Accessibility for people with hearing
loss means being able to hear and understand communication
and an audio signal in whatever form it takes: face to face
- one on one and in groups; over the telephone; public address
announcements; recorded sound - TV, radio, movies, internet
based; amplified sound – theater, public presentations;
alerting and emergency notifications.
Most people with hearing loss use spoken language, and whatever
residual hearing they have with hearing aids, cochlear implants,
and other assistive technology. They do not use sign language
and therefore sign language interpreters are not appropriate
accessibility accommodations for them. There are laws that
require that people with hearing loss have access to public,
private, federal, state and local government programs and
services and telecommunications services and products. Examples
of ways to provide accessibility for people with hearing
loss include: assistive listening device, (FM, Infrared,
Audioloop), captioning, CART (computer assisted real time
transcription), hearing dogs, communication strategies,
visual and tactile alarms, oral interpreters, Cued speech
transliteration, volume control phones and telecommunications
relay services- particularly captioned telephone.
U.S .Department of Justice Releases Statement by the Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Addressing Civil Rights in the Response to H1N1 Influenza May 19, 2009
As we respond to H1N1 influenza, it is important to remain vigilant in ensuring civil rights compliance. Access to accurate emergency and health information is critical to providing all people with the ability to make informed decisions and protect themselves, their families, and the community at large. In addition, science and the law must lead our efforts to ensure that unfounded fear and/or prejudice do not limit access to housing, education, benefits, services, employment, and information on account of race, color, national origin, disability, or other protected status.
Accessible Transportation Survey - March 31, 2009 Deadline to Respond March 23, 2009
The following information was provided by the DBTAC-Great Lakes ADA Center (www.adagreatlakes.org):
Meeting the Challenge, Inc. received a grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and is conducting a survey designed to collect information from people with disabilities regarding their experiences with public transportation. All people with disabilities are invited to participate.
Information gathered will be used to determine what barriers still exist in public transportation for people with disabilities and will be used to create Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) technical assistance materials directed toward alleviating those barriers.
The survey is available on-line at: http://mtcinc.transit.sgizmo.com. It is estimated that it will take from 5 to 15 minutes to complete the survey.
Anyone who does not have access to the internet but would like to participate in the survey can do so by calling Meeting the Challenge at: 1-800-864-4264 (select menu choice #2), Monday through Friday between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM (Mountain Time) Individuals may take the survey by telephone and/or request a paper copy.
Responses to the survey will be collected through March 31, 2009.
Feel free to forward this e-mail to any individuals with a disability or to any organizations serving individuals with disabilities that you feel would be appropriate respondents.
Thank you for your participation and assistance!
Questions regarding this message can be directed to:
Cristi Harris
Special Projects Director
Meeting the Challenge, Inc.
(800) 864-4264 charris@mtc-inc.com
New York City Taxis Are Looped March 9, 2009
Ellen Semel, HLA-Manhattan Chapter planning committee chair, reports that induction loops are being installed and tested in New York City taxis as part of a pilot project for accessible taxis. Some chapter members tested the looped taxis on Tuesday, March 3. The taxis were available both before the chapter meeting to allow members the opportunity to listen to speech using a t-coil in the taxi and evaluate their performance. The results of the evaluations will be sent with a report to the Taxi and Limousine Commission in New York City.
Recent Department of Justice (DOJ) Actions Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) February 9, 2009
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) provides information about cases they are involved with on their website
http://www.ada.gov/new.htm . We have summarized information about cases that impact people who are hard of hearing or deaf. Visit ada.gov or the links provided below for more information about these and other cases.
Wal-Mart Stores. On January 16, 2009, DOJ entered into a settlement agreement with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to improve access for persons with disabilities at Wal-Mart stores nationwide. Many of the complaints alleged that persons with disabilities were denied access to Wal-Mart stores or were denied an equal opportunity to shop, free of repeated challenges by Wal-Mart staff, because they were accompanied by service animals. One person who filed a complaint indicated that Wal-Mart auto service department denied him equal access to its services because he was deaf and did not have a cellular telephone. Wal-Mart is required to take several steps to improve access for customers with disabilities, including welcoming persons with disabilities, training Wal-Mart employees, and posting its new service animal policy on its web site and in its stores.
Shopsmith, Inc., Dayton, Ohio. On December 1, 2008, DOJ entered into a settlement agreement with Shopsmith. This company provides educational materials and instruction in the use and operation of woodworking tools and equipment, as well as a variety of education programs through two academies, the Traveling Woodworking Academy and National Woodworking Academy. The Traveling Woodworking Academy provides hands-on training to customers at the home office in Dayton, Ohio, and one-day academies at places such as hotels and inns. The complaint alleged that Shopsmith refused to secure a qualified sign language interpreter or other auxiliary aids to ensure effective communication at one-day workshops by the Traveling Woodworking Academy. Shopsmith agreed to provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including qualified interpreters, for live presentations at its academies.
