How Red Bee Media are pioneering accessibility with Speechmatics' ASR solution
Revolutionizing broadcast accessibility with cutting-edge subtitling technology.
The Company
Red Bee Media Access Services specializes in delivering accessible content to make sure that people with hearing or sight impairments are able to get the most out of television content. Providing Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard-of-hearing (Closed Captions), Sign Language Translation, and Audio Description fulfills the regulatory requirements of broadcasters and content owners around the world.
The Challenge
With over 900 million, or one in ten, people estimated to suffer from disabling hearing loss by 2050, it is now more important than ever for all producers of video content to make sure accessibility remains top of mind.
Whilst regulated live content will continue to require skilled subtitlers, subtitling of pre-recorded content can be made more efficient using Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology.
The Solution
Partnering with Speechmatics, Red Bee Media is taking the most accurate ASR on the market and channeling it through its bespoke production workflows to provide same-language subtitling for pre-recorded content.
Red Bee Media and Speechmatics offline subtitling solution for pre-recorded video content incorporates ASR into its production workflows with a secure, internally hosted Speechmatics solution, ensuring broadcasters like Channel 4 are at the forefront of new technologies.
Based on Red Bee Media’s subtitling expertise, the production workflow includes sophisticated formatting and house style configurations, a timed-text database and a wide variety of broadcast and online delivery channels. By introducing the element of ASR, Red Bee Media has been able to create a solution that makes the production of accurate subtitles more cost-efficient.
The Result
During the 2016 Rio Paralympics, Red Bee Media provided live captioning, live sign language translation, and audio description, making Channel 4 the first ever broadcaster in the world to deliver a completely accessible Paralympic Games to its viewers. Red Bee was the exclusive provider of Access Services for the 2016 Rio Paralympics on Channel 4.
This included 933 hours of live captioning across TV and online streams - delivering a flawless service in a live environment with no room for errors.
Graham Wilkinson, Presentation and Content Manager at Channel 4 said: “Red Bee Media has been a key partner in helping break new ground in broadcasting accessibility. The introduction of Speechmatics’ ASR solution to drive subtitling processes means that they are once again are at the cutting edge of broadcasting technology”.
“We are incredibly excited by the power of using ASR in broadcast and making the delivery of subtitles for pre-recorded content more efficient.
As leaders in the broadcast and media industry, we are constantly on the lookout for ways to optimize and improve our processes. Our use of automatic subtitling for pre-recorded content is an example of the many ways in which we are innovating.”
