My Email to California

The state of California has been running an ad for quite some time that is designed to make people want to visit the state.  The ad features numerous locations and several famous people, including Gov. Schwarzenegger.  Of course, the ad is not closed-captioned, cuz who can be bothered providing accessibility to us pesky deaf people?  Here’s the email I just sent them:

Hello California …

Well, I just saw your TV commercial again and it is still not closed-captioned for viewers with hearing loss.

I can’t figure out why you go to so much trouble to make your ads and pay to air them, and yet you can’t be bothered to make the tiny effort required to add closed-captioning so that deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers like myself can understand them.

Closed-captioning is nothing new, it has been around for almost 30 years and it costs only about $200 to caption an ad.  Since 1 out of 10 Americans has a hearing loss, it makes no sense why you are being so ignorant and insensitive.

Forcing non-captioned commercials upon viewers with hearing loss is like telling black people to sit in the back of the bus.  It is discriminatory, it is wrong, and it must end now!!

Please reply to this note.  I want answers!!

Tom Willard

The Mets Get What They Deserve

You may recall that I wrote a few earlier posts about the New York Mets and their refusal to caption their baseball games on Sportsnet New York (SNY).  During the past season, the Mets finally began captioning their games but did it in the most minimal way possible .. i.e. pregame and postgame reports were never captioned.  No matter, the Mets lost me as a fan two years ago after 40 years of dedication.  Anyway, I just fired off an email to SNY (with a CC to the Mets and to Neil Best at Newsday, who wrote about the captioning situation) and here it is for your enjoyment:

SNY:

The Yankees parade is currently being shown on both SNY and YES and as usual the programming is closed-captioned on YES and not closed-captioned on SNY.

Do you people ever get tired of being so freaking lazy and cheap?

I just want to let you know that on March 16, 2010, your four-year-new-station FCC exemption on closed-captioning will expire.  I have already put it on my calendar and I plan to watch your station all day that day and file separate complaints with the FCC for each and every show you dare to air without closed-captions.

You have been warned !!!!

PS … The Yankees have always been good with closed-captioning and the Mets have always been awful.  The Yankees are enjoying a ticker tape parade today while the Mets are home watching on TV.  Coincidence?  I doubt it.  The Yankees are classy, the Mets suck.

Tom Willard
Editor, Deafweekly
www.deafweekly.com
Rochester, NY

Chris Farley is Dead and I Want to Know What He Said

DirecTV has been getting a lot of grief because its new TV commercial features Chris Farley, who has been dead for a dozen years.  (See Chris Farley DirecTV Ad Offensive?)

I have seen dead stars in TV commercials before so I don’t know what’s the big deal, but I will tell you what is REALLY offensive:  This commercial, like every DirecTV ad that has preceded it, IS NOT CLOSED-CAPTIONED.

It remains a huge mystery to me why advertisers will go to so much trouble and expense to create and air their commercials and yet will not add closed captions so that millions of audience members with hearing loss can understand what they are saying.

It is my hobby to send nasty emails to companies that don’t caption their ads.  I am long past the point of being nice to these people.  They work in the television industry and have a responsibility to know their job, including the importance of closed captioning.  I think they are ignorant dopes and what they do to us deaf people on an ongoing basis is offensive and outrageous and wrong.

The non-captioning of TV commercials is not just a nuisance, it is a blatant form of discrimination that limits deaf people’s knowledge and opportunities.  Consider Rochester, where two of the most incessant advertisers are a trade school and a law firm.  Do they not caption their ads because they are fools or do they not caption their ads because they do not want to be bothered with deaf people and interpreting expenses?

The worst non-captioner by far is Time Warner, which advertises all day on every channel.  Instead of setting a good example (after all, they could easily create a policy requiring all ads to be captioned) they do the exact opposite thing and convey the message that it is perfectly acceptable to not caption your ads and leave deaf people in the dark, even almost 20 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act was supposed to do away with this sort of thing.

You would be surprised how many times I have gotten commercials captioned just by sending an email.  I don’t understand why our advocacy organizations like the National Association of the Deaf don’t do something similar and put their weight behind it.  Why do they accept this ridiculous situation in mute compliance year after year after year?