Manhattan Hotels. The Marriott Marquis and the Muse Hotel in New York City have entered into settlement agreements to improve accessibility for customers with disabilities. Both hotels agreed to make any modifications necessary to make additional rooms accessible to persons with hearing loss. The hotels will provide portable visual alarms and communication devices and install sufficient electrical outlets (including outlets connected to the Hotel's central alarm system) and telephone wiring in units to enable persons with hearing loss to utilize the portable visual alarms and communication devices.
Concord Hospital. On September 18, 2008, Concord Hospital in Concord, New Hampshire, entered into a settlement agreement with DOJ resolving complaints that it had failed to provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services to ensure effective communication for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. Both patients and family members of patients were denied qualified sign language interpreters or other adequate auxiliary aids and services to communicate with hospital staff and medical personnel. Concord Hospital agreed to establish a comprehensive program to provide effective communication in the future for patients and companions who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Elk Grove Village Police Dept. (Illinois). On October 28, 2008, DOJ entered into a settlement agreement with the police department requiring it to make available appropriate auxiliary aids and services to all members of the public who are deaf or hard of hearing, where such aids and services are necessary to ensure effective communication with these individuals, especially persons who are arrested and brought into custody.
http://www.ada.gov/elk_grove.htm
Germano v. International Profit Association, Inc. (IPA). On September 12, 2008, a federal Court of Appeals ruled that conversations conducted through the nationwide telecommunications relay service (TRS), between a person who uses a telephone and a person who uses a text telephone (TTY), are permitted as evidence in court on the same basis as conversations between two people speaking directly to each other by telephone. During a relay call, IPA offered to interview an applicant for a job but later withdrew the offer after realizing that he was deaf or hearing impaired because he had communicated with IPA through the relay service. IPA argued that the communication should be excluded as evidence. The court disagreed and allowed the conversation into evidence, stating that the opposite would be “at odds with Congress’s intent to make disabled persons full and equal participants in society.” http://www.ada.gov/newsltr1008.htm
ADA Amendments Act Resources from the Job Accommodation Network (JAN)
January 26, 2009
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has not yet completed the regulations for the new legislation. However, the Job Accommodation Network has developed a publication and resource page regarding what information is currently available about the Act.
The new publication is called JAN's Accommodation and Compliance Series:
Thanks for alerting us to this resource goes to the Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC) http://www.nvrc.org.
Disability “Power & Pride” Inaugural Ball A First-Ever Event Held at the Press Club in Washington, DC
January 26, 2009
An historic event took place with the first-ever Disability Inaugural Ball held Sunday, January 19, 2009, at the Press Club in Washington, DC. More than 1,000 people of all disabilities, both physical and intellectual, and leaders in those communities, joined to celebrate our new president and administration. The Hearing Loss Association of America was a supporter of the event and HLAA staff joined many organizations for people with disabilities to celebrate this event.
Tony Coelho, former senator who served under President Clinton as Chairman of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and chair of the Ball Planning Committee said:
“DISABILITY POWER & PRIDE…These words distill decades of dreams and struggles, progress and challenges. They reflect the life work of countless leaders, legislators, advocates, and individuals of all ages, abilities, and political affiliations. There is no marquee large enough to show all their names. But as we gather tonight, their spirit is with us not only as part of our history but as an inspiration to the path ahead. The Disability Power & Pride Ball is a testament to the way Barack Obama’s presidential campaign captured the hope and imagination of people with disabilities….We have proved we can do what every other major political constituency does: mobilize capital to advance our agenda. The Ball represents one more step toward full inclusion for people with disabilities."
Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa) noted the progress that people with disabilities have made since the America with Disabilities (ADA) was passed, but he reminded us that there is one exception – employment. Sixty-three percent of people with disabilities are still unemployed.
Entertainment included Comedienne Geri Jewel who has Multiple Sclerosis. Geri is best known as Cousin Geri on the NBC sitcom, “The Facts of Life.” She was the first person with a disability to have a regular role on a prime time series. Bill Shannon, dance and media artist also appeared and performs on crutches due to a mobility disability. Bill is widely recognized in the dance/performance world, the underground hip hop and club dance scene as well as the disabled artist community.
The Hearing Loss Association of America was a supporter of the event and HLAA staff joined many organizations for people with disabilities to celebrate this event.
From left: HLAA Executive Director Brenda Battat, Lauren and Larry Goldberg, and Christopher Sutton, HLAA director of development. Larry Goldberg is the director of The Media Access Group at WGBH in Boston. The Media Access Group produces captions and video descriptions for all media. Through its Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media, they conduct research and development, develop guidelines and standards, and author publications – all in an effort to make media and technology accessible to people with disabilities in their homes, schools, workplaces, and communities.
From left: Christopher Sutton, HLAA development director, Barbara Kelley, HLAA deputy executive director and editor of Hearing Loss Magazine join Mrs. Pennsylvania and Mrs. Galaxy who were invited guests of the chair. Mrs. Pennsylvania, Wendy Sledd, works with children who are autistic and who have intellectual disabilities. She also supports the wounded warriors program as a military spouse.
