Live Theater Access
Television captioning has been a godsend for those of us with significant hearing losses. The captioning makes television instantly accessible, and means that for all its faults, television is something we can fully enjoy ourselves, and is an experience we can share with our spouses and families.
Once in a while, though, it would be nice to do something different, like a play. We go along, but when we can't hear what's going on, it's not all that great for us ... and it isn't so great for the people we're with, either.
It doesn't have to be like this. Spoken dialog or sung lyrics can be reduced to text, letting us "hear" along with the rest of the audience. What's said or sung can be captioned in real time or in advance, and the captions displayed to some or all of the audience. For theaters that can't afford those elaborate electronic devices, hard-of-hearing patrons could be provided with a script and a penlight at virtually no cost.
There is no reason why every theater can't make every performance accessible to those with hearing loss. Continue reading this post to find out how we're progressing on this issue.
Federal and state law requires that live theaters provide us with the tools that will let us fully enjoy the performances. The federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires "public facilities" like live theaters to furnish "auxiliary aids and services" to those with physical issues like hearing losses, and in a number of technical respects, the Washington Law Against Discrimination is even more powerful than ADA.
Captioning is specifically listed as one of the appropriate aids and services. Many theaters think they're meeting the needs of the hearing-loss community. They offer Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) of varying quality, adequate only for those with mild to moderate hearing losses. At the other end of the spectrum, some theaters offer occasional performances interpreted into American Sign Language. Yet no theater in Washington state regularly offers any adequate assistance for those of us in the "gap" who need something more than ALDs, but who don't sign.
Wash-CAP is working with a number of Seattle theaters to ensure that those of us with hearing loss have access to the appropriate aids and servicest. We have contacted those theaters, and pointed out the existence of a gap between those served by ALDs and those served by signed performances, which apparently comes as news to them. We ask them to consider how to bring captioning or some form of text to their theaters, and point out that we believe both federal and state laws require them to do so.
We have enjoyed some successes. After we contacted the Seattle Center, which operates a number of venues, Key Arena attempted to caption the Bruce Springsteen concert in March. We were given wireless hand-held devices the shape and about twice the size of a palm pilot, which displayed several lines to text synchronized with the vocals. Despite some technical glitches, the equipment worked well, and increased our enjoyment of the performance enormously.
The concert was not the best application of the technology, though. Springsteen's set list changes each concert, so Seattle Center had to input some 60 songs, then the operator would have to recognize them at the outset and get the right set of lyrics displayed. Moreover, the concert was a one-time event, so the preparatory work could only be used once. We have suggested to Seattle Center that the technology might work really well for a play, where the script could be entered in advance, and the same work used at each performance. The beast thing about of the technology used at the concert is that it could be used from any seat in the house and potentially at any performance, meaning we could attend at any time with our friends and family, and participate fully in the experience.
Other venues haven't been as cooperative, at least initially, as Seattle Center. The Paramount has told us they can't find any local resources for captioning. We have referred them to national companies that provide captioning services, and recently learned from one of those vendors that "a major Seattle theatre" has been in touch with them.
Fifth Avenue has said captioning is too expensive, and constitutes an "undue burden," which is a legitimate defense under the applicable laws. Fifth Avenue did offer to reserve six seats on the back row of the orchestra section and provide scripts and penlights. But the penlights will be specially identified as theater property, so other patrons don't come to believe that reading a script is acceptable behavior.
We were not impressed initially with Fifth Avenue's offer. The law requires that we be provided the aids and services we need to enjoy the performance in the most integrated setting possible. We thought six seats on the back row was pretty much the opposite of that. We also referred Fifth Avenue to other theaters elsewhere in the country that are offering some captioned performances, and asked Fifth Avenue why they believed they cannot do what those other theaters can.
Our objective is to make the State of Washington a national model for accessibility of live theaters and public spaces in general. The effort is just getting under way. You can help in the effort by joining Wash-CAP -- it's free, and it works for all of us. Then check back on this website and see how we're doing. by 2015, we want going to a play in Washington to be as easy as watching captioned television.
