“I can’t hear you” - An open letter by Francois Klark
Most people I know love music - we go crazy over a song because something about the chord progression, the lyrics, and the melody stirs something inside us. We also love being engulfed by the sound waves and feeling the vibrations of 808s, drums or a crazy bass or synth solo pulsing through our bodies at a live show or on a dance floor.
There are so many ways in which we can experience music; however, we often fail to provide equitable media to all members of our audience so that they too can enjoy the full experience. This is especially true for members of our audience who are part of the d/Deaf community. We have neglected to make our music videos and other online content accessible to our audience members who are d/Deaf.
I will come clean early in this letter - I have been oblivious to accessibility in the media. Making my music accessible to the d/Deaf community is not something that has even crossed my mind until very recently…
A couple months ago music supervisor Linda Cohen reached out to me and mentioned that she is working on a film entitled ‘Feel The Beat’ in which they would like to use my song ‘Always’. I jumped on board not knowing that this opportunity would permanently change how I release music moving forward.
During post production of the film I met up with the director, Elissa Down (who, by the way is a total mensch), for a quick drink. She showed me a couple clips from the film and I could immediately tell that this production highly valued inclusivity. Not only was the cast of diverse backgrounds, but also of diverse abilities. What struck me the most was the prevalent use of sign language throughout this mainstream Netflix family dance flick.
After my hang with Elissa I looked up Deaf actress Shaylee Mansfield who plays the role of Zuzu in ‘Feel The Beat’. I came across her #InstaCaptioning instagram movement and immediately became aware of how inaccessible my music videos and my online content are to the d/Deaf community.
Thanks to ‘Feel The Beat’ and Shaylee I now realize how important it is to make all mediums of media accessible to everyone. This experience has inspired me to not only caption my music videos moving forward, but also to release an American Sign Language version of ‘Always’ ft. Toronto based Sage Lovell from Deaf Spectrum.
To all my fellow creators, I urge you to jump on this with me. Use closed captioning for all your music videos and online content, and where possible, hire members of the d/Deaf community to create sign language versions of your music. Let’s make music accessible to everyone by giving them the full experience - everyone is just waiting to hear, see and feel your music.
- Francois
Watch the ASL music video for “Always” here
Resources:
How to add closed captioning to your YouTube Video
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2734796?hl=en
Deaf Spectrum:
http://deafspectrum.com/services/
Connect with Francois: