(music)
(laughter)
Hi, I'm Jana, I manage
the Accounting and HR functions.
My name is Margarita.
I work as a Software Tester at Amara.
[How do you spend your weekends?]
Most likely table tennis or cycling
to one of our local beautiful beaches.
I like cooking and also,
I do some volunteer work.
Reading.
Reading.
Reading some interesting books.
[Do you have any pets or plants?]
I have six dogs,
they're all rescued,
so I play a lot with my dogs.
I have a peace lily
that I've had for years.
This is Lily Tomlin, no relation.
[What do you love about
working at Amara?]
Just connecting with our audience,
just to make somebody's life
a little be easier
just for that moment
that they're reading my support article
or whatever it is.
At the end of the project,
when I'm delivering,
let's say a completed video
with some captions and subtitles,
that actually makes me feel
really, really fulfilled,
like, "Oh, now we have
more videos out there
with captions and subtitles,
more people will be able to access it."
Absolutely the people.
Everyone's interest in
making the world better truly
is just unbelievable.
Everybody has this thing
that somehow is motivated
by the overall mission of Amara,
which is actually to provide accessibility
and also use their skills
to share information with others.
It's a special culture,
there's not much of a top-down hierarchy.
It's really a cooperative effort.
We're all very [inaudible]
to check graphically ending time
but we also have time for each other.
[What languages do you speak?]
I'm only fluent in English
but I'm learning American Sign Language,
Russian --my spouse's family
if from the former Soviet Union,
so I'd like to be able to speak to
the other generations in that family.
English, Spanish, as my native language--
My native language is Russian
and I use English for work--
Cantonese, a little bit of Mandarin--
I have also learned some Spanish,
German and Chinese.
French and a little bit of Arabic.
English and about this much Spanish.
(laughter)
[Pop Quiz: When was the first version
of Amara released?]
Either 2010 or 2013...?
2006?
2001? Yeah, no, I don't know.
2010, that's when
the first prototype was created.
I [inaudible] I was [inaudible]
back then.
[What does accessibility mean to you?]
That everyone has the same opportunity,
being able to understand
the world through video
and through the captioning
and translation that we do,
and that other people do--
no limits.
It means a lot.
I have a cohlear implant
and they are hearing aid.
Without them, I cannot hear
practically anything at home
and with them is okay
in one-to-one conversations,
but not so nice when you use
something technical,
when you're watching videos
or talk over the phone,
so subtitles mean a great deal.
Accessibility to me starts with empathy.
A lot of my friends, actually,
don't speak English,
so being able to help
to make a lot of the information
that I have helped
to subtitle into Spanish,
if I can share it with some
of my friends back in Venezuela,
or my family, or my mom...
it feels really good.
[What effect do you hope
Amara will have on the world?]