD conference, which held at the Congress center in Budapest, Hungary from 8.11.2017 till

10.11.2017 elaborated different themes on plenary, section and board meetings: bilingual education,

sign language in the families, deaf employees at employment market, communication without barriers,

new information and technology revolution, and participation in the decision-making process.

The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), which was organiser, want to ensure also with such events

that members of Deaf Communities in every country have the right to use sign language as their

primary language in all walks of life with the result being, the preservation of and development of deaf

culture.

WFD President Mr. Colin Allen, and the SINOSZ President Dr. Ádám Kósa, Member of the European

Parliament, emphasized that the WFD Conference, which enjoyed significant support by the Hungarian

government, highlights recognition by the World Federation of the Deaf and of the Hungarian National

Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the oldest organization representing the interests of

persons with disabilities in Hungary.

The WFD conference addressed deaf people, especially researchers (academics and representatives),

parents of deaf children, teachers, teachers’ trainers, administrators and politicians involved in deaf

education and any interested parties.

At the WFD conference were about 600 participants from 83 countries.

The URL link to the conference: http://wfdbudapest2017.com

The Facebook link to the conference: https://www.facebook.com/WFDBudapest2017

2 Presentation of the project Trans2Work

Dr. Matjaž Debevc from University of Maribor, Slovenia, who is also a member of the Expert Group

on the Accessibility of WFD had a 20-minutes PowerPoint presentation on the second day of the

conference. He presented the importance of the technology used for deaf and hard of hearing, which

are also results from the project Trans2Work.

In his presentation he emphasized the importance of the use of technology for video relay services

and subtitling also in higher education and on the transition way to work for student with disabilities.

http://wfdbudapest2017.com/

https://www.facebook.com/WFDBudapest2017





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He presented some interesting best practice examples and among other he presented solution for web

based video sign language interpreter, which can be easily adopted to the web page.

Figure 1 shows dr. Matjaž Debevc during his presentation at the WFD conference. It can be seen

from the figure the use of two sign language interpreters (one for English language and one for

Hungary language) together with live subtitles for both languages.

Figure 1: Presentation of the project Trans2Work by dr. Matjaž Debevc at WFD conference





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ANNEX 1: Schedule





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ANNEX 2: Powerpoint slides Slide 1

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Matjaž DebevcMember of the Expert Group on Accessibility and Technology of WFD

Dr. Ines Kožuh

University of MariborFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

SUPPORTING HIGHER EDUCATION DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING STUDENTS WITH TECHNOLOGY

Budapest, 10.11.2017

Copyright by Debevc, Kozuh, 2017 1/20

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my pleasure to present you our work on supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students with technology. We, at the University of Maribor, already have introduced some possibilities and solutions at using ICT successfully in more European projects. Currently, we are working in this field in the European project Trans2Work. The project is intended to help students to go to work after their study. Today, I would like to present you briefly firstly, the right of DHH students, secondly current available technical solutions and, at the end, some future trends in the use of technology for DHH.

Slide 2

RIGHTS OF DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING SIGN LANGUAGE STUDENTS






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Slide 3

Deaf People and Human Rights, by Ms Hilde Haualand and Mr Colin Allen for the World Federation of the Deaf and the Swedish National Association of the Deaf, 2009


Before deciding which technology we should use in the education we should be aware which are the rights of DHH people. After knowing these rights, we can link them more easily with the corresponding technology solutions and products. The first and the most important right is the use of sign language. Sign languages are the natural languages of deaf people. Recognition of the use of sign languages in daily and educational live is critical in the movement for deaf rights. The next key factor to accessibility is the right to sign language interpreting, and this can be accomplished with sign language interpreter network and centres. Deaf students are best instructed in subjects through national sign language, along with the written form of the national language. Thus a bilingual education for deaf children is crucial. For deaf students, accessibility often rests upon the availability of sign language interpreters and accessible e-learning material.

Slide 4

USE OF INFORMATION ANDCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES


Now I would like to show you how we can use ICT for DHH.





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Slide 5 WFD Statement on the Adoption and Adaptation of Technologies and Accessibilities

Vision 2020:

• Barrier-free access to communications

• Accessible information

• Equal interaction with society

• Accessible products and services

Detailed WFD Working document: Adoption and adaptation of Technologies and Accessibilities and how it applies to the UN CRPD


The expert group on the accessibility work on the Statement on the Adoption and Adaptation of Technologies and Accessibilities, where we emphasise explicitly the right for barrier-free communication, like using real-time text; the right for accessible information from the environment and in school with the help of a sign language interpreter video, for example; the right for equal interaction with society, like through social networks, and, finally, the right for accessible products and services, like watching movies with subtitles. If you are interested in the work of the expert group you could contact WFD.

