Discovering a Hidden Gem

This week we chat with Jayde Abott, a transcriber/proofreader for Vision Australia Radio and member of "The Unseen Bookclub." Jayde shares her love of audio described theatre shows and reading. It's a warm glimpse into passion, inclusion, and the importance of community.

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:07):
Hi I'm Abby. I'm Simon, and welcome to. In Plain Sight,
a program where we highlight people who are making a
positive impact within their community and the disability sector.

S2 (00:18):
Shining a light on those who might otherwise be hidden
in plain sight.

S1 (00:22):
And we share these stories on a weekly basis with
you here on Vision Australia Radio.

S2 (00:29):
Good morning Simon.

S1 (00:30):
Good morning to you, Abby. Hello. How are you?

S2 (00:33):
I'm good, I'm good. How are you?

S1 (00:35):
I'm fabulous. I'm glad to be here in the studio
once again. And as always, we've just had a really
fabulous conversation with a fun and interesting person. So that
makes my day.

S2 (00:46):
Yes, exactly. Mine too. Today we'll be talking to Jade Abbott,
so it's a bit different. This week it's more of
a conversation, more personal, more of a profile. And she
has interests across a wide range of things from audio description, reading,
blind sports and more, which we'll learn about. And she

(01:10):
even has a guide dog, so it's a lot of
fun and we hope you enjoy the show.

S1 (01:14):
Yes, and just talking about Guide Dogs, it's International Guide
Dogs Day on the 30th of April, which brings awareness
to all things Guide Dogs to help instill a greater
awareness of what the needs are and responsibilities are for
people using a guide dog and the general public. Because
there are still a lot of misconceptions about guide dogs,

(01:36):
and Jade talks about some of the problems faced by
ignorance in our community about what can and cannot be
done with a guide dog and what is and what
isn't allowed using a guide dog. And we'd like to
give a shout out to everybody out there who uses
a seeing eye dog or a guide dog in our community,

(01:57):
and we appreciate the people that help and train these
wonderful assistance animals.

S2 (02:02):
Yeah. And in regards to International Guide Dog Day. If
you haven't already listened, make sure to check out our
podcast on any of the streaming platforms. We have an
interview with Matt Wood from Seeing Eye Dogs Australia. The
episode is called Guiding the Way life with the Seeing
Eye Dog, so make sure to check that out as well.

S1 (02:22):
And also our guest we will be speaking to shortly.
Jade Abbott appeared on a program I did with her
some time ago, which is all about audio description, because
Jade is a big fan of using different services that
provide audio description. And she talks about that in our

(02:42):
interview coming up, and she talks about so many things
and why we wanted to just have a general conversation
with Jade today is because it does highlight some of
the interests that people have in the community, that the
broader community might not think that blind people participate in.

(03:03):
And sometimes blind people get put into little boxes that
they only do this or they only do that. They
can do this and they can't do that. And it
was just great to, um, take that idea a little
bit further and show no blind people can do lots
of different things, and Jade explores some of those things.
And it's great to have representation of blind people in

(03:26):
this format of media. So we'll get on and listen
to what Jade has to say with us very shortly.

S2 (03:33):
Thanks so much. And we'll hear from Jade now.

S1 (03:39):
Thanks for joining us this week on In Plain Sight.
And today we've got a fun and interesting guest. Her
name is Jade Abbott. Jade is a volunteer transcriber and
proofreader for Braille for Vision Australia here in Perth, and
we're looking forward to having a really fun and interesting
chat with Jade, and we welcome her to the studio
here now. Hi, Jade.

S3 (03:59):
Hello. Thank you.

S1 (04:00):
So, Jade, we're just going to have a really fun
and in-depth conversation because you have so many interests and
you do so many things, and I just thought it
would be a great opportunity to get to know you
a little bit. We had spoken once before when I
did a program about audio description. That was some time ago,

(04:20):
and it was a bit disjointed because of the poor
recording method I was using. However, I'd like you to
start with telling us a bit about audio description and
reminding the listeners that about the great experience you had
overseas with audio description.