Anyway, here is my correspondence with DirecTV over the last day or so.  I thought you might enjoy it.

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DirecTV:

I think it is disgusting that you don’t closed-caption your TV commercials.  You go to so much trouble and expense to create these commercials and buy air time, and you can’t bother to spend $200 to add closed-captions so that millions of viewers with hearing loss like myself can understand and enjoy them?  Unbelievable!

Closed-captioning has been around for almost 30 years, and all the programs I watch are closed-captioned (what would be the point otherwise?) but then your commercials come on and I am left in the dark, like it is the 1970s again.

I can’t believe your company can be so callous and ignorant toward deaf and hard-of-hearing people!

You are in the television business and should be setting a good example for others by making your stuff accessible, but instead you do the exact opposite thing by telling deaf people to go f**k themselves.  Really unbelievable!!!

Tom Willard
Editor, Deafweekly
www.deafweekly.com
Rochester, NY

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Mr. Willard, I’m a little confused here. Are you referring to commercial that are produced for DIRECTV that run industry wide or all commercials in general?

Charles Schrum
DIRECTV, Inc.

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Mr. Schrum:

I am talking about your own commercials for DIRECTV that feature remakes of old movies — I can never understand them because I am deaf and they are never closed-captioned.

Tom Willard
Rochester , NY

+ + + + + + +

Thank you for your clarification. I will pass this on to upper-management for their consideration.

Regards,
Charlie Schrum

+ + + + + + +

Thanks.  It never fails to amaze me that after 30 years of closed-captioning, people still have to “consider” whether or not to caption their ads.  This omission is especially egregious when committed by people who work in the television industry, who should be setting a good example for others and yet take the exact opposite approach.

I am going to push the FCC to require all commercials to be closed captioned, because to expose deaf people to non-captioned commercials is like making black people sit in the back of the bus.  It is blatantly discriminatory and enough is enough!!

Tom Willard
Rochester, NY

Who Will It Be?

Handicapping the Gallaudet University Presidential Race

I was kind of hoping that Bob Davila could remain president of Gallaudet University forever, but news came out yesterday that four people have been selected as finalists to replace him.

They are:

– Alan Hurwitz, president of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology.
– Roslyn Rosen, director of the National Center on Deafness at the California State University at Northridge.
– Ronald Stern, superintendent/CEO of the New Mexico School for the Deaf in Santa Fe.
– Stephen Weiner, provost at Gallaudet University.

It’s interesting that the deaf community has three main colleges — Gallaudet, NTID and CSUN — and the leaders of two of them, Hurwitz and Rosen, want to quit and run the third.

The other two contenders, Stern and Weiner, are retreads from the last time Gallaudet went through this process.  (Remember Jane Fernandes?)  I suspect they are handicapped by the tendency to think, “You again?”  Unfortunately for them, Stern and Weiner are reminders of a period that a lot of people would like to forget.

My guess is that it will come down to Hurwitz and Rosen, since in baseball terms they have both been playing on the AAA level whereas Stern and Weiner are still playing double-A ball.

My money would be on Rosen as she seems the more personable of the candidates.  I think when she goes up to Congress to plead Gallaudet’s case, she would make a good impression on the lawmakers, whereas I feel the other finalists would shrink into the woodwork.

Part of it is sexism — a woman can wear a bright outfit with eye-catching accessories and stay in the minds of lawmakers, whereas men have to wear dull suits and they all look alike.  (NTID’s first and long-time director, Dr. William Castle, who retired in 1995, was known for his loud and garish outfits, which he admitted was a way of getting attention when he went to Congress. But he was one of a kind.)

If Rosen gets the job, it would be bad for CSUN and bad for NTID — bad for CSUN because they would have to replace her just a few years after she started, and bad for NTID because they would miss out on the chance to have fresh leadership.

If Hurwitz gets the job, it would be good for CSUN and good for NTID.  CSUN would retain its new leader and NTID would have the chance to take a new direction.  And I would say, it’s about time.