Slide 6 UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

"...all persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms...."

EXAMPLESArticle 9:

Accessibility obligations ...

Article 21:Sign language,

captions …

Captions

Accessible WebsitesVideo Relay

Video chat

6

With the UN CRPD, many articles make reference to where countries and governments who have ratified the Convention, are committed to create service and products that meet these obligations across all facets in community life: Education, community, work, home, media, communication, etc. Here, we can see almost the minimum requirements, which services are most important for deaf users, according to the UN Convention. These are Video Relay Services or video relay interpreting. Then, there is a need to have accessible websites with the glossary of hard to understand terms, and with sign language interpreter videos. Furthermore, video chat conference with one-to-one or up to many-to-many conversation type is needed. Finally, there is a strong need to use captions or subtitles in all video materials. According to the reports from the UK, the BBC has provided 100% captioning of its programme content already since 2008. Unfortunately, this is not the case in other European countries.





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Slide 7

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONTECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION


Slide 8 Common types of ICT use in education

Copyright by Debevc, Kozuh, 2017

Teaching and learning

Administrative

Collaborative

Cooperative

TOOLS

E-Learning material(with SL translation

video)

A medium of creative expression

CONTENT

Real-time text

Videoconferencing

Social network

Speech recognition

Speech synthesis

COMMUNICATION

8/20

Let we see where we can use ICT in education. DHH can use ICT as a tool for teaching, for example, a teacher can use an app for providing e-learning material, together with a video and for learning, for example, students look at the video and use subtitles for easier understanding of the content of the video. Next, we can use ICT for administrative purposes, like contacting the tutor or school attendant for providing more information about the school process. Finally, we can use ICT for cooperative and collaboration activities, like working in groups on the same document, like Google Doc. Further, we can use ICT for providing the content, like for e-learning material, made together with a sign language video interpreter. And, finally, DHH students can use ICT very efficiently for communication purposes. Here, we are still waiting for reliable and effective speech recognition and synthesis for many world languages.





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Slide 9 Proposal for basic ICT for deaf students

Laptop with WiFI and

BluetoothVideo camera

Smartphone with

voice recognition

Touch screen tablet


Here, we suggest some basic ICT technologies for DHH students. The first and most important is the laptop with a video camera. Further, a good and realiable smartphone, with a high quality video camera with the possibility to recognise and sythesise voice and other sounds. Finally, touch screen tablets are becoming popular, since they are light weight and can be used easily everywhere as can the electronic book.

Slide 10 Proposal for basic ICT forhigher education institutions


Multipoint videoconferencing system Video remote interpreting

Accessible e-learning system(Source: www.ediv.be)

Here, we suggest some basic ICT technologies for higher education institutions. In our opinion, one of the most important ICT products is multipoint video conferencing for grouping deaf students and interpreters together. Also, an accessible and easily portable video display is needed for enabling video remote interpreting, so students could also follow a lecture in school. Next, an important solution is providing a video interpreter for the most important and difficult to understand e-learning material and, especially, for off-line quizzes. Also a video glossary of important terms would be welcome.





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Slide 11

• Accessible E-Learning Portal

• Transparent and movable sign language translator video with captions

• Communication:

– Video conference,

– Video forum,

– Text chat,

• Collaboration:

– Individual assignments,

– Quizzes,

– Questionnaires.


Accessible e-learning material(suggestion by University of Maribor)

11/20

Regarding the e-learning material adopted to the needs of DHH students, we are proud to show you our accessible e-learning portal, made on the Moodle Learning Management System. For this work, we received the Comenius EduMedia Award in the year 2011. We redesigned the Moodle completely in such a way that is easy to understand and intuitive to use. We also invented a transparent and movable sign language translator video together with captions. We, for example, made a study together with experts from Switzerland, where we proved the need for subtitles for better comprehension of the content, derived by the video interpreter. Next, we suggest to use, in the same learning environment, the use of communication tools, so the user does not need to go outside of the system. These communications tools are video conferencing, video forum and text chat. And, finally, we provided collaboration tools for doing exercises, quizzes and questionnaires. This environment has proven to be successful in terms of usability evaluation and effectiveness of results after the course.

Slide 12 Real-time captioning - CART


https://youtu.be/nxMDEUSO_5s

Events:

Mobile based:https://captionfirst.com/demo/

http://www.livecaptionapp.com/video/

Speech recognition:

Another technology which can be used in a school is real-time captioning. We already know this technology from other events, where they use this technology for making events accessible to hard of hearing people. If you like, you can try the demo from caption first yourself. Just type the link in your web browser and enjoy the demo.





