cartteamprep.md

Released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license, which means you can use it, share it, and remix or adapt it for your own needs without having to ask us for permission, as long as you give us credit (by linking back to this document and citing us as authors). We encourage (but do not require) you to release your work under the same or a similar license so others can make use of it too. If you need different arrangements, contact us.

1. You’ll find a lot of things about me and my work if you google my name. http://blog.melchua.com may be helpful, as well as http://twitter.com/mchua.
2. I have corrected-to-normal(ish) vision (glasses!) and should be fine reading from most captioning setups. If given a choice, I prefer white text on a black background.
3. I read fast. This is an understatement.
4. I prefer seeing a decent amount (10+ lines) of text on the screen at once, with autoscroll by default but the ability to switch to manual scrolling on my own display. I will often look at other things for a while, then catch up on the captions all at once. You may see me glance at the screen and think “she can’t have read all that.” I assure you, I have.
5. In general, I care more about the transcript being as fast as possible than being completely free from errors - if you make an error, don’t waste time deleting the error, just rewrite the word and I’ll understand what it was intended to be. The exception is if you are captioning one of my research interviews. In that case, optimize for accuracy; precision of record is important here, and I can manage the lag.
6. I grew up oral. One-on-one, I speechread well. For brief interactions, I may be fine alone, but if it is EVER an option to caption conversations I am in, please PLEASE do so - don’t even ask, just start captioning whatever you can hear.
7. Pleeeeeease describe sound effects, music, sound quality, etc. when you can. I’m curious!
8. I default to speaking for myself in hearing settings (I may also use ASL if other signers are around). I’ll let you know if I want to type and have you voice me. I have my own keyboard.
9. If I’m speaking, volume cues are appreciated! Point up for louder, down for softer.
10. If there are other sighted people present, please caption my words too! If I’m the only DHH person present, jump to captioning other speakers as soon as they speak, even if it means you don’t caption the last few words of what I’m saying. (I’ll jump back in if I want to.)
11. If you’re working remotely and would like the mic moved so you can hear better, just put a note of that in the middle of the captions, and I will make it happen. Otherwise, I won’t know what you are or are not hearing, if it sounds far away, too soft, etc.
12. Please type if you are communicating directly to me! That having been said, if it’s brief and typing is impossible (walking, etc.) it’s okay to get my visual attention and then speak.
13. Whether you are remote or in-person, please communicate with me via the captions window, not in a separate chat window; I often have those closed so I can see more captions on the screen. For instance:

    [Alice]: Have we agreed on an algorithm?
    [CAPTIONER]: Move the mic closer to the speaker
    [Bob]: I think so. I can send you my key soon.
    

14. Let me know how you'd prefer me to send messages back to you. If I message while you're captioning, please don’t respond until there’s a lapse in the conversation or you are otherwise able to respond without compromising the speed or quality of the captions. If it’s urgent and needs an immediate response, I’ll indicate it in my message.
15. If you drop a word, please indicate that! If you’re not sure about a word and need to spell it out phonetically, please indicate that! I’m used to predicting vocabulary and have a high chance of being able to guess the right word and spell it back to you.
16. During presentations with minimal audience interaction and visual aids, I’m comfortable following the slides until the speaker starts spontaneous expression again - just indicate (reading from slides) or similar and give me a way to figure out where the speaker is. (If we’re in the same room, I can give you body language cues like nods, etc.)
17. To give you an idea of my discipline: I have a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a PhD in Engineering Education. I have a particular affinity for biomedical engineering, and also teach college courses in electrical engineering and computing. My research involves ethnographic and interview-based methods. Technical, educational, and social science terminology come up often in my work.
18. I’m an extrovert. Please let me know if you’re getting tired, and we’ll take breaks.
19. When meetings are informal, please introduce yourself to everyone, because I’ll forget.
20. I often work with hearing people who have never met a Deaf professional before. Please let me know how you feel about educating hearing participants about captioning. I know “empowering the Deaf person to explain this stuff themselves” is a thing, but I’ve also answered that question fifty thousand times before, and delegation is an empowered act (if you’re comfortable with it).
21. By default: I’d love a copy of the transcript afterwards! (If not, I’ll let you know.)