With all due respect to Hurwitz, he is not an exciting guy.  He is steady and dependable and you can always count on him and he will never surprise you.  Maybe that is what Gallaudet wants.  Or maybe they would prefer someone to wake the place up.

Here is a sample of Hurwitz Speak, from an NTID news release:

“It is an honor to be included for consideration to lead such a prestigious institute that has played such a significant role in the lives of thousands of deaf students for more than 140 years.  My 40-years at NTID have given me a unique perspective about what it takes to manage a university. I have seen first-hand the changing nature of our students and their needs. And I see the challenges we face. It is my belief that the next president of Gallaudet University, whoever he or she is, will strive to make the university the best it can be to provide its students a superior liberal arts education in an environment that fosters not only education, but effective communication and avenues to address issues on campus as they arise.”

Hey, wake up!  Back to the blog now!

When Hurwitz got the NTID job in 2003 after Bob Davila “retired,” I recall feeling let down, like the feeling in 1988 when the first George Bush replaced Ronald Reagan.  Hurwitz had always been there, he was on track, so people figured yeah, he’ll do until someone better comes along.

It seems NTID is always blathering about Japan and something called PEN-International but I can’t think of many exciting new developments at NTID under Hurwitz’s leadership.  He has always struck me as a caretaker leader, a capable bureaucrat who gets the job done and keeps the seat warm until NTID can find someone with more pizzazz.

Dr. Castle had pizzazz by the bucketful.  So did Dr. Davila, who also had the ability to make everyone around him comfortable.

Davila had vision and imagination, too.  I remember chatting with him around 1997 and he pointed to the empty courtyard inside NTID’s main building and said he wanted to put an art center there, and boom, he did.  And after he left NTID, he got a job at CSD in South Dakota and boom, it was announced that CSD would be funding a new building at NTID.  Davila makes things happen.

Alan Hurwitz keeps his in-box clean but never makes you go “Wow.”

He has also been at NTID since 1969.  I know there are some who value such longevity, but to me it is kind of sad.  We only get one life to live — who wants to do the same thing for 40 years?  It strikes me as clinging to what is safe and being afraid to take any chances.  In the long run you miss out on a lifetime of new and exciting opportunities.

I hope for Alan’s sake that he gets the job.  After 40 years, the poor guy could really use a break from driving every day to a cluster of imposing brick buildings surrounded by vacant land in a suburb of Rochester, walking the same halls and doing the same thing over and over again.

Best of luck, Al!  Enjoy DC, Roz!

Oh %@*#, here we go again

Damn it, I’m mad again. This seems to happen whenever I try to venture into the hearing world, where the inhabitants are ready to squash us like the bugs they think we are.

Here’s the latest. My dentist referred me to an orthodontist (Steven M. Kazley DDS, 1688 Monroe Ave., Rochester, NY 14618, 585-244-3500) for a consultation. When I told the office I would need an interpreter, they replied with those dreaded and illegal words: “Feel free to bring your own interpreter.”

Hey, feel free to be sued for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, pal.

I find it so dismaying and discouraging and disgusting that people are still trying to pull this crap 17 years after the ADA went into effect.

I find it very hard to believe that a busy orthodontics office that operates in two upscale suburbs of Rochester, the home to so many deaf people, could be so ignorant about their responsibilities under Federal law.

You have to wonder how many other deaf people they’ve pulled this stunt on, perhaps meek deafies who don’t know their rights and slink away with their tails between their legs.

Perhaps they are not ignorant of the ADA at all, but have made a conscious strategic decision to reject all such requests and only grudgingly give in to those few patients who complain

But I lost all interest in having this office deal with my orthodontic needs. I feel that if they are this stupid about one aspect of their business, you have to wonder what else they don’t know, like maybe how to straighten teeth.

I am apprehensive about orthodontia to start with, and here they are choosing to start our relationship with an illegal and unethical approach. I don’t want to fight them over an interpreter when they are going to end up rooting around in my mouth and could forget to give me novacaine or whatnot.