HLAA members and staff join people from across the country and across the disability field at the 2009 Disability Inaugural Ball. From left: Lise Hamlin (HLAA director of public policy), Dana Mulvany, Barbara Kelley (HLAA deputy executive director), George Kosovich and Bill Kelley.
Barbara Kelley and Brenda Battat, representing Hearing Loss Association of America, meet people from all disability groups at the historic 2009 Disability Inaugural Ball. Executive Director Brenda Battat has spent 21 years in the field working on major pieces of legislation affecting people with hearing loss, often working within coalitions with people across the disability spectrum.
Media Access Group at WGBH To Provide Closed Captioning And Live Description for PBS's Inaugural Coverage
January 16, 2009
Described version of coverage will also stream live on the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) web site,http://www.inaugural.senate.gov
Boston, MA — The Media Access Group at WGBH, a non-profit service of the WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts, will provide both closed captioning and live description of Barack Obama's presidential inauguration for the PBS presentation of Inauguration 2009, a NewsHour special hosted by Jim Lehrer. The PBS coverage of the inauguration airs live on Tuesday, January 20 from 11AM to 1:30PM EST. While live captioning is an established feature of many television broadcasts, live description, the creation at time of air of a narration track imparting information about visual elements that people who are blind or visually impaired would miss, is a rare service. Dunkin' Donuts is generously sponsoring the description service for this broadcast. In 1993, PBS's coverage of the Clinton inauguration was the first live television program that was made fully accessible to the nation's 36 million deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind and visually impaired viewers. Read the whole article.
Signed and Captioned Inaguration Events at the Smithsonian Institution
January 14, 2009
Jumbotrons at the Presidential Inauguration to be Open Captioned
December 15, 2008
Sign Language Interpreters will be located at designated positions within each ticketed section, with the exception of the Mall Standing Area. There will be jumbo-trons (large television screen) with open captioning positioned on the Capitol Plaza (blue, red, green, and yellow ticket holders) and within the Mall Standing Area.
Tickets to the Swearing-In Ceremony are distributed by both Senators and Representatives elected to the 111th Congress. All tickets distributed by Congressional representatives are free to the public. However, some websites are promising tickets for up to $20,000 each. However, given the demand for tickets, there is no promise that any of those tickets sold will be delivered. While reputable companies are promising refunds, that is not much solace if you’ve based a vacation around the inaugural. This is most certainly a case of “buyer beware.”
Thanks to Dave Pearson and Dana Mulvany, members of HLAA, we received the following information about YouTube:
"In a move to make videos easier to understand without volume or for hard of hearing people, YouTube has given users the option of embedding closed captions that show up as semitransparent overlays. Caption files that have text dialogue synced up to the proper timestamps can be uploaded during the time of upload or afterwards, and YouTube has provided multiple language support to let viewers swap between different languages of a single video without having to leave playback."
WGBH National Center for Accessible Media Emergency Management Survey Report
December 1, 2008
The WGBH-Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media announces the release of its "Emergency Management Survey Report", which conveys a broad sampling of the state of accessible emergency notification, and indicates opportunities to fill in known gaps and identify effective practices. The 10-page report summarizes challenges and opportunities in policies, roles and practices for accessible message development and dissemination, and is available (as an accessible PDF document) at http://ncam.wgbh.org/alerts/resources.html. The report is listed under the Emergency Management section.
The report was informed by NCAM's national web-based survey (conducted in summer 2008) to identify existing and planned practices to make emergency notifications accessible to people with sensory disabilities (people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind). The survey queried over 200 stakeholders across public and private sectors, representing nearly every facet of the emergency notification arena and beyond.
National Public Radio launches captioned radio in time for election day ’08.
Read their press release so you don’t
miss it.
Court Cases
Sports Fans Win Their Day in Court
October 17, 2008
In an opinion issued on September 30, 2008, a federal district court in Maryland held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires the Washington Redskins “to provide deaf and hard of hearing fans equal access to the aural information broadcast over the stadium bowl public address system at FedEx Field, which includes music with lyrics, play information, advertisements, referee calls, safety/emergency information, and other announcements.”
The lawsuit was brought in August 2006 on behalf of Redskins fans Shane Feldman, Brian Kelly, and Paul Singleton, who are deaf or hard of hearing and who regularly attend Washington Redskins home games at FedEx Field. The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and Joseph B. Espo of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, represent the plaintiffs. The court’s ruling requires that FedEx Field, the home of the Washington Redskins, must provide auxiliary aids and services to make the game-day experience fully accessible for deaf and hard of hearing fans.
“We expect that stadiums, arenas and other sports venues will take heed and begin to follow the law on providing equal access to individuals with disabilities, including providing equal access to aural information for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing,” said Mr. Espo.
“The court’s decision marks a significant victory for plaintiffs and the deaf and hard of hearing community,” said Marc Charmatz, NAD Senior Attorney. “The ADA applies to stadiums, and now a court, for the first time, has recognized that deaf and hard of hearing fans have a legal right to equal access at stadiums.”
Lise Hamlin, HLAA director of public policy, provided this information from a news release issued by the National Association of the Deaf, October 2, 2008.
