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Catharine
Catharine McNally is the founder of Keen Guides, which was formed to create more mainstream and accessible tourism experiences for everyone. McNally spends her efforts on user experience and design, video production and distribution, and staying ahead of the accessibility curve. You can follow Catharine on twitter (@cmcnally)
Posts by Catharine
What’s so Progressive about Closed Captions?
Sep 30th, 2010
They don’t look very progressive. The little black boxes with blocky white text at the bottom of your TV screen isn’t what most of us think of when we think of twenty-first century innovation. Closed Captions have been around for a long time, and by most standards, they’re about as progressive as a loaf of bread.
It’s about shared experiences, too.See, closed captions are one of accessibility’s biggest workhorses. Captioning helps more people with disabilities than perhaps any other piece of assistive technology. They allow me, a deaf person, to watch television with my family on the same screen, at the same More >
Not on the Bandwagon? Don’t worry.
Dec 23rd, 2009
submitted by Catharine
At Keen, we talk a lot about our distribution channel being on the iPhone, but it’s only our first test application. We are quickly moving towards getting as many people as possible onto our mobile distribution platform. The Google Android Operating System is gaining a lot of traction, and starting to offer significant competition to the iPhone. Below is an excerpt from an article in VentureBeat:
“Looking forward, it’s a safe bet that December’s Android share will be well over 30%, helped by the introduction of Verizon’s Droid and Google’s Nexus One. But wait for it — the report to watch for will More >
Two Thumbs up for Google.
Nov 23rd, 2009
submitted by Catharine
Google has yet again, impressed us with their developments. You guys rock, really. I love your mission: “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” It’s so simple yet it packs a lot. It gave me great joy to sit among representatives from national Deaf and Hard of Hearing organizations at Google’s announcement of machine-generated captions from the Washington, D.C. office. Ever since I received the invitation by e-mail a week prior to the event, with the subject line: “Google Announcement: Auto-generated captions in YouTube” I kept wondering what it could possibly mean. This is a More >
Captioning Online, on Phones, and iPods: Improvements on the Horizon.
Nov 16th, 2009
submitted by Catharine
Either I’m hearing more about new accessibility initiatives with captioning / as well as goof-ups, or I’m paying more attention to the news. I thought I’d share a few with you!
1. The FCC is listening. A lot of content online is not captioned, eventhough the number of U.S. broadband households watching premium online content via online has doubled to 25 million in the last year according to Broadband, Communications, and Entertainment Bundles, a new study from Parks Associates. That’s a lot of online content! There was a recent FCC Field Hearing by members of the Coalition of Organizations for More >
H.R. 3101: Communications Accessibility Act
Sep 4th, 2009
submitted by Catharine
Believe it or not, most major networks do not carry closed-captioned videos / TV broadcasts online, and the only smartphone on the market that supports captioning is the iPhone.
Surprising, isn’t it?
Thanks to a new bill on the floor in Congress, “The 21st Century Communication and Telecommunications Act,” that just might change.
There are two components to this bill that are appealing to me – and to Keen:
1. It calls for more requirements for closed captioning availability of online videos.
That means that we’ll be able to share more educational videos with you. We’ll get to spend more time looking More >
Keen Guides wins 2009 VMFA award
May 3rd, 2009
Keen Guides received the honor by the VMFA Business Council as the top five most creative businesses in Virginia. Frank McNally Jr. accepted this award at the Un-GALA reception on April 30th. To our mystery nominator, thank you! We are excited about our complimentary one-year Corporate Patron Membership and opportunities to come down to Richmond for museum events at the VMFA.
(Please note, this is not to be confused with the AAM MUSE awards which is a separate award.)
The Spy Museum & the ADA
Oct 7th, 2008
In June 2008, the United States and the International Spy Museum settled a lawsuit that stemmed from an ADA complaint by a blind individual who felt that he and a group of individuals were denied full and equal enjoyment of the Museum’s goods, services and facilities.This resulted in an ADA investigation and an estimated $250,000 to bring everything up to ADA standards.
I’ve copied and pasted several key points of the Spy Museum settlement:
“As more and more museums and other popular tourist destinations…use interactive and multimedia exhibits, the need to provide effective communication for people with vision and hearing disabilities can be More >
Doing What's Right.
Jul 11th, 2008
Want to hear a funny joke!?
Τι είδους jeans wear σε φαντάσματα; Boo τζιν!*Isn’t that funny? Wow. I heard that in the first grade and it has stuck with me ever since.
Ok, dear reader, how did that feel? Confusing? Perplexing? Not funny? Did it leave your curiosity up so much that you scrolled down to the bottom of this post to see the translation from Greek to English?
Over here at Keen, we realize that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to everything. We don’t intend that to be the case, but to embrace in the diversity of choices. We hope to More >
Communication 101
May 5th, 2008
You’re probably not alone in wondering what’s the difference between American Sign Language (ASL), cued speech, spoken, and captioned videos. These four options provide individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing with an opportunity to choose a video that they can follow and understand. Particularly in event that an individual may not know ASL and relies on other strategies for accessing language. Here is a run-down of the different video platforms that Keen provides in the package:
ASL: This is a language that is employs signs used a complex set of handshapes, body movements, and facial expressions. To learn more, More >