But here’s the funny thing. I am no stranger to these people. I have been taking my son there for his braces for more than a year. And just a few weeks ago, I brought my daughter in for a consultation. I expected to wait in the waiting room and get a written report at the end, but instead I was made to go in with them and sit there for 45 minutes and understand nothing except when my daughter would sign a snippet of the conversation.

At the end, the dentist’s assistant said to me, “Did you get that?” and I said, “Not a word,” at which point she and the dentist both laughed. Ah yes, how funny, the patient’s deaf father who is going to be paying all the bills didn’t understand a word about the treatment plan. Hilarious. Also humiliating and dispiriting.

So when it came time to make an appointment for my own consultation, I was damned if I was going to sit there for an hour and not understand anything.

I was prepared to spend thousands of dollars on treatment with this dentist but first they would need to do a sales pitch and explain things to me. How on earth do they expect to do that if I can’t understand a word they are saying? They need the interpreter more than I do if they want to make the sale.

There really needs to be a better way to call people out when they violate the ADA. As of now I have to send a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and it could be six months before they send me a form letter saying they received my complaint. Or I have to come up with the money for a private attorney.

There should be ADA police whom we can call for immediate assistance any time a dentist’s office or other entity tries to weasel out of their obligations and trample on the rights of people with disabilities.

Bring my own interpreter? Yeah, right. You people can go and have a nice day.

See also:

Bring my own interpreter??!!, from November 2006, when the Town of Brighton Justice Court tried to play the same game with me.

Legal Rights: Doctors (from the National Association of the Deaf)

More on the Amazing Morons

The New York Mets gained the moniker “amazing” after they went from a string of last-place finishes to a 1969 World Series Championship, but the only thing amazing about the current-day Mets is their stubborn refusal to closed-caption their broadcasts on SportsNet New York (SNY).

Closed-captioning has been commonplace since the early 1980s, but the Mets continue to stick out like a sore thumb while they flash a different finger at their deaf and hard-of-hearing fans.

As noted in my previous post, the Mets could caption an entire game for what they pay Johan Santana to throw 1/4 of one pitch, but they cling to an FCC exemption that gives new TV stations four years to begin captioning. The Mets launched SNY in 2006, so it could be another two years before we see captioned Mets games.

I was a Mets fan for 40 years and went to Florida last month to see them in spring training, but my fandom ended a couple of weeks later when I turned the TV on to catch the season opener and saw that once again there were no captions.

I had been quite outspoken about the issue during the off season (see Karma is Cause of Mets Collapse) but SNY had never responded to my concerns.

Saturday of opening week, I spent several hours sending letters to people who I thought could help. Here’s who I contacted:

The Hon. Charles E. Schumer, US Senator
The Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Senator
New York Governor David A. Paterson
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
Mr. Charles Prince, Chairman and CEO, Citi Group
Mr. Fred Wilpon, Chairman & CEO, New York Mets
Mr. Donald Trump, The Trump Organization
Mr. Andrew M. Cuomo, NYS Attorney General
Ms. Helen M. Marshall, Queens Borough President
Mr. Willie Randolph, Manager, New York Mets
Mr. Michael Lupica, The Daily News
Mr. Bart Hubbuch, The New York Post
Mr. Mike Vaccaro, The New York Post
Mr. David Hinckley, The Daily News
Ms. Verena Dobnik, Associated Press
Mr. Charles Odum, The Associated Press
Mr. Jeremy Cothran, The Star-Ledger
Mr. David Lennon, Newsday
Mr. Ben Shpigel, The New York Times
Mr. Gary Cohen, SportsNet New York
Mr. Ron Darling, SportsNet New York
Mr. Keith Hernandez, SportsNet New York
Mr. Scott Pitoniak, Democrat and Chronicle
Mr. Terence Rafferty, President, Time Warner Rochester
Mr. David Wright, New York Mets
Mr. Johan Santana, New York Mets
Mr. Carlos Beltran, New York Mets
Mr. Jon D. Litner, President, SportsNet New York

It has been three weeks since I mailed the letters. Here is a list of those who have responded to my concerns:

(nobody)

If you ever want to know why deaf people can be prone to depression and anger and sometimes feel bitter and hateful toward the hearing world, this incident sheds light on where those kinds of feelings can originate.

