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Closed Captioning of Online Video for Accessibility

In 2013 I presented a case study of implementing closed captioning for the deaf and hearing impaired using DFXP and JW Player on the RealTime Health web site.

Closed Captioning of Museum Exhibits for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

While the closed captioning for the hearing impaired of video in museum exhibits is not a legal requirement in Australia there is a moral imperative to ensure museums and museum exhibits are as accessible to all visitors as is practically possible.

Combining our extensive experience in:

• closed captioning of iOS and Android apps and DVD and Blu-ray discs and HTML5 / Flash video (DXFP / W3C Timed Text)
• the development of control system for museum exhibits and entertainment technology

we are prototyping and inviting beta-testers for the Museum Video Closed Captioning controller with enables deaf, hearing impaired or hard-of-hearing visitors to turn closed captioning on and off in a museum exhibit using a through-glass touch switch and a graphic label showing the Closed Caption logo.

Multimedia System Design and Large-Scale Video System Engineering

Past projects include the development of the Concept Design for the Media Platform at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, tender response evaluation for the Media Platform and ongoing advice related to technical and operational aspects of this exciting new cultural institution.

In 1998 Michael undertook a study tour of multimedia systems in use in cultural institutions in the U.S. culminating in an inspection of control rooms at the Apollo/Saturn V Discovery Center at Kennedy Space Center (Florida).

His introduction to the area came via the design and development of multimedia and audio-visual systems for the National Science Centre (Pusat Sains Negara) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as an employee of Melbourne-based Magian multimedia.

Video Production, Editing and DVD Authoring and (re-authoring)

Video productions for Museum clients include "Operation Magpies Return" created for the RAAF Museum Point Cook. The production combined archival footage of RAAF operations in Vietnam with footage shot by the RAAF in country of the archeological excavation. Cockpit interior and aircraft exterior shots of a Canberra bomber from the museum collection form an essential part of the production.

Having undertaken, over a period of two and a half years, a Certificate in Video Production at Northern Metropolitan College of TAFE, Michael enjoys putting this training to good use in multi-camera recording of live performances including dance and bands. The image on the home page is a still from a multi-camera recording of a performance by Danielle Wilde at Dancehouse in 2009.

For museum use, a frequent requirement is to re-author a DVD so that it plays automatically and loops continuously without staff intervention. This can be done without doing any damage to the video quality.

Video Compression

Michael Borthwick has been compressing video for CD-ROM since 1995 and more recently for the web. Formats include Flash, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and the latest Microsoft Windows formats.