S3 (04:36):
So I have been listening to other movies and TV
shows with audio description for about ten years, I think
around us. First of all, I did not like audio description.
I relied on other people to audio describe for me.
But they found it annoying and I found it annoying
because I would mess things up. So I switched over

(04:58):
and I think the first time I had audio description
was when I was watching To Kill a mockingbird, And
which I didn't think it would have audio description because
it's a fairly old, older movie. Um, but yeah, as
Simon said, I have been over overseas to the US
and I watched two proper Broadway theater shows with audio description,

(05:24):
which was pre-recorded, which I'm not used to, because here
most of our audio described theater shows have live audio description.
So going over there and experiencing that with pretty much
the same sort of machine was very interesting. So I
was very wowed because it was just a different experience altogether.

S1 (05:45):
And that show was Hamilton. Yes.

S3 (05:46):
I saw Hamilton and the Harry Potter, uh, cursed child.

S1 (05:51):
Wow. That's fabulous. That's really great. Remind us, what is
audio description for live theater. How does it work?

S3 (05:58):
So with live theater you have an audio describer. You
can have a couple depending on how long the show is.
And sometimes they sit in a booth, um, either behind
the stage or above in one of the boxes, and
they have a script that they've composed together, as they've

(06:18):
previously been at the show, to make that decision of
what they're going to say and when they're going to
say it.

S1 (06:23):
And you also mentioned that you sometimes watch movies and
television with audio description. Is that right?

S3 (06:30):
Yes. Correct.

S1 (06:30):
So that's a similar thing isn't it. There's a an
audio track in the background that describes any action or
movement or whatever it might be that doesn't interfere with
the dialogue.

S3 (06:44):
Correct. So when it becomes like an audio described movie
or show apps like Netflix and Disney, they usually have
like a section of the movie, like the settings. And
you can turn on audio description or captions depending on
what you need, which is really, really handy. Not every
show or movie has it though, which is a shame.

S1 (07:05):
Jade, you said you are a transcriber and a proofreader
for Braille at Vision Australia. Can you tell us? What
is that? What does that mean? And how does that work?

S3 (07:14):
I've only just started. But what we do is we transcribe, like,
for instance, word documents into Braille format. When you translate
it into braille, all the formatting gets a bit muddled up.
So we have to go through the whole book and
read the whole book back to front and correct all

(07:34):
the little spelling mistakes or formatting, which can take a
long time. But if you enjoy reading, it's a great
way to sit down and relax and read, essentially.

S1 (07:48):
How did you get that position?

S3 (07:49):
I contacted the volunteer team and said that I was
looking for a job, and I liked to read, and
I'm good with my tech, but I don't have that
much experience with formatting documents or the system that I use,
which is Duxbury. And so I was kind of contemplating

(08:12):
because I had no experience with it. And I said, well,
we can teach you. We can give you the skills.
And I said, okay, then, you know, when can I start?
So that's how I got into it. And I know
some of the team already from other things that I've done,
such as music camp. And so I already had a

(08:34):
kind of entail into it, which was really nice.

S1 (08:36):
Firstly, can you tell us about the tech that you
do use? And I should explain that. Jade, you're totally blind.
Is that right? Yes. Is Braille your your main form
of communication in a written way?

S3 (08:48):
In a written way? Yes. And then I use my
laptop that has jaws or Nvda, um, which reads everything
out to me. And I also have a phone, an
Apple phone. So it uses VoiceOver, which I depend on
a lot.

S1 (09:04):
And just to explain, Jaws is commonly known as a
screen reader, so it to to use simple language, it
reads out audibly everything that's on the screen, and so
does with with VoiceOver on Apple computer or Apple Phone.
It does the same thing. It makes the computers talk.