I’ve checked SNY a few times this month, just long enough to see that the games are still not captioned, and I looked at the standings and saw that the Mets are off to a lousy start. This brings me great pleasure.

I just wonder how long it will take Flushing’s Amazing Morons to realize that nothing good will ever come to them as long as they insist on dissing the deaf.

Mets Continue to Diss the Deaf

Tradition Field, Mets Spring Training,
Port St. Lucie, Fla., March 15, 2008.
Photo by Tom Willard.

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The New York Mets have played only two games this season but have already lost one of their ace pitchers to what could be a serious injury. To which I say: Serves you right, you rat bastards!!

I was a Mets fan for 40 years, starting in 1968 when I saw a game at Shea Stadium with my Cub Scout troop, but as of now I truly hate Mr. Met and all the rest of them. I root for the team to lose every game, I root for every player to suffer a career-ending injury, and I root for Citi Field to burn down before it opens next year.

How did I go from being a dyed-in-the-wool Mets fan to hating the ground they walk on? Simple. The rat bastards won’t caption their games.

Mets games are broadcast on SportsNet New York, a station owned partly by the Mets. Normally SNY would be required to closed-caption the games under Federal Communication Commission rules. But SNY, which launched in March 2005, is intent on squeezing every last cent out of an FCC loophole that gives new stations four years to comply with captioning rules.

This four-year loophole was designed to give small stations time to get their act together. It was not meant to be exploited by megabucks corporations like the Mets.

I contacted The Caption Center in Boston to find out how much it would cost to caption the Mets games. Less than $500 an hour. With most games under three hours, you’re looking at $1,500 to caption a game.

I then dug up some stats on Johan Santana, the star pitcher acquired in a winter trade. I learned he throws around 3,400 pitches per season and will be paid $20 million this year. Thus, every time he throws one pitch, the Mets pay him about $6,000.

You can see where I’m going. For what the Mets pay Santana to throw ONE-FOURTH OF ONE PITCH, they could caption the ENTIRE GAME and benefit tens of thousands of people.

It truly boggles my mind that they won’t do just that. Don’t bother asking them about it. I’ve called, I’ve emailed, I’ve left messages, and they don’t even have the decency to reply. To me, that only makes things worse. All SNY offers is an old note on their FAQ page admonishing us to be patient.

I had my fingers crossed all winter, but on Monday I turned on the season opener and was let down yet again. Like a dinosaur-era relic, the Mets continue to lumber along without captions, sticking out like a sore thumb on TV and in the Major Leagues and certainly not presenting a good image for a city that thinks it’s all that.

The greed and selfishness and stupidity that allow this situation to fester year after year is truly astonishing and shameful. The problem could be solved so easily and inexpensively, yet the Mets are intent on saving an amazingly small amount of money at the expense of tens of thousands of hearing-impaired fans who depend on captioning to enjoy TV.

But what do you expect from rat bastards?

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See also: Karma is Cause of Mets Collapse

‘We forgot about the deaf!’

My mind often gets baffled, and today’s example comes courtesy of the Arts and Cultural Council here in Rochester.

Next Wednesday, they are hosting an event called “Perspectives on Accessibility.”

Billed as a wine-and-cheese “evening of networking,” the event features a panel discussion “exploring multiple perspectives on accessibility and inclusion in the arts and culture community.”

Topics to be discussed include:
– Increasing accessibility through design and renovation projects;
– Efforts local arts and cultural organizations are making to create accessibility at events and performances;
– Marketing to diverse audiences; and
– An exploration of the challenges performers with disabilities face in local venues.

Panelists include:
– Lisa Helen Hoffman, owner of LHH Consulting specializing in audio described theatre for the blind, who has “a keen understanding of the satisfaction of broader access and independence for people who are blind or visually impaired”; and
– Chris Henning, Assistant Technical Director of Nazareth College Arts Center, who “is deeply familiar with all aspects of the renovation, including accessibility issues.”

