The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected many individuals. In particular, it is likely that individuals with disabilities and unpaid caregivers were disproportionately affected, however, its exact impact is largely unknown. The primary objective of this work was to identify challenges faced by individuals with disabilities and unpaid caregivers. A secondary objective was to identify potential solutions to the major challenges experienced by both populations. Two surveys were administered online to individuals with disabilities and unpaid caregivers, respectively between September 2020 and January 2021. We used an inductive thematic analysis within an interpretivist paradigm to analyze survey responses. A total of 111 survey responses were collected amongst both surveys. Separate thematic maps were created for individuals with disabilities and unpaid caregivers, and maps were drawn to compare challenges. Potential solutions to mitigate the challenges experienced by both populations include revising financial assistance programs and improving awareness of support programs that are available.

In Canada, the Canadian Radio Television and Communications Commission requires that all English- and French-language broadcasters caption 100% of their programs, and that live-produced programming – such as news broadcasts, sports events, and award shows – arecaptioned with a 95% accuracy rate for English-language. However, measuring caption quality as a purely objective count of the number of errors in the text means that many qualitative factors of quality are not considered. This research explored what priority Deaf and hard of hearing viewers place on non-quantitative elements of caption quality, namely caption display speed, missing words, spelling and grammar errors, and speaker identification. Using a survey tool based off the principals of the NASA-TLX workload assessment tool, participants were asked to watch two television clips with their original live-produced captions and provide feedback on how the captions impacted their viewing pleasure. The main findings suggested that viewers place equal value on verbatim accuracy and caption display speed, and that a trade off between the two cannot easily be made. This research provides a starting point for measuring caption quality using subjective quality factors.

Virtual events have become more popular recently, and while these events have the potential to be inclusive to a broader range of attendees, there is limited information available on how to plan and deliver a virtual, accessible, and bilingual event. The objective of this paper is to share how our team planned and delivered a virtual conference that was fully bilingual and accessible to individuals with disabilities by incorporating closed captions, sign language interpretation, language interpretation (audio), regularly scheduled breaks, and a multi-sensory experience. We describe our approaches to planning the conference, such as including individuals with disabilities in decision-making, selecting virtual conference platforms, captioners, and interpreters, and how we incorporated a multi-sensory experience. The paper also summarizes feedback we received from our attendees using a post-conference evaluation survey and our team’s reflections on positive aspects of the conference and opportunities for improvement. We conclude by providing a set of practical recommendations that we feel may be helpful to others planning virtual accessible bilingual conferences in the future.

In Canada, the Canadian Radio Television and Communications Commission requires that all English- and French-language broadcasters caption 100% of their programs, and that live-produced programming – such as news broadcasts, sports events, and award shows – arecaptioned with a 95% accuracy rate for English-language. However, measuring caption quality as a purely objective count of the number of errors in the text means that many qualitative factors of quality are not considered. This research explored what priority Deaf and hard of hearing viewers place on non-quantitative elements of caption quality, namely caption display speed, missing words, spelling and grammar errors, and speaker identification. Using a survey tool based off the principals of the NASA-TLX workload assessment tool, participants were asked to watch two television clips with their original live-produced captions and provide feedback on how the captions impacted their viewing pleasure. The main findings suggested that viewers place equal value on verbatim accuracy and caption display speed, and that a trade off between the two cannot easily be made. This research provides a starting point for measuring caption quality using subjective quality factors.