New in iOS 7 and Android KitKat: Customize Subtitles and Captioning

Both iOS 7 and Android KitKat include the ability to customize captions. Now both major mobile operating systems include the ability to customize movie and video subtitles system wide.. For iOS, the customization settings are under Settings > General > Accessibility > Subtitles & Captioning. From that menu you are able to change the appearance of subtitles of any video played through the default iOS video player. There are many options for customization including font, font size, font color, and background color. Android includes a similar feature that can also be accessed in the settings menu. These options are a welcome addition to mobile devices and can make subtitles much easier to see. It is great to see both Apple and Google improving accessibility on their mobile products.

Amara Free Crowd Sourced Captioning For YouTubers

A service called Amara allows YouTubers to get crowd sourced help captioning their videos. Millions of people, particularly those with hearing impairments, rely on captions in order to watch movies and videos. Amara's goal is to have more captioned videos on the web. Anyone with a YouTube account can register with Amara.org for free. Then volunteers caption the videos for free. After the volunteers caption the videos the captions are then added to your YouTube video. Captioning videos can be difficult for individual video creators. Now with Amara there is no reason for YouTubers not to have their videos captioned. People can also volunteer to help caption more web videos.

SoundJaw Makes Your iPad 2 Louder

SoundJaw is a small plastic clip that amplifies the iPad's speakers. SoundJaw is only compatible with iPad 2. The SoundJaw works by directing the sound from the back of the iPad to the front where you can hear it. The SoundJaw costs $12.99 at SoundJaw.com. If you have trouble hearing your iPad and wish you could make it a little bit louder SoundJaw is perfect for you.

Signed Stories Helps Deaf Children

Signed Stories is free service that provides sign and read aloud books. The books are signed for the deaf child and read aloud simultaneously for the non deaf parent or vice verse. There are many stories available for young kids. The stories can help parents who do not know sign language to read with their child who is deaf, or for deaf parents to have a book read aloud to their hearing child. Signed Stories are also helpful for kids learning sign language.

iOS 5 to Include Hearing Aid Mode

Yesterday, Apple released iOS 5 beta 5 to developers. One of the new features is hearing aid mode. Hearing aid mode will allow the iPhone to work better with hearing aids. In order to activate the setting in iOS 5 go to setting then general and then accessibility. iOS 5 is expected to be released in the fall to the general public. To learn more about the many iOS 5 accessibility options click here.

Caption Fish Finds Captioned Movies

For people that are deaf or hard of hearing captions are necessary in order to enjoy videos. Captionfish is a search engine that finds the closest captioned movie cinema. With Captionfish you can search by movie name, location and theater. You can filter your search by type the type of caption that fits your needs such as Open Caption, Rear Window Caption and much more. There is an option to find the closest theater to your home with captioned movies. Captionfish also has an iOS app with is available through iTunes. Captionfish makes finding and enjoying captioned movies quickly and easily.