Wash-CAP Sues Washington Ferry System
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.
