Mariners score big with ballgame captioning
One of our more recent entries announced that the Seattle Mariners would try to accommodate fans with hearing loss by making available portable video-game terminals that would display captions. A Wash-CAP board member tested the system last week, and said it is terrific.
"The device is very good," reports board member Dean Olson. "I was able to read it and then look up at the game. It's useful information -- like when the stories come up to read about the players."
What is being captioned is the Mariners' radio broadcast, which is also fed into the stadium. When the public-address announcer chimes in, that announcement overrides the broadcast, and when that happens, the captions are of the PA announcer. So the captions convey the same information that is being piped into the stadium for the hearing fans.
The devices may be checked out at the Nintendo kiosk behind home plate. Dean reports that they took a credit card and charged $300 as collateral, but when he turned the device in after the game, they gave him the slip to tear up.
The Washington hearing-loss community will have a chance to check out those devices en masse on July 10. The Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Late Deafened Adults (ALDA) and the Seattle Hearing, Speech and Deafness Center (HSDC) are promoting a night at the ballpark. There will be a section cordoned off for us, so we can sit together, say hi to our friends, and enjoy a summer night at the ball game. (The opponent will be the Texas Rangers).
The Mariners will set up a special button on the "special group" area of the team website for us to order tickets, and the tickets won't be limited to hearing-loss folks -- we can all bring our friends and families. Let's have a big turnout to support the Mariners and their efforts to support us.