(09:24):
So a blind person or visually impaired person like myself
can actually hear the text on the screen. And it
makes us it makes things accessible and usable. So you
have what's called a Refreshable Braille computer. Is that right, Jake?

S3 (09:39):
Yes I do.

S1 (09:40):
Can you explain what that is for us?

S3 (09:42):
So the Refreshable Braille computer, essentially it's pretty much like
a computer. So you've got your Braille dots, so your
refreshable Braille, and then you have the keys like you
do on a Perkins brailler. So you have like one, two, three, four, five,
six and your backspace is space and your enter. And

(10:04):
so when you type on that it pops up on
the Braille display.

S1 (10:07):
So you have a little strip at the bottom of
the computer. Is that right? That refreshes. It's got Braille.
Do you move your fingers along it or does that move.

S3 (10:15):
So you move your fingers along it. And then there's
a button you press to make it go to the
next line.

S1 (10:20):
And you just one line at a time.

S3 (10:21):
Yes.

S1 (10:22):
Fabulous. So what's the computer called that you use?

S3 (10:25):
I have a Braillesense six. It's called.

S1 (10:28):
And so you just said that you use Braille keyboard.

S3 (10:33):
Yes. So you can use your braille input on your
braille sense, or you can use your keys on your laptop,
and it'll both will pop up. Well, one or the other,
depending on which one you decide to use, will pop up.

S1 (10:45):
You mentioned that you're a keen reader, and that was
one of the other big topics we wanted to talk
about was you're part of an online book club that
is for people who are blind and vision impaired, and
it's internationally based. Yes it.

S3 (11:00):
Is.

S1 (11:00):
Can you tell us about that, please?

S3 (11:01):
So one of my online friends decided to create this group?
And I was in another group of people who read.
I read a lot. So I'm in quite a few
groups and, um, she's like, oh, can you help out
with this? And I said, yeah, sure. And so it's
called The Unseen Book Club.

S1 (11:21):
Unseen.

S3 (11:21):
Unseen. Yes.

S1 (11:23):
For our blind and vision impaired, uh, audience. How does
someone find that?

S3 (11:28):
It's literally just a Facebook group. And you have, like,
your your, uh, like, your approval questions. So I think
I can't remember the questions off the top of my head,
but as long as you fill out your three questions, um,
you're more than likely to get in. And. Yeah. So
it's really, really fun because we have people from all
over Australia, and I think we've got a couple people

(11:50):
in the US and all different places, which is really fun,
and we get to pick a book each month to
read together. So currently I'm not reading the book of
the month because I didn't really like the sound of it.
But you do have you do have that decision, so
it's really nice to, you know, skip it if you
don't want to read it or, you know, read with

(12:11):
a group of people who you may never, you know,
never met or never spoken to and can share that
sort of interest.

S1 (12:18):
Are you reading Braille books or are they listening to
audio books or how does that work?

S3 (12:22):
Um, so it depends on what format people want to
read in and how they can get the books. So
I've listened to most of my audio that we've done.
We've done two well, we did February book in the
March book, and I read them both in audio with audible.
So there's apps like audible and different libraries depending on

(12:42):
what country you're from, so barred in the US, and
the Vision Australia library. And there's other a couple other libraries. Yeah. Um,
that have the like digital version. I don't think anybody
has read a physical hard copy braille copy. Okay. Which
is really interesting.

S1 (13:00):
It is. How do you communicate with each other? What
platform do you use?

S3 (13:03):
Yeah. So it's a mainly a Facebook group. So between
Facebook and Messenger we have like the main.

S1 (13:11):
So it's not you're not um communicating live with one another.

S3 (13:15):
Uh, we can do um but we all it's more
like message based, um, which is really interesting. I think
we are going to start doing like, like monthly, like
zoom meeting or something if people are interested in that
sort of thing. Um, because it's good to actually talk
as well as just communicate by message.

S1 (13:36):
So how did you meet these people initially? How did
you form this international collaboration?

