Michael Janger's Blog

Hey, That Limb Is Missing! Debunking Disability Stereotypes...
Michael Janger's Blog In advertising, the inclusion of people with disabilities is a double-edged sword: is it intended to highlight the disability, or the person, or both? If the disability is highlighted, it is usually because the business is selling products that accommodate the disability. For companies that do not directly sell to people with disabilities, utilizing a person with a di...
Thu, Jan 19 2012

Baby Boomers: The New Disability Market
Michael Janger's Blog As 2011 winds down, it will be remembered as the year the baby boomers turned 65 for the first time, become officially eligible for Social Security next year, and increasingly experience the challenges of an aging body. Long a marketer's dream by virtue of their sheer size, baby boomers will redefine yet another demographic: the mature consumer.
Thu, Jan 12 2012

The Economic Model of Disability: A Powerful Framework for...
Michael Janger's Blog Disability issues have undergone dramatic changes in the last several decades, and sociologists have attempted to frame these changes in the context of two well-known models of disability: the medical model and the social model. Yet, given the issues that consumers with disabilities deal with on a daily basis, these models do a poor job of communicating the economic v...
Wed, Jan 11 2012

Bravo, Bravo: “Top Chef Texas” Webisodes Will Be Captioned
Michael Janger's Blog In mid-September, I wondered aloud on Facebook and other online forums about the Mashable article on the upcoming fall season of Bravo’s Top Chef, which will for the first time include Web episodes in its storyline. Will the webisodes, like the on-air episodes, be captioned by Bravo? In time for tonight’s Top Chef Texas premiere comes great news from Bravo: Top Ch...
Wed, Nov 02 2011

The Mobile Web Is Firing On All Cylinders: Can PwDs Catch...
Michael Janger's Blog With yesterday’s announcement by Amazon of the new Kindle Fire e-book reader, and the upcoming rollout of the iPhone 5 and iOS 5 by Apple, we are moving inexorably toward a world dominated by mobile technologies. What does the widespread adoption of the mobile Web mean for people with disabilities (PwDs), who already deal with accessibility issues on the desktop Web...
Thu, Sep 29 2011

Google+ Hangouts In Sign Language: In The Works?
Michael Janger's Blog One of Google+’s innovative features is Hangouts, a group video application in which a person chats with up to ten people in his or her selected circle. However, it is not accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing people who use sign language.
Tue, Aug 02 2011

More Captioning on YouTube and Netflix
Michael Janger's Blog As you noticed, i have been writing a lot about captioning lately. This is another one. In the past 24 hours, I learned of two major developments in captioning of online video which are too important not to mention.
Fri, May 13 2011

Knocking On Netflix’s Door: Captioning Revisited
Michael Janger's Blog Netflix — which has had no competition to this point in the online video subscription market — will find its turf invaded by Amazon, Best Buy, Dish Network, even Wal-Mart. Which brings up the burning question for deaf and hard-of-hearing movie customers: will the new entrants in the online video subscription space provide captioning for its offerings?
Tue, Apr 26 2011

Relay Services Coming to Thailand
Michael Janger's Blog Thailand's National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (NECTEC) announced plans to establish a relay call center which would serve 3,000 Thais who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
Mon, Apr 25 2011

Bashing The Deaf Community To Make a Point?
Michael Janger's Blog This video clip is a sketch by comedian Brad Williams, who has some words to say about a specific disability group. What do you think of his video? Edgy? Thought-provoking? Inappropriate? Does he make a valid point?
Fri, Mar 25 2011

“Frankly, My Dear…” Coming to A Search Bar Near You
Michael Janger's Blog In my December 17, 2010 article, I wrote about the potential of online video captions for improving searchability of specific video content. This week, Rob Colling of InternetSubtitling.com blogged to say it is starting to become a reality.
Fri, Mar 25 2011

Staying Connected Anytime, Anywhere . . . Forever?
Michael Janger's Blog As cell-phone coverage and Wi-Fi expand around the world, the ability to connect anytime, anywhere has never been more important for people with disabilities (PwDs). Yet the growth of the mobile Internet presents potential dangers for PwDs who rely on this platform to live better-quality lives, as overtaxed data carriers investigate ways to limit access to the Interne...
Thu, Mar 03 2011

