There are a growing number of deaf vlogs on the Web and it's gaining in popularity. Last May, I predicted a popular growth of deaf vlogs as a great medium of sign language communication on many different or deaf-related subjects via digital video-recording (like webcam or camcorder) instead of blogging. The rise of deaf vlogs sprung out of the nationwide protest against Fernandes at Gallaudet University, from people who were unable to go to Gallaudet and stand in solidarity with the students, the faculty/staff, the alumni and the deaf community.

While it is a very good thing to demonstrate the beauty and expression of ASL in a deaf vlog while commenting on a particular subject, most deaf vlogs still lack the very thing that many other hearing vlogs or videos also lacked in: captioning or subtitling what is being expressed in ASL or said verbally. Though, for deaf vlogs, the target audience is generally deaf and use ASL daily, there is still a number of people who never know sign language but watch these vlogs, less alone someone who may be either curious or may know a deaf vlogger personally, but they would enjoy watching deaf vlogs as a matter of curiosity or interest (or maybe, boredom).

It would be fair to others who don't know sign language but would appreciate captioning, in English, of what a deaf vlogger is signing in ASL on a particular subject. After all, many hearing people have supported the efforts of National Captioning Institute to bring close captioning in many media areas for the deaf and the hard of hearing, with great amounts of money for the past 3 decades. It would behoove the deaf vloggers to consider captioning their vlogs for those who never know or understand sign language or ASL, as a matter of returning the favor.

Here is the listing of captioning software below, which it would give you many different options to choose from:
Web captioning tools

I've been quietly but actively encouraging YouTube.com, Google.com, ESPN.com, CNN.com and few other media video-hosting companies to encourage or implement captioning features in their videos since this past summer. So far, Google.com is the only web company beginning to implement captioning features for most of the videos but lack of money and resources (read: hiring people to sit down and caption every video) are the obstacles here. However, they have no real control over people who posted their "home-made" videos without captioning.

Would a new law help prompt the requirements of captioning or subtitling all English-based (or ASL-based) videos on the Internet or just use the current Americans with Disabilities Act as the springboard for these requirements? That is remains to be seen.

I encourage you to caption your deaf vlog, for the benefit of those who never know or understand sign language. Be fair or you will risk losing future supports and donations from hearing people on captioning all network medias, TV shows and the Internet.