Apparently that’s it, just those two people.

“Hello? Arts and Cultural Council? Hi, it’s the deaf calling. What about us?”

But I’m not surprised. Twenty years ago this spring, when we opened the Deaf Artists of America Gallery in downtown Rochester, it launched a heyday of accessibility for deaf people in the arts. But DAA expired in 1995, and these days the deaf community mixes with the arts & cultural community as well as oil mixes with water.

It’s obvious that if we don’t stay vigilant and make sure accessibility happens, it won’t happen. The hearing world will not do it on their own. And if we feel left out and start to complain, they will think we are shrill and strident and demanding, and an expensive group to serve, as well!

I just wish that all large arts events would provide interpreters as a matter of course, even if no deaf people end up attending. You may think it’s a waste of money, but you will be giving deaf people something you take for granted; the ability to get up and go do something at the last minute.

As it is now, we must ask for interpreters well in advance, and if something better comes along, we must say no, sorry, we’ve already made arrangements for an interpreter, we have no choice but to go.

In regard to next week’s event, it seems the idea of “accessibility” is limited to blind people and wheelchair users, those who can still carry on a conversation and balance their refreshments without the need to bring in outside parties (interpreters) at $50 an hour.

An announcement of this event at http://www.artsrochester.org/news/pr012808FebNetworkingEvent.htm gives no indication that an interpreter will be provided. There is nothing there that makes me feel welcome as a deaf person at this event.

How ironic … not only are we denied access to local arts and cultural events, we are denied access to this “accessibility” event!

I feel as if deaf people are forever destined to sit at the children’s table and beg for crumbs from the grownup’s (hearing) table. Access is granted grudgingly, and deaf people instinctively brace themselves any time they summon up the nerve to broach the subject. “Yes” is always a nice surprise.

I wrote to Christy Post at the Arts & Cultural Council to express my opinion on this matter and to ask for more information on the council’s Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee, which provided “considerable input and participation” in planning this event. I want to know how many deaf people are on the committee and what this group is doing for the deaf and hard-of-hearing population.

So far I haven’t heard back from her, but I’ll give it some time. I think they’re running around their office right now going, “The deaf! The deaf! We forgot about the deaf!”

The deaf dudes wouldn’t stop talking!

I asked the Housing Council if they could provide an interpreter for their landlord workshop, and when they said yes, I put out the word on DeafROC.com to encourage other deaf people to sign up.

I hate being the only deaf person in that situation. I feel guilty about someone spending all that money just for me, and I don’t like having an interpreter staring at me relentlessly for hours on end.

It worked; four other deaf guys signed up. But I ended up having mixed feelings. Why? Because throughout the two-night, six-hour course, these deaf dudes wouldn’t stop talking.

There were two tables with about 10 hearing people who were quiet and respectful when the teachers were talking, and then there was the table with four deaf guys who all thought that what they had to say to each other was more important than what the teacher was trying to say.

I guess what happens is that the teacher says something that makes one of the deaf guys think of something, and unlike their hearing classmates, who also think of things but for the most part keep their thoughts to themselves, the deafies must instantly share their thoughts with others.

So they will launch into their own conversation, and when they finally stop, one of them will ask the teacher a question, and it will probably be something that was covered while they were blabbering.

Even worse, on the first night, one of the two interpreters took an active role in these conversations. She was sitting right next to the working interpreter, so I had two people in front of me signing different things.

You would think an interpreter would know better, that she would remind the deafies to pay attention instead of being a willing participant.

The flurry of movement in the corner of my eye was a constant distraction, but imagine how the teacher must have felt with all this signing going on and all these people obviously not paying attention.

It is one thing when hearing people whisper asides to one another in class, but don’t these deafies realize how obvious and annoying and rude and disrespectful and embarrassing it is when they yak-yak-yak throughout a class that people are paying good money to take and the sponsor is paying good money to interpret?

Perhaps this kind of behavior is accepted and even expected in the deaf classroom, but when we venture out into the hearing world, a certain amount of decorum is required, don’t you think?