Imagine this on the Pig Screen
A story in the Rocky Mountain News yesterday talks about the Washington Redskins being sued by advocates of deaf people to have closed-captioning put on the big screen and other TVs at FedEx Field in Greenbelt, Md.
We were wondering when this might eventually be felt in Fayetteville and the UA, with its mammoth football scoreboard TV screen:
The National Association of the Deaf filed the class-action lawsuit Aug. 31 in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on behalf of three Maryland fans who regularly attend home games.
"Providing captioning is not rocket science; it is simple, and it is the right thing to do," Shane Feldman said in a statement. Fedlman was joined in the suit by Paul Singleton and Brian M. Kelly.
They contend the team is violating the Americans With Disabilities Act by failing to provide captioning for the deaf and hearing-impaired. It asks the court to order the Redskins and stadium officials to provide and display captioning on scoreboards and video monitors for all announcements, plays and penalties.
NFL teams are not required by law to do so. Redskins spokesman Karl Swanson said the team considered a proposal to purchase captioning equipment, but the proposal was rejected by Feldman.
Feldman was concerned about a possible 10-minute delay, said Marc Charmatz, senior attorney with the National Association for the Deaf Law and Advocacy Center.
Swanson said the Redskins are considering providing deaf and hearing-impaired fans with 7-inch TVs that would pick up captioning in the stadium. He added that all emergency information is posted on the large screens and on TV monitors throughout the stadium.
Comments
why should there be a 10 minute delay unless they are carving on tablets and then putting the tablets on tv. if live news television shows can show immediate captions so can they.
Posted by: jerry donoho![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/rockcandy/nav-commenters.gif)
|
September 21, 2006 05:13 PM
I frequent a sports/news bar where captions are often the only means of following the audio on multiple screens, and I have to say that current captioning "technology" is way behind rocket science. The captioning stream ranges from unteliigible gibberish to laugh-out-loud howlers. Is it really that useful to non-hearing viewers?
Posted by: widj![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/rockcandy/nav-commenters.gif)
|
September 21, 2006 09:20 PM
Tsk. I thought I'd typed "unintelligible". Hehe, see what I mean?
Posted by: widj![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/rockcandy/nav-commenters.gif)
|
September 21, 2006 09:29 PM
While I am a proponent of Deaf/HOH rights, I don't know that CC would add much to a live football game. I've been to all the Razorback Games this fall (I'm in the band) and the only thing I notice that might be missed is the announcer saying which players were involved in the most recent play. Info about filed position, possession, yardage, time and all the other stats is visible on the Pig Screen already. Most plays are replayed after they happen so that the audience can see them from every angle. If you combine watching the actual onfield action with the replays, you don't really miss anything. Even some of the cheers are broadcast with nifty little graphics on the Pig Screen telling you what to say/yell.
The main missing component would be knowing what penalties the refs call. Of course, if you know the hand signals, you already know what happened.
If there is a demand for CC @ Razorback Stadium, I say go for it. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry. Remember, there was a time long ago when stadiums didin't have giant PA systems and the fans had to follow the on-field action. Nowadays we're all just lazy and dependant on the Pig Screen.
Posted by: An actual student | September 24, 2006 01:25 PM