Washington Hearing Loss Lawyer & Attorney : John Waldo Law Firm : Hard of Hearing, Disability, Hearing Impairment : Seattle, Bainbridge, Washington, Pacific Northwest

We've been in constant touch with Seattle's Paramount Theatre representatives over the last 24 hours. We're happy to report that what was yesterday a pretty chaotic situation (which chaos was responsible for yesterday's semi-snarky post) has now been clarified, and it now appears that captioned live theater will indeed be available to Seattle audiences.

Paramount is setting aside 40 tickets for the captioned performance of A Chorus Line on Aug. 10 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available in that block at a discounted price of $38.

To get those tickets, call the Paramount box office at 206-467-5510 and state that you want tickets in the caption section. You can also use the Ticketmaster TTY line, 800-725-6244. Given the brief time between now and the performance, it hasn't been possible to arrange for on-line purchases of these tickets with Ticketron.

Anyone who pulled the trigger yesterday based on the information that was then available (including me) and bought tickets outside the caption section can exchange them by mailing the physical tickets back to Paramount, and explaining that they were purchased outside the caption section before learning about the block-seating arrangement..

Like many theaters, Paramount does have assistive listening devices (ALDs), and does offer sign-language interpreted performances. Unitl now, though, they have offered nothing for those of us who don't hear well enough to follow dramatic dialogue or sung lyrics even with the ALDs, but who don't use sign language. We've found that there is relatively little awareness that people in that hearing "gap" exist as a distinct group with distinct requirements which are very different from the needs of the culturally deaf, who use sign language.

We're hoping for a great turnout, and that this will be the first of many captioned-theater experiences in Seattle.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

After considerable prodding and a certain amount of nail-biting on our part, it appears that captioned theater will indeed make a Seattle debut when the Paramount Theatre offers an open-captioned performance of A Chorus Line on Sunday, Aug. 10, at 6:30 p.m.

The captions will be visible from the ground floor orchestra-right section. Here's a link to purchase tickets for that particular performance. (THIS IS NO LONGER OPERATIVE -- SEE SUBSEQUENT POST).

Since this is the debut of captioning, we can excuse some "opening night jitters." Nevertheless, this hasn't gone exactly smoothly. Paramount evidently didn't commit to the captioning until last week, and didn't post information on its website until today (July 16). It isn't clear whether Paramount has set aside a block of tickets in areas where the captions will be most visible, there is no special link on the website that lets us purchase those tickets, and there does not appear to be any price for the tickets except the normal (hefty) price for orchestra-section seats. So there is still a long ways to go before those who require captioning are treated on a par with folks who need an ASL-interpreted performance.

The best way to ensure that we have more captioned theater is to attend.  

One of the objectives of the Washington State Communication Access Project (Wash-CAP) is to make live theater performances accessible throughout Washington to those who are hard of hearing or deaf, and particularly for the vastly under-served population that doesn't use sign language. This is one small step, but it is in the right direction.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

The Washington Communication Access Project (Wash-CAP) filed suit today in state court in Kitsap County, Washington, asking for an order requiring Washington State Ferries to display the text of messages given aboard the system's vessels and at its terminals.

Our complaint notes that WSF operates the nation's largest ferry system, carrying 26 million passengers annually, and that it routinely makes public-address announcements that convey a broad array of information to its patrons. Those announcements, though, are unavailable to deaf and Hard of Hearing passengers.

The local press picked up on the lawsuit. It was the lead story in the Kitsap Sun on Tuesday, July 8, (complete with snarky but anonymous reader comments) and was in the Bainbridge Island Review on Wednesay, July 9.

I had carried on correspondence with WSF for several months before filing the suit. While WSF officials initially appeared responsive, saying at least that they acknowledged that the present system is problematic, they were very vague about any remedies. When pressed, they said that their systems aren't designed to display information broadcast over the PA system, but that they would investigate ways to contact crew members and request help.

At best, then, WSF was offering the kind of dependency that the D.C. Circuit recently rejected in the landmark case involving paper money and blind users. (And did you catch the absolutely lovely Associated Press story about the attorney who brought that suit?) Even then, I was skeptical, because WSF explicitly states that its crew members will not assist mobility-impaired passengers -- the only "accommodation" WSF will make to such passengers is to allow an attendant to ride free.

Wash-CAP felt a need to move relatively quickly against WSF because the ferry system is currently undertaking an in-depth review of its operational and capital needs. Wash-CAP wants to make sure that both the system and the State Legislature take the needs of the hearing-loss community into account as they make plans for the future.   

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks