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For Virginians advocating open captioning in theaters, please consider contacting your representatives to support this bill currently in the Virginia General Assembly Virginia, HB 407 (see https://legiscan.com/VA/bill/HB407/2022).

A summary of the bill is as follows:

Open captioning at movie theaters. Requires all movie theaters, including outdoor theaters such as drive-in theaters, that have four or more screens and are open to the general public to provide open captioning at least twice per week on any film that is regularly shown, provided that open captioning is available for such film. The bill requires such movie theaters to provide notice to the general public regarding the availability of open captioning and schedule at least one viewing during peak viewing time.

 

 

FORBES
By Janice Schacter Lintz
AUG 8, 2016

New York City is the most accessible city in the country for people with hearing loss. Hearing access is available at many of the city’s Broadway theaters, museums, and stadiums. Even the subway information booths/call boxes as well as the new Taxis of Tomorrow have hearing access. The degree of access available varies by site, so check the individual websites for specific details.

A hearing induction loop permits a person with a telecoil-equipped hearing aid or cochlear implant to use the T-setting to hear the sound directly from the microphone through the hearing aid/implant—no receiver is needed. Background noise is blocked on the T-setting. The other types of assistive listening systems, FM and infrared, require the use of a receiver (a headset or body-worn device); telecoil users can plug in a neck loop.

Read more  . . . New York City

 

 

The New York Times

Lydia Callis wanted to get her mother a gym membership for Christmas last year. When she called to arrange a consultation, she mentioned that her mom (who lives in Arizona) is deaf and would need a sign-language interpreter for the session. The health club said it would not provide a signer. Ms. Callis — who became an Internet sensation during Hurricane Sandy as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s exuberant sign-language interpreter — told the club that it was actually required by law to do so. Still it refused, and Ms. Callis, who was calling from Manhattan, gave up.

Last year was the 25th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, and yet this kind of scenario plays out regularly for people who are deaf and hard of hearing. While the broader culture has become accustomed to certain changes the law has engendered, particularly wheelchair access, the rights of the deaf have frequently been misunderstood or simply disregarded.

Read more  . . . Fight to Be Heard