S3 (13:43):
I found the main girl, Rosa, on, I think it
was TikTok or Instagram, and we started talking there and
we thought, oh, this is a great idea. So her
friends were the ones to join mainly first, and then
I tried to reach out to mine and it's sort
of grown from there. I think there's like about 100

(14:05):
members in there now, That's crazy.

S2 (14:09):
Hi there. You're currently listening to In Plain Sight on
Vision Australia Radio with Simon Chong and Abby Green. And
this week we are speaking to Jade Abbott, Braille transcriber
and proofreader with Vision Australia.

S1 (14:27):
That leads perfectly into another point that I would like
to raise is that you're big on Instagram and TikTok
and these types of things because you're a young person
and I'm old and I don't get it. And, um,
I do use Instagram, but only for certain reasons, because
I like to publicise how fabulous I am, of course.

(14:48):
But even myself, I don't understand why blind people would
want to be on a visual based app. Can you
tell us about that?

S3 (14:58):
So I mainly go on TikTok because there's a lot
of videos on there, and I love a lot of
different sort of things, like horses and all that sort
of stuff. So I prefer a TikTok over Instagram because
as you said, it's a very visual world and a

(15:19):
completely blind person who has no vision is on these
social media apps. But I do appreciate when people on
like Instagram per se put alt text, alternative text on
their photos, um, or a picture description as it's mainly known,
so that we can tell what is in the picture
as well as, you know, someone with sight getting that

(15:42):
visual confirmation.

S1 (15:44):
Someone might see these, um, extra descriptions. And I'm glad
you glad you described it there, because people are getting confused.
Why is someone writing out in text what the picture is?
Because I can see the picture. What's going on? Um,
especially if people don't explain it's for someone who's vision impaired.

(16:04):
So like the shorthand is either image description ID or
picture description. PD and you can use alt text, which
is a way of embedding a code into the Instagram
picture or the Facebook photo, or whatever it might be.
And there's ways of doing it. So alternative text, if
you look at when you're uploading your photos, look for

(16:28):
the editing button and put in a little description of
what the photo is. Some of the platforms, both Instagram
and Facebook, tried to give an AI description of what
the photo is. Right. I'll get you to talk about
that in a sec. Jade. Um, and it will just

(16:49):
simply say there's two people in a room. One looks
male and one looks female, and that's it.

S3 (16:57):
It can get it very wrong.

S1 (16:58):
They can get it very wrong.

S3 (16:59):
And it's very amusing.

S1 (17:01):
Yeah. Have you had any interesting experiences with that? With
the AI generated descriptions?

S3 (17:06):
Oh, yeah. Plenty. Um, I can't remember what it was.
I think it was a couch, and it was like
an animal is in a room. I'm like, there's no
animal in the photo. What are you talking about? Like,
it's it's silly. Like, you can have an apple or something,
and it would be like, oh, yeah, it's a ball
or or even like a ball of wool. It could

(17:28):
call an apple and it's like, no, it's not that good. Try,
but try harder.

S1 (17:33):
So, Jade, I mentioned that you are totally blind. And
we've also got your, um, seeing eye dog in the
studio with us. How long have you had this, um, assistant?

S3 (17:47):
I have had her for nearly a year now. So
it will be a year on the 30th of April
this year.

S1 (17:56):
And I'd like to tell people that the 30th of
April is International Guide Dog Day. And we did have
a show a few months back, um, when we spoke
to Matt Wood from Seeing Eye Dogs Australia, and we
did cover a little bit about what dogs do and
what they how they can help people and the importance

(18:19):
of the role that they play in our society, and
especially obviously, for people who are blind. Jade, why did
you decide to get a seeing eye dog, and can
you tell us about some of the benefits you found
using the dog now?

