Workforce Language Services

Closed Caption Latina is a Florida company which provides simultaneous dubbing and subtitles for Spanish-speakers and the hearing impaired.  Maria Victoria Diaz, a Colombian immigrant and co-ounder of the company makes the case that their services help non-English speakers and the hearing impaired participate more fully in public life in America:

“Whether it is the visually or hearing-impaired, or the immigrant who doesn’t speak English, we’re not going to be able to fully participate in this society unless we understand how things work here,” said Diaz, a Colombia native. “Television, videos and DVDs are a great way of getting those cultural and social nuances.”

Diaz moved to Longwood from Bogota in 2005 with her mother and her then- 8-year-old daughter.

“I have felt the weight of isolation, the absence of friends and family,” she said. “We have to become more integrated to the American experience to overcome these things. But if you don’t understand what is being said on TV, it becomes that much more difficult.”

Diaz got her start with grant money from the Department of Education to provide video description of Plaza Sesamo (the Spanish-language version of Sesame Street) and from that start, more clients signed on for her services.

To read the entire article, click here.