UPDATE: FeedFliks: A New Way To Search for Netflix Instant...
Michael Janger's Blog I wrote yesterday about FeedFliks, a search engine that, among other things, enables you to search for captioned InstantWatch movies on Netflix — a great benefit for deaf Netflix users who would like to watch instantly streamed movies in captions, ... Continue reading →
Fri, Jan 21 2011

FeedFliks: A New Way To Search for Netflix Instant Watch...
Michael Janger's Blog Netflix‘s “Instant Watch” online movie streaming feature has become a sore topic for deaf movie enthusiasts, because it provides limited captioning options in comparison to the much more extensive DVD library, and — even where captioning is available in the ... Continue reading →
Thu, Jan 20 2011

Googling “Gone with the Wind”
Michael Janger's Blog The New York Times reported yesterday that YouTube, a Google subsidiary, is in negotiations to purchase Next New Networks, the leading provider of original video programming for the Internet. While it is too early to comment because it is not ... Continue reading →
Fri, Dec 17 2010

Abledbody Publishes White Paper on Video Accessibility for...
Michael Janger's Blog Today, Suzanne Robitaille and I have released a white paper which takes a look at the current state of video accessibility in the context of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which was signed into law this past ... Continue reading →
Thu, Dec 16 2010

Abledbody.com: Iceland’s “Magga” Shines As First Deaf...
Michael Janger's Blog During my visit to Iceland this summer, I met Sigurlín Margrét Sigurðardóttir, who was the first deaf person to serve in the Parliament of Iceland, and for that matter, on any national legislative body of a modern democratic country. She ... Continue reading →
Wed, Nov 03 2010

To Caption Or Not To Caption A Movie About Autism?
Michael Janger's Blog Historically, people with autism were usually excluded from society, and even today this is an unfortunate fact of life in different cultures around the world. “Wretches & Jabberers,” a film by Gerardine Wurzburg about two autistic men traveling ... Continue reading →
Thu, Oct 07 2010

Abledbody.com: The 21st Century Communications and Video...
Michael Janger's Blog After passing in the Senate last week, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which will improve access to mobile content for the deaf and blind communities, will soon become law. This means deaf consumers can now watch closed-captioned ... Continue reading →
Tue, Oct 05 2010

Is It Better To Call Someone “Stupid”?
Michael Janger's Blog One night, as a young kid learning about the deafness I was born with, I asked my mother how I became deaf. She explained that she got German measles when she was pregnant with me. Confused, I went to the World Book Encyclopedia in the family’s living room to look up the term “German measles.” [...]
Tue, May 25 2010

Abledbody.com: iPhone Movie Captioning App To Be Shelved?
Michael Janger's Blog Last month, I wrote here on abledbody.com about a new captioning application for the iPhone, called Subtitles, that lets deaf and hard-of-hearing moviegoers follow the dialogue of almost any movie in any movie theater in the nation.  Earlier this week, Dan Walker was notified by Apple that his app violated movie studio copyrights relating to [...]
Fri, May 14 2010

Let Your Fingers Do The Hiring: Part 2
Michael Janger's Blog Following up on everyone’s feedback and my response, I would like to add further clarity and color to my original article on Braille and employment. Born profoundly deaf, I often swam against the tide of popular opinion about deaf and hard-of-hearing people, just as successful non-Braille users did in swimming against the tide of popular [...]
Tue, May 11 2010

Let Your Fingers Do The Hiring: Responding to Your Comments
Michael Janger's Blog Last week, I wrote an article about Braille, the blind, and unemployment, titled, “Let Your Fingers Do the Hiring: Blind People and Employment.” With one exception to date, blind people I reached out to, or who posted comments on my blog, were positive in their praise of my article. My followup post is in response [...]
Tue, May 11 2010

Wanted: More People with Disabilities in the Workforce
Michael Janger's Blog Over the last three years, the Great Recession has been a major news topic in the United States, with the unemployment rate now running at nearly 10%. For people with disabilities (PwD's), unemployment has been a bigger story, with almost 14% of the PwD work force off the payrolls, according to March 2010 data compiled [...]
Wed, May 05 2010

Let Your Fingers Do the Hiring: Blind People and Employment
Michael Janger's Blog In the disability world, there is often a difference of opinion on whether it is more appropriate to enroll a disabled child in a school specifically geared toward them, or to mainstream them with non-disabled children in the general educational system. The decision on how to enroll a disabled child has major implications on the [...]
Wed, May 05 2010