S3 (18:34):
So I've loved animals from a very, very young age.
I've always been around. Animals have grown up with dogs. Um,
and yeah, I really have wanted a dog for a
very long time, but it's a lot of responsibility. So
you have that decision of can I be responsible? And yeah.
So I through high school I really wanted a dog,

(18:56):
but I was sort of they were sort of, um,
telling me not like it's a bad idea, but it's
probably not the most beneficial to you. And so I
was sort of a bit down about that. And then
I came out of high school and just passed Covid
and was like, okay, I think I'm ready now. And
so I applied and got on the waiting list. And

(19:16):
then a year later I got matched. And yeah, it's
been a been a big journey because I suffer from
a lot of conditions like chronic fatigue and low muscle tone.
And I thought, oh, having these conditions, I won't get
a dog because I don't do enough. I'm, you know,
I just some days I just can't do anything. And

(19:41):
here I am with a dog.

S1 (19:43):
That's excellent. Tell us about some of the extra burdens
and some of the problems that you face. Having a
seeing eye dog, because we know that it can be
a great benefit, but we also know that our society
is not as accommodating or as welcoming or as helpful

(20:03):
as it could be or should be.

S3 (20:04):
Yeah. So some of the things that I face on
a daily basis people trying to pet my dog interacting,
my dog and my main. My big thing is being
rejected from Ubers and taxis because I've got a dog,
and I'm the type of person who gets really anxious
around certain situations, like catching public transport and talking to

(20:27):
new people and that sort of thing. So I find
it really if I've been rejected, it hits hard for me.
Some people are really good at, you know, just facing
it head on and continuing with their day. But sometimes
I just sit there and dwell on it for a
bit because I don't know how to handle it necessarily.
But then there's also them people who tell you you're

(20:48):
doing it wrong and you're like, no, I'm not. I
have had actually have had the training. I can get
on an escalator, I can get on a bus, I
can get on a, you know, get in a lift
or get in a car or.

S1 (21:00):
Just leave me alone and let me get on with.

S3 (21:02):
It. Yes. So, uh, rejections from, like, venues big, like
sporting venues. And that's, you know, I like my sport.
So for me, going to these events and being rejected
is really, really disheartening. But you know, you do you
do fight with the technically you fight with the security

(21:23):
because you know what? You're allowed and it's your right
to be able to go into these areas. Weirdly enough,
the like the least amount of rejections I've had is
going into bars and nightclubs.

S1 (21:36):
Yeah.

S3 (21:37):
Which is really weird.

S2 (21:40):
How have you found going into a nightclub with your
guide dog?

S3 (21:43):
So I've been in one like, I think I've been twice.
And it was very weird because, you know, like, you
don't really expect the dog to be in a nightclub.

S2 (21:53):
No.

S3 (21:54):
It's really, really odd. And, uh, the security girls there
were really, really lovely. Um, you know, they said if
you want, because it was an outdoor indoor nightclub and, like, oh,
if you want to go inside like don't go inside
with your dog. There's too much glass. But, um, let
us know and we can, you know, either take you

(22:15):
in and one of the others will hold the dog
while you go get your drink or whatever you want,
and vice versa. And I was like, oh, okay, this
is weird. I've never been waited on like this before. Like,
that's so it's so freeing, though, because, you know, I
get overwhelmed with loud noise. My dog doesn't, which is weird.

S1 (22:35):
This is as interesting as conversation as I had imagined. Jade.
And I'm really glad that you've come into the studio
to talk with us. You have so many areas of
interest that it's been great to explore some of them
with you. And, um, I know that you've just mentioned
that you have anxiety sometimes and so on, and it's

(22:57):
I really do appreciate you coming in to talk with us.
You mentioned that you're a sports fan, and I've noticed
that you follow the the Perth Wildcats. Is that right?

S3 (23:06):
Yes I do.

S1 (23:08):
And how do you go there? Do they have some
kind of, um, commentary that you can follow?

