Associated Press (06/13/24) By Larry Lage
The National Hockey League (NHL) became the first major sports league to offer play-by-play and analysis in American Sign Language (ASL) during a live broadcast of the Stanley Cup Final opener.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a proud moment for our sport and it鈥檚 a great example of what can be done to support all communities,鈥 said Kim Davis, the NHL鈥檚 senior executive vice president of social impact, growth initiatives, and legislative affairs. 鈥淎uthentically demonstrating that the deaf community is an important fan base, a fan-in-waiting fan base, is the essence of what inclusion is all about.鈥
P-X-P, a company that works to improve access to ASL in sports, partnered with the NHL to deliver play-by-play commentary during the broadcast. P-X-P Chief Operating Officer Jason Altmann, who is deaf, and Noah Blankenship, of Denver鈥檚 Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, appeared on the right side of a split screen next to live coverage of the games.
鈥淭he deaf community is so often pushed aside and the NHL ASL project is an opportunity to show how vibrant the community is with a rich history and language,鈥 Altmann said. 鈥淲e have gotten feedback from deaf children who鈥檝e said how happy they are to see deaf people on TV and that they feel like they鈥檙e being seen. That鈥檚 the best part about this job.鈥
Los Angeles Times (06/17/24) By Paula Andalo
According to state records, health policy officials in California want to harness emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technology to translate a broad range of documents and websites related to 鈥渉ealth and social services information, programs, benefits, and services.鈥
Sami Gallegos, a spokesperson for California鈥檚 Health and Human Services Agency, said the agency is seeking bids for the ambitious initiative, though its timing and cost is not yet clear. Gallegos said human editors supervising the project will oversee and edit the translations.
Agency officials said they hope to save money and make critical health care forms, applications, websites, and other information available to more people in what they call the nation鈥檚 most linguistically diverse state.
But some translators and scholars fear the technology lacks the nuance of human interaction and isn鈥檛 ready for the challenge. They say turning this sensitive work over to machines could create errors in wording and understanding, ultimately making information less accurate and less accessible to patients.
鈥淭his technology is a very powerful tool in the area of language access,鈥 said Sandra Hern谩ndez, president and chief executive officer of the California Health Care Foundation. 鈥淚n good hands, it has many opportunities to expand the translation capability to address inequities, but you must have human oversight to truly capture meaning.鈥
Arjun 鈥淩aj鈥 Manrai, an assistant professor of biomedical informatics at Harvard Medical School and the deputy editor of the听New England Journal of Medicine AI, said the use of AI technology represents a natural progression in medical translation, given that patients already use Google Translate and AI platforms to translate for themselves and their family. 鈥淧atients are not waiting,鈥 he said.
Slator (06/05/24) By Roc铆o Txabarriaga
In May 2024, the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) at the United Nations (UN) launched its Speech Bank for Interpreters, a repository of speeches open to interpreters, students, teachers, and those wanting 鈥渢o practice and/or prepare for interpreting tests and/or competitive exams for language positions.鈥
DGACM developed the no-login-required platform along with the UN鈥檚 Office of Information and Communications Technology. The Speech Bank holds audio files of speeches delivered at the UN in the six official languages of the organization: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.
The speeches archived in the Speech Bank are classified by language, length, level of difficulty (beginner, intermediate, advanced), and the year the speech was delivered at the UN. Users can also search for speeches by topic or using keywords. Links to transcripts of the speeches are also available on the platform next to each audio file.
Japan Today (06/08/24) By Casey Baseel
The Japan Association of Translators (JAT), Japan鈥檚 largest organization for translators and interpreters, has released a statement condemning the use of AI for manga translation.
The statement reads in part: 鈥淭he Japan Association of Translators wishes to express its strong reservations regarding the public and private sector initiative to use AI for high-volume translation and the export of manga. First, in its current form, AI translation has yet to demonstrate the level of quality required to adequately portray nuance, cultural background, or character traits, which are critical to a work of fiction.鈥
The statement doesn鈥檛 specify which AI translation initiatives it鈥檚 referring to, but there have been a number of manga publishers who have discussed exploring ways to implement AI in translating content for non-Japanese readers.
JAT鈥檚 statement calls for careful and constructive dialogue between manga artists, businesses (publishers), the government, translators, translator organizations, readers, and all stakeholders to consider the appropriate use of AI and machine translation.
鈥淭he Japan Association of Translators holds that expert translation by professional translators is essential to ensure that Japan鈥檚 exceptional manga continue to reach and engage readers around the world.鈥
Current (06/10/24) By Weslan Hansen
A research-backed initiative to incorporate American Sign Language (ASL) into PBS Kids programs has introduced a new layer of accessibility to six series for children ages 2鈥8.
ASL interpreters appear within the screen and frame of action of 10 episodes for each participating series, including听Arthur,听Work It Out Wombats!,听Pinkalicious & Peterrific,听Daniel Tiger鈥檚 Neighborhood,听Donkey Hodie, and听Alma鈥檚 Way. The episodes, adapted with series producers at GBH Kids and Fred Rogers Productions, are available on PBS Kids digital streaming platforms.
鈥淭he initiative responds to the need for accessible media for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and just emerging in their literacy skills,鈥 said Jen Rodriguez, director of research and inclusive design for PBS Kids. Rodriguez added that even children who are able to read with fluency may find it difficult to follow captions because of the pacing or placement of text on the screen. 鈥淲e knew we needed to do more than captions for children who are deaf and hard of hearing to include them,鈥 she said.