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Slide 13 Assistive Listening Devicesfor school

Bring sound closer to the ear

Separate the good „noise“ fromunwanted background noisePersonal Amplifiers

FM System with T-Coil

Infrared System

Induction Loop SystemsBluetoothstreamer


In progress: Live audio and caption streaming

via app

Many hard-of-hearing students, including those with cochlear implants, may find Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) beneficial. ALDs are portable electronic devices that help hard of hearing individuals hear better by bringing the sounds they want to hear directly to the ear. Here, we can see (show the images in the slide) . The tutor speaks into a microphone and the student picks up the sound through a receiver with a volume control and listens through a head set or some other device to get the sound to the ear, depending on whether or not the student uses hearing aids or has a cochlear implant. Depending on the student, you may still need to maintain visual contact. Nonetheless, ALDs are very beneficial. They help reduce background noise, which can be very intrusive for hearing aid users (hearing aids amplify everything, not just speech sounds). They also amplify only what is coming in through the microphone, so they help the student to focus in on the teacher`s voice. This allows the student to attend to the content, and reduces the strain of simply decoding the message. Relying on lipreading requires a great deal of energy.





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Slide 14

Children’s book - sign translation

School - remote captioning

Deaf Teachers and education access

Deafblind education

WFD 2020 Vision Accessibility - Education

Live subtitling

E-book –sign translation

14

Here, we can see as an abstract some of the most important factors for education according to the mission of the WFD, more exactly of the Group on the Accesibility. We all know that education is a right for all, not a privilege. Many deaf people are not fluent in their native language, which includes signing, written and spoken language - that is because of the poor education opportunities available in many countries. This needs to change - there are models across the world, some of them we can see on the slide, which show a good education for deaf people is when they have access to all the resources required and, most importantly, to a language.





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Slide 15 Trends: Augmented Reality (AR)

Captioning: http://www.gretaundstarks.de/


Mixed reality: Facebook ARInstagram ARARKitHololens …

15/20

At the end of my presentation I would like to present some trends in providing information to the sign language students. One company, Greta & Starks, is on the verge of launching an augmented reality headset called Starts AR that displays film subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired, as well as for those who need dialogue translated into their native language. A micro display, similar to those seen on Google Glass, streams subtitles in any language to the user's field of view, as we can see from the image on the slide. Augmented reality trend also helps DHH at acquiring information from the real environment if they are available to see it on the display of their mobile phones. Facebook, Instagram, Microsoft with their Hololens already provide some interesting solutions which can help DHH users to bring more accessible and understandable information to them, even as a Sign Language Interpreter video inside of the real video camera field.

Slide 16

https://youtu.be/ULFvmPghVC4


Future trends: Holograms deliveringSign Language

16/20

Here, we can see a quite interesting solution, called hologram, which was also designed together with Microsoft. Currently, PRSONAS units can deliver sign language and spoken word communications (in any language). The company have built, and are currently testing, voice interactions. With these solutions, sign language recognition is still not possible. Maybe this will be changed with Machine Learning, more exactly with Artificial Intelligence technology, as we can see in another slide.





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Slide 17


Future trends: Sign Language recognition usingMachine Learning

By Microsoft: Advancing Research in Sign Language Recognition

17/20

The problem of sign language recognition, which is still in research, consists of three tasks to be done in real-time. Firstly, obtaining video of the user signing (input); secondly, classifying each frame in the video to a letter and thirdly, reconstructing and displaying the most likely word from classification scores (output). Moreover, the problems are environmental concerns, like lighting and background visual noise; problems with movements outside of the camera view; problems when signs starts and ends, and with co-articulation of signs. Some results show improvements in this way, but are still too slow and not 100% reliable. On the other hand, we encourage and support this research field, since we believe there is a lot of free room for solutions for DHH students.

Slide 18 Contact

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Matjaž Debevc

e-mail: [email protected]

University Maribor

Faculty of Electrical Engineering

And Computer Science

Smetanova 17, 2000 Maribor

www.feri.um.si


Here, on my last slide, you have my contact data in case you want to know more in this field. Thank you!





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Project Coordinator

Project contact person:

Lefkothea Kartasidou, Associate Professor

[email protected]

Project email [email protected]

Project website

www.trans2work.eu

Erasmus+ KA2

Capacity Building in Higher Education

Project duration:

15th October 2015-14th October 2018

The European Commission support for the

production of this publication does not

constitute an endorsement of the contents

which reflects the views only of the authors,

and the Commission cannot be held

responsible for any use which may be made

of the information contained therein.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.trans2work.eu/

REPORT - trans2work.eutrans2work.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Dissemination_Budapest… · Project Nr 561847 – KA2 - CBHE This project has been funded with support from the European

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