S3 (23:14):
Um, so online, uh, like, with your actual TV, the
commentators are pretty good. But when I go to the games,
I use my mum and my dad. Okay. To commentate.
Because if you use a headset or anything like that
with basketball, it's so crazy. It's it. It's too fast

(23:36):
paced for commentary to keep up. And I've actually, um,
at the arena, they have a sensory room and so
I get migraines as well. So I've had a migraine
before and gone in there, and we've had the TV on,
and the TV has been delayed by at least 30s.
And we heard the crowd and we're like, oh, I

(23:57):
guess they, you know, got a point. And sure enough,
they did. Um, so it's really, really, uh, interesting. But
I did find out recently that there is a thing
called immersive audio, which I don't know if it's happening
in Australia, but it's happening a lot in the US
now where they have tennis and they're trying to get

(24:21):
it described for their basketball league over there. And what
it is, it's it's different sound effects for different things.
So the ball is bouncing. You have one sound effect
and there's a you know sound for a two pointer,
three pointer, one pointer, that sort of thing. Which is
really fascinating because it's kept up, keeps the time going.

(24:45):
It flows well. And if the commentators miss something, well
you've got your audio cuz you can follow that.

S1 (24:51):
Jade did you play any sports yourself?

S3 (24:53):
Um, so yes, I still currently go horse riding, which
is technically classified as a sport. Yes. And I used
to play goalball and blind tennis, so I've done a bit.
Bits and pieces. Oh, and I used to play netball.

S1 (25:10):
Wow. Was that adaptive netball?

S3 (25:12):
No.

S2 (25:13):
Oh, no.

S1 (25:15):
Okay.

S2 (25:15):
Was there a lot of issues encountered there?

S3 (25:18):
Um, there was with shooting because. Yes. But there. My
mum is very, very hands on and very crafty. So
she used to take apart the netball and put a
bell in it every pretty much every week, so that
I could play with a ball that had a bell
in it. Because they would break. They would break because

(25:39):
of how much, you know, they've been sewed up and
bounced around and whatever else. But we made it work
for a good I think it was like five years
I played. Oh, wow.

S1 (25:49):
So that's excellent.

S3 (25:51):
But it's a lot of running. And I'm not a runner.

S2 (25:53):
Neither am I. No.

S1 (25:55):
I was once, a long time ago. Now, Jade, we
have to finish our conversation now because time has run
away with us. And we've had such a fabulous time
just chatting away. And we both have a lot to say.
is anything you'd like to leave people with before we go?

S3 (26:10):
Um, yeah. So if, you know, if you ever need
to reach out, I'm always around to help. And I've
helped a lot of younger people growing up, so I'm
always around for advice or, you know, if you ever
need feedback on anything, I'm very much available to help.

S1 (26:26):
Well, get in touch with us here at In Plain Sight.
You can find us on the website at Vision Australia
or our email address, which is in plain sight at
Vision Australia. And we'll put you in touch with Jade.
And I find that really, really fantastic Jade that you
are giving back to the community. And that's what we
like to highlight here too, within our program, because you're

(26:49):
relatively young yourself, um, and you want to assist other
people who are going through a similar situation to what
you've been through.

S3 (26:57):
Yep, definitely. Because, you know, I didn't have too many
people who were losing their sight or, uh, you know,
going through the things that I went through as a teenager. And,
you know, it's really hard to find people to look
up to. Yes. When you don't know people.

S1 (27:11):
Well, I'm much older than you and just a little
bit taller than you, but I look up to you, Jade.
I think, yeah, I think it has been a really rewarding, um,
conversation and really enjoyed it. And I'd like to thank
you once again for being with us. Thanks, Jade.

S3 (27:26):
Thank you.

S2 (27:36):
That concludes in Plain Sight for this week. Join us,
Abby Greene and Simon Chung at the same time next
week on Vision Australia Radio VA radio digital and online
at VA Radio.com. You can also listen on demand by
searching for In Plain Sight wherever you get your podcasts,
or ask your smart device to play in Plain sight

(27:58):
by Vision Australia Radio. Thanks for listening.