Enquiry on improving accessibility and transparency in the digital transmission of city council meetings

In the interest of greater transparency in the digital work of the city of Cottbus, we consider it particularly important to enhance accessibility to municipal political work, especially in light of structural change and the associated societal transformations.

  • Live broadcasts of city council meetings should be supplemented with subtitles (captions) in German. This would render spoken words directly as text in the video stream, allowing access to the content of the meetings for people with hearing impairments as well as for those who rely on text due to linguistic or technical reasons.
  • Subtitles in Sorbian should also be offered where possible, to facilitate access to municipal decisions for the Sorbian-speaking population, as Sorbian is a recognized official language in the region. Since Sorbian-Wendish dialects and the Witaj language are not yet covered by any AI technology, it would be sensible to initially provide translated transcripts in Sorbian. This could serve as an immediately actionable measure to improve comprehension and accessibility.
  • Providing English subtitles would be a valuable addition, as English is an established international standard in many organizations and parliaments. This would be a reasonable requirement for all interested parties and would align with the official language regulations. By using AI to automatically generate and convert subtitles, additional languages such as Ukrainian, Arabic, and Persian could be included. This would significantly enhance accessibility for a diverse citizenry.

Justification

Access to information about the work of the city council is a crucial component of an open and inclusive society. By providing subtitles in live broadcasts, accessibility is improved, and the participation of all citizens in local democratic processes is encouraged. Offering subtitles in multiple languages supports the integration and political engagement of non-native speakers and provides, especially for Cottbus’ growing international community, a low-threshold means of accessing municipal decisions.

We kindly request the technical team of the city council to explore the possibilities for implementing this measure and to expand the live stream with the mentioned features. The goal is to increase the digital reach and transparency of the city council’s work, thereby fostering political interest and strengthening participation opportunities for all citizens of Cottbus.

Für alle Bürger

Za wšyknych wobydlarjow

For all citizens

Для всіх громадян

Wir sind für Sie da

Smy za Was how

We are here for you

Ми тут для вас

Wir laden Sie ein, sich aktiv an diesem Gestaltungsprozess zu beteiligen und Ideen für die weitere Entwicklung unserer Stadt einzubringen. Sprechen Sie uns an, wenn Sie Fragen haben oder sich einbringen möchten. Wir freuen uns auf Ihre Teilnahme und darauf, gemeinsam eine positive Zukunft für unsere Stadt zu gestalten.

Pśepšosujomy Was, se aktiwnje na toś tom wugótowańskem procesu wobźěliś a mysli za dalšne wuwiśe našogo města zapśěgnuś. Wobrośćo se na nas, gaž pšašanja maśo abo cośo zapśimjeś. Wjaselimy se na Wašo wobźělenje a na to, zgromadnje pozitiwny pśichod za našo město wugótowaś.

We invite you to actively participate in this design process and contribute ideas for the further development of our city. Contact us if you have any questions or would like to get involved. We look forward to your participation and to shaping a positive future for our city together.

Ми запрошуємо вас взяти активну участь у цьому процесі проектування та внести свої ідеї щодо подальшого розвитку нашого міста. Зв'яжіться з нами, якщо у вас виникли запитання або ви бажаєте долучитися. Ми з нетерпінням чекаємо на вашу участь і будемо разом формувати позитивне майбутнє нашого міста.