The Social Security Administration is making extensive use of video technology to allow Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) to hold hearings for claimants located in other towns. I represented a claimant at such a hearing yesterday. On the video screen I could barely distinguish the ALJ from the high backed chair in which she was sitting. It was hard to tell the source of the voice we heard, since the ALJ was almost invisible. This had nothing to do with the way the equipment was being operated. Zooming in helped little. This is a problem I have been seeing ever since video hearings started. I do not think the problem lays with the equipment. I think the problem is simple. Video cameras work poorly when used with ordinary office florescent lighting. If Social Security is going to spend so much money on cameras, televisions and bandwidth, I think it would be a good idea to spend a little money on adequately lighting hearing rooms for television. It will not cost much but I expect it will make a big difference in video quality. I might even be able to see the ALJs and they might be better able to see me and my clients.
5 comments:
I think we are beyond that...unfortunately.
Well with so many video hearing locations, which include hospital, library's and community centers as well as local FO's and other offices, I think it would be difficult to manage all those facility lighting issues.
I have had pretty good luck at video hearings, with both the video and the sound. But beware, the microphones pick up everything - even the sound of shuffling papers. So no whispering to your client...the judge can hear it all.
I've had similar experience. My client struggled to transfer from her assistive device (wheel chair) to the fixed chair for the hearing. During the hearing, the ALJ asked, "Ma'am, do you use any assistive device?" We lose a lot in video hearings.
Secondly, I saw a demonstration at the NOSSCR Miami Beach convention of how it can and should be, even with bad lighting. It IS an equipment issue.
It's just as bad for the ALJs. The cameras are positioned in our video rooms so that it is almost impossible to see all of the participants. Suggestions to just move the camera to a spot behind the judge's chair, to give a judge-eye view of the room, have been ignored. We also have a lot of difficulty with the signal being delayed or frozen during the hearing.
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