Why are LTT videos so inconsistent with the captioning?

[aeiro]

18 minutes ago, KeyringHardhat said:

I'm glad this thread is still kicking, even if it isn't being actively interacted with by anyone at LMG. Quite frankly it baffles me that this isn't something that they are championing, why should anyone else have a lesser experience because of how their minds and bodies work. 

 

I use Subtitles because my hearing is getting worse and will continue to do so. I'm not fully deaf, but what I hear isn't always helpful to my understanding in conversation or media... I've learned to live with it, and I don't look for a sympathetic view of my own problem here, I'm an adult like most of us and we deal with our problems as such.

 

I've just submitted a ticket to see if FloatPlane handles subtitles any differently (or at all), because I'd happily pay for a better experience if they aren't willing to provide this 'for free'.

 

The tools at hand to help people hard of hearing are always improving, but something like good accurate subtitles is the difference between me being able to enjoy and learn from a video, and me turning it off in frustration at these useless ears on my head. If LMG can lobby and improve things like HDR content on YouTube as a platform and take the hit to production workflows that mastering that content can do, then improving the quality of life for those with hearing impairments should be a no brainer.

 

The team, or more specifically Linus according to that excerpt from WAN show, can continue to give excuses and hot takes for one reason or another, all these excuses say is that LMG does not want to cater for those less able and instead are willing to settle for a subpar experience. There isn't a good excuse for a company of this size to dismiss it, and I'll die on that hill. 

Thanks for your support... I'm willing to die on this hill too, though I do want to acknowledge that I'm standing on the shoulders of the giants that got me to this point of being able to argue about subtitles on a forum like this.

 

I don't believe Floatplane has subtitles, at least according to Reddit posts from 3 years to 10 months ago: No Closed Captioning on Floatplane? : LinusTechTips (reddit.com) https://www.reddit.com/r/LinusTechTips/comments/qm6x0z/floatplane_subtitles/

 

And while I appreciate your intentions are genuine and trying to be helpful, I do want to address the concept of paying to access more accessible/equitable content that is otherwise available for free; it sets a dangerous precedent that disabled people are treated differently and charged more as a result of their disability. I've seen it pop up more and more lately and it scares me that it's becoming more common - as a disabled person I already spend a lot more money every day on addressing my disability due to medical and social expenses, and adding additional crip taxes only grows and perpetuates the systemic inequality. Imagine charging some other protected class (race, gender, sexual orientation, etc) additional money to access a show that most people can access for free - we used to do this, but if we did it today there'd be a public outcry. I'm glad the momentum is focused on the direction of reducing this systemic inequality but I want to be careful about things that might reduce or eliminate that momentum. 

 

 

[KeyringHardhat]

3 minutes ago, aeiro said:

Thanks for your support... I'm willing to die on this hill too, though I do want to acknowledge that I'm standing on the shoulders of the giants that got me to this point of being able to argue about subtitles on a forum like this.

 

I don't believe Floatplane has subtitles, at least according to Reddit posts from 3 years to 10 months ago: No Closed Captioning on Floatplane? : LinusTechTips (reddit.com) https://www.reddit.com/r/LinusTechTips/comments/qm6x0z/floatplane_subtitles/

 

And while I appreciate your intentions are genuine and trying to be helpful, I do want to address the concept of paying to access more accessible/equitable content that is otherwise available for free; it sets a dangerous precedent that disabled people are treated differently and charged more as a result of their disability. I've seen it pop up more and more lately and it scares me that it's becoming more common - as a disabled person I already spend a lot more money every day on addressing my disability due to medical and social expenses, and adding additional crip taxes only grows and perpetuates the systemic inequality. Imagine charging some other protected class (race, gender, sexual orientation, etc) additional money to access a show that most people can access for free - we used to do this, but if we did it today there'd be a public outcry. I'm glad the momentum is focused on the direction of reducing this systemic inequality but I want to be careful about things that might reduce or eliminate that momentum. 

 

 

A shame to hear about the lack of subs on FloatPlane, maybe things have changed, we'll see when I get a response from the good folks over there. 

 

Totally with you on this topic, accessibility shouldn't be a premium, and it certainly shouldn't be something shrugged off by companies like LMG that are more than capable of providing a better experience, accessibility should be a fundamental right we would all benefit from. 

 

Whatever your opinions on the topic, LMG isn't a small business running out of a home anymore, they are capable of better and should be doing so. 

[Silverflame]

They seem to refuse to do things the proper way. In the latest WAN Show (specifically here), Linus talks about setting up an AI translation pipeline for their videos into Spanish, instead of hiring + managing translators, with the argument being that either way it is complicated (AI setup vs managing a team). I don't disagree, it is complicated to manage a team, but you'll get much better results with actual people than any AI, no matter how sophisticated the company that makes it claims it is (there are already comments in the VOD saying that the translation was inaccurate; and that's a 5 second clip...)
I get it: AI has a greater "cool factor". But we're not there yet in terms of them replacing humans at either translation or captioning.

LTT certainly has the means to buy both proper translation and proper captioning, which seems to be somewhat of a focus for them. Not only do captions increase accessibility for the hard-of-hearing or deaf, they are also a huge help for non-native English speakers, if you have a video on in the background, live/work in a noisy environment, etc.
But given the lack of official interaction on this thread, and the lack of CC support on Floatplane, I guess this is once again yelling into the void...