Gogo Brings Closed Captioning to Gogo Vision
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APEX Insight: The aviation industry is working to improve in-flight entertainment to comply with the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing, but the variety of encoding formats has made universal availability difficult. By collaborating with the National Association of the Deaf and capitalizing on the proliferation of personal electronic devices, Gogo has made advances in closed captioning, but still has hurdles to overcome.
Gogo has brought closed captioning to its Gogo Vision content, granting greater access to a variety of in-flight entertainment (IFE) for passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing. The company will initially introduce closed captioned content as a Gogo Vision option in the US, and tells APEX Media it eventually hopes to offer English closed captioning globally. All captions offered on Gogo-sourced content will be consistent with Federal Communications Commission standards.
“The benefit we have is building on consumer electronics,” says Alex Moy, senior director of Product, Inflight Entertainment at Gogo. Moy describes the introduction of closed captioning as a learning opportunity for the company. Gogo had to first understand the regulations of closed captioning on the ground and find digital technologies which would support closed captioning on passenger electronic devices in the air. “All of the platforms have their own nuances,” says Moy. “There are standards, but like any technology, standards on how they are implemented on each device [differs]. We had to find standards that worked.”
“There are standards, but like any technology, standards on how they are implemented on each device [differs].” – Alex Moy, Gogo
Gogo collaborated throughout the development process with the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). The company also worked closely with studios to understand formatting requirements. “I think when you’re doing something and you want to really focus on doing it, there’s a lot of learning for all [stakeholders],” he says. “It takes a lot of discussion and time. I was really happy with all the learning, pushing through the obstacles.”
Moy also credits the APEX Closed Captioning Working Group (CCWG) with raising awareness of the complex technical and regulatory challenges. “We have definitely been involved with the Closed Captioning Working Group,” Moy says. “We know what may come out of the DOT (Department of Transportation) regulations may result in different regulations, and we’re mindful of that.”
“We are pleased to see that the work of APEX and its Closed Captioning Working Group is beginning to impact the next generation of IFE systems.” – Michael Childers, chair, APEX’s Technology Committee.
APEX Technology Committee chair, Michael Childers, says, “We are pleased to see that the work of APEX and its Closed Captioning Working Group (CCWG) is beginning to impact the next generation of IFE systems. And we certainly applaud this development as a positive application of our work, which dates to 2009 (the date of our first CC spec) and before, to make IFE more accessible.”
He adds, “It is encouraging to see individual IFE suppliers utilizing our work in this area. Approximately half of the IFE systems flying today can support closed captions using APEX specifications, and the completion of this specification with all its workflows will help to make that capability increase.”
Childers points out the complexities of developing “a comprehensive solution” for the industry given the different generations of IFE systems currently flying, with 12 to 15-year life-cycles. “APEX is working on a specification that will not ask content providers to deliver the same elements in two or three formats, nor to ask content integrators to convert files two or three different ways,” Childers explains.
APEX CCWG hopes to deliver its final specification during APEX TECH in June.