Understanding Social and Environmental Factors to Enable Collective Access Approaches to the Design of Captioning Technology

Abstract

Oftentimes human computer interactions (HCI) accessibility research designs technology to support Deaf and disabled people in their existing social contexts. I, instead, propose an approach to accessible technology design that follows the disability justice principle of collective access, envisioning hearing and nondisabled people as key participants in making interactions accessible. Using captioning as a case study, I explore ways that technology could support accessible social norms, achieved by first paying close attention to the social, environmental, and technical factors that shape access for d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) captioning users. My dissertation work will consist of four studies; 1) an exploration of the factors that shape DHH people's current experiences with and future preferences for captioning tools, 2) codesigning features to support accessible group communication with mixed groups of DHH and hearing people, 3) understanding TikTok captioning practices and their impact on DHH users, and 4) exploring the factors that influence professional captioners' work.