Case Study:
Access to Work supports workers with disability in the UK
The United Kingdom’s Access to Work is a publicly funded employment support program that aims to help more people with disability start or stay in work.
It provides practical and financial support for people with disability or long-term physical or mental health conditions.
Access to Work also gives practical advice and guidance to employers, to help them understand physical and mental ill health and how they can support employees.
Jay Rozanski, Producer and Director, oXyFire
Globally recognised brands rely on Jay Rozanski’s many years of live production experience to tell visual stories on the small screen, via broadcast and live streaming.
As a producer, Jay knows all the technical requirements of video production from storyboarding to video and audio editing, motion graphics design and build, pre-production and post-production. He keeps up with the latest technology and knows what audiences need and expect to be fully engaged.
Clients love Jay because he’s a great team player, organised, versatile and has the drive to get the job done to exacting standards.
One of oXyFire’s clients is Manchester International Festival (MIF), renowned for its live biennial festival showcasing original new works from world-renowned artists across art forms from live music to dance, theatre and visual arts.
MIF has increasingly been presenting events outside of the festival year, paving the way for the opening of The Factory – the world-class arts space being built in Manchester that will be their future home.
As part of their response to the COVID-19 crisis, MIF decided to present an online program of activity for audiences at home during lockdown. They reached out to oXyFire to help them live stream a number of mixed artworks drawn from the MIF archives, as well as talks and new commissions by Greater Manchester artists.
It was important to make sure the performances were high-quality and accessible to everyone.
oXyFire knew the livestreaming needed to be technically excellent to reflect the festival’s reputation for quality and innovation, and the creative agency had the in-house expertise to create a perfect live stream. oXyFire recommended that MIF leverage Skype TX with Ai-Media’s captioning expertise, as well as satellite and the required infrastructure.
“Today, all content should be globally accessible to reach the broadest possible audience, and that means captions should be a part of any video experience,” Jay said.
“Live streams are technically demanding, and captioning, especially live stream captions, has its own unique technicalities that require expertise. I was glad to find Ai-Media, because I hold my team and my work to the highest standards for our clients, and I needed to work with captioning experts who have the same high standards, which is what I found with Ai-Media.”
From oXyFire’s initial outreach to Ai-Media, the first captioned MIF livestream on YouTube was two business days. And every week for seven weeks, Ai-Media captioned three live performances each week.
• 19.25 hours of live captioned video
• 18 events captioned
• 85,730 words captioned
The global explosion of online content means that the standards and expectations from audiences for visual content keep going up. Audiences now expect to have a lot of control over how they view content.
oXyFire and Ai-Media’s partnership put the high-quality polish on the MIF live streams that viewers expect.
“oXyFire and their team were instrumental in bringing MIF LIVE to life,” said Kiah Simpson, Content Producer at MIF. “With their support, we were able to continue our work with local artists, stay engaged with our community and bring much-loved shows from our archives to audiences at home.”
“Working with the Ai-Media team was very easy,” said Jay, “from conveying what my client needs to technical set-up to final product. My client is very happy. They reached many new audiences as well as staying engaged with their very loyal fanbase.”
“We will work with Ai-Media again very, very soon,” he said.
Ai-Media can support you with our high-quality live captions and other accessibility and engagement services. Visit our website for more information, or contact our friendly team any time.
Why Captions Are Critical
Captions engage and broaden audiences in many ways, which is why oXyFire Media reached out to Ai-Media to provide captions for MIF.
Because they offer an alternative, text-based way to consume video and live streamed content, captions enable deaf and hard-of-hearing people to enjoy video. The World Health Organization estimates that there are approximately 466 million people worldwide with significant hearing loss. So, by providing MIF’s streams with captions, the deaf and hard-of-hearing audience gets to enjoy the festival, which would otherwise be inaccessible to them.
Secondly, captions support people watching video content that is not in their native language. Or if a performer is performing in a non-native language, captions add extra clarity for the audiences, so no one misses a word.
And finally, in a world where everyone is stuck at home, it can be hard to control the noises a viewer has in their own environment. Captions provide reinforcement and flexibility, so no word is lost in uncontrolled environments.
To find out more about Ai-Media’s captioning and other services, visit the Ai-Media website.