Abledbody.com: iPhone App Delivers Movie Captions On The Go
Michael Janger's Blog For four years, I have lived within three blocks of two major movie theaters on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, yet, as a deaf person, I have never gone to a movie in these theaters because they do not use captioning systems. Consequently, my wife and I are forced to go across town to [...]
Fri, Mar 26 2010

Video Relay Services: Removing the Profit Incentive Of...
Michael Janger's Blog On February 25, 2010, in an ongoing response to the November arrests of 26 Video Relay Services (VRS) executives and employees for defrauding the United States Government, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a declaratory ruling regarding its VRS program. While most of the policy declarations were non-controversial, one policy statement that prohibits ...
Fri, Mar 05 2010
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Think Beyond The Label…Not?
Michael Janger's Blog I wrote this article earlier this week about the Think Beyond The Label
Fri, Feb 05 2010

Abledbody.com: For The Deaf, Captioned Tours Wherever You...
Michael Janger's Blog I am writing some articles for Abledbody.com, which delivers news, insights and reviews on disability and assistive technology.  Suzanne Robitaille is the founder and editor of this wonderful site, and she just recently published a book, “The Illustrated Guide to Assistive Technology & Devices.”  I have been working with Suzanne on Abledbody over the l...
Thu, Feb 04 2010

That Resume Looks Fantastic! (Psst…She’s Disabled.)
Michael Janger's Blog Last December, according to Disability Scoop, the unemployment rate for the U.S. was 9.5%. Among people with disabilities, the unemployment rate was 45 percent higher, at 13.8%. There are many possible and sometimes conflicting reasons for the 45% difference, but we can generally agree on a significant cause of this disparity: negative perceptions on the [...]
Tue, Feb 02 2010

Gesture-Recognition Technology: Not So Far Out
Michael Janger's Blog So far out, even my wife didn't like the idea of this. Picture me sitting in front of the TV, flipping channels by waving my hand in the air. No remote, no controller, no anything. As strange as it sounds, this technology is actually being developed and marketed by Microsoft and Hitachi.  An article in yesterday's [...]
Wed, Jan 13 2010

So Who’s Disabled?
Michael Janger's Blog Over the weekend, I came across an article in the Adventures in Modern Life blog by Ben Mattlin, a contributing editor at Institutional Investor.  In it, he posts a letter from the mother of a 26-year-old woman with disabilities, expressing her offense at people who use inappropriate terms like “retarded” to describe people with disabilities. [...]
Mon, Jan 11 2010

Making Videogames Accessible for Disabled Gamers: The Value...
Michael Janger's Blog For many people, videogames are a luxury, a guilt trip, like eating a piece of sinful chocolate. It is not always looked on favorably, usually by parents, if videogames are played more than a few hours each day. For people with disabilities, the perspective is refreshingly different. Video games have been an [...]
Wed, Jan 06 2010

Your 50-Cent Contribution: Part Deux
Michael Janger's Blog (Note: This is a followup to my December 3rd post on the Video Relay Services arrests. Click here for the original article.) This Thursday, in the aftermath of the November 19 arrests of 26 people in the Video Relay Services (VRS) industry for allegedly defrauding the U.S. Government of up to $50 million in [...]
Thu, Dec 17 2009

Your 50-Cent Contribution
Michael Janger's Blog Bridging the communication gap with the hearing world has always been at the forefront of deaf and hard-of-hearing people’s efforts to utilize technologies to communicate with hearing people. Thus, it is so appropriate that, in the context of recent news, my first real post on my new blog would be about Video Relay Services [...]
Thu, Dec 17 2009

Introducing My Blog
Michael Janger's Blog After many years of following the blogosphere, a blog I can finally call my own. I will use this blog to write about issues in the technology and accessibility space. Depending on how I utilize this blog, I may write about other topics not related to the above. The driving force behind this blog is my [...]
Thu, Dec 17 2009

Your 50-Cent Contribution: Followup
Michael Janger's Blog The FCC has announced a workshop to review the VRS program in light of the November 19 arrests: Link to FCC Press Release I will comment on this when I have a chance. It's actually the first time I'm posting to my blog from my iPhone – so, obviously, I'm both pressed for time and marveling [...]
Thu, Dec 17 2009