Terminate Paramount Pictures!

Update: A petition has been created demanding that Paramount Pictures closed caption this web series now! https://www.change.org/p/paramount-pictures-closed-caption-the-terminator-genisys-web-series-now

Update 2: Bleeding Cool wrote an article about this: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/06/23/petition-started-to-get-closed-captions-on-terminator-genisys-webseries/

On June 22, 2015 a new web series debuted on YouTube: Terminator Genisys: The YouTube Chronicles. Featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and YouTube stars, this web series lacks closed captioning. A total failure on the part of Paramount Pictures to consider that there may be deaf and hard of hearing fans (and other closed caption users) wanting to watch it! The web series was released in advance of the upcoming movie of the same name, Terminator Genisys, due out July 1, 2015 in theaters.

Why is this so important? It is important because it is an indication of the failure of both marketers and producers to remember the necessity of closed captioning! It is unacceptable for major movie studios to produce web series based on their movies, without any closed captioning!


If you want to try to watch the web series, go ahead, but you will have to put up with nonsensical, ridiculous autocraptioning crap like this:

Each part of the web series is being hosted on a different YouTube channel, none of which closed captions by the way. Part one is on the Machinima channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh0d3FZvcmM. Part two is on the Tobuscus channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mxRZqW7ipI. Part three is on IISuperwomanII's channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsb-8fsQ04U.

What can you do? On Twitter, tweet @paramountpics. On Facebook, post comments on the Paramount Pictures Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Paramount) or better yet, on the Terminator Genisys facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TerminatorGenisys. On Tumblr, post a blog.  They must get the message that we will not tolerate being neglected like this! Don't let them get away with failing to closed caption this! What about deaf and hard of hearing Terminator fans?? Don't they exist??

Now Petitioning The White House!

What's that?? Petitioning the White House? Why? The deaf community and its supporters are petitioning the White House because the White House is guilty of engaging in a common practice that denies deaf and hard of hearing people equal access to videos. The common practice is posting videos first, and captioning later.

Sometimes it's days later. Other times it is several hours later. It does not matter what the length of the delay is. There should be ZERO delay. The White House should not be posting videos until they are captioned.

See the Problem

Below is a screenshot taken of the newest video posted to the White House YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/whitehouse/videos) at the time this blog post was being written. Note the automatic captions displayed. You can tell they are automatic because they are surrounded by three parentheses, and when you click the CC button the words "English (auto-generated)" appear in the upper left corner. Plus, at the time this blog post was drafted, the first five videos listed had no captioning.

Some of the videos on the White House YouTube videos listing have the CC logo. Others don't have the CC logo but if you click on them, they are in fact captioned. It is not known why this is the case. It may or may not have something to do with the fact the White House is posting videos first, and captioning later.

Wrong Captioning Attitude 

Too many YouTube channels have the attitude of post first, caption later, which is NOT equal access. Change must come from the top. The top is the White House, which is supposed to champion equal access for people with disabilities.


Petitioning the White House... Petitioning the White House...

So, someone who was fed up with being left out of the initial viewing experience decided to create a petition on the White House petitions site. This petition calls for the White House to end this post first, caption later practice. The petition is at short URL http://wh.gov/iBvP9, or long URL https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/ensure-all-white-house-youtube-videos-are-captioned-moment-they-are-made-available-public.

If the petition achieves the target indicated in the picture, there is a good chance the White House will respond to the petition. This is explained on the Terms of Participation page (https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/how-why/terms-participation), which states "To cross the second threshold and require a response, a petition must reach 100,000 signatures within 30 days."

Get the word out!

If you live in the United States, you can sign this petition. If you are outside the United States you can not sign but you can still help get the word out. Suggested hashtags to use on twitter: #WHCaptionsNow or #GovCaptions4All.

http://wh.gov/iBvP9

Note: After you sign you must verify signature by email. In some cases the email may appear in your "junk" mail folder.

Thank Tyler Oakley for Captioning by Donating to Trevor!

By our estimate, Tyler Oakley paid more than one thousand dollars out of his own pocket to cover the cost of captioning a video backlog going back seven years. AND he did that now-classic Hear Me Out video (inspired by Rikki Poynter). Now, the international deaf and hard of hearing community has a chance to thank Tyler for captioning and for advocating so strongly for it, by donating to his birthday cause (his birthday is March 22), the Trevor Project.

What is the Trevor Project? It is a nonprofit organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to gay and lesbian youth. You don't have to be a supporter of the gay community to donate. For us personally, our motivation was to say thank you for captioning!

For just $5 minimum (about the cost of a premium coffee, comic book, or a pair of pantyhose), you can say "thank you" to Tyler for captioning by donating at http://www.prizeo.com/tyler.  (To make a $5 donation, select "I'm In" then scroll down to "enter a custom amount" and enter $5.00). Prizeo takes both Paypal and credit cards. You can even leave a message (at the time of making a donation) for Tyler on the supporters' wall. Others have already left messages for Tyler thanking him for captioning, as shown below. Leaving such a message, even anonymously, is highly encouraged! You don't have to be a fan to donate!

 

Remember this video? It has had a huge impact on the YouTuber community! Over 1,678,000 views and still going since its initial posting on January 16, 2015! All those views mean that more and more hearing people - especially young people - are becoming aware of the need for captioning online. It has already inspired many small youtubers to begin closed captioning.  Thank Tyler by donating to the Trevor Project!