Deaf and hard of hearing ask for captioning on airline inflight
entertainment
BY ETN STAFF WRITER | FEB 25, 2010
The Association for Airline Passenger Rights (AAPR) called on the US
Department of Transportation this week to require commercial air carriers to
provide closed-caption or subtitles on all in-flight entertainment for deaf
and hard-of-hearing passengers. While the DOT requires that captioning be
available on all safety and information related videos, it does not enforce
the same accessibility standard for in-flight entertainment, such as movies
and television shows.
“In 2010, nearly twenty years after the signing of the landmark Americans
with Disabilities Act, you would think that all airlines would make a
good-faith effort to make accommodations to their paying customers who are
deaf or hard-of-hearing, so that all aspects of flying are accessible to
them,” said Brandon M. Macsata, executive director of the Association for
Airline Passenger Rights referring to in-flight entertainment being
inaccessible. “This requirement would not only uphold the spirit of the law,
it would also demonstrate a commitment by the airlines to improve customer
service for all passengers.”
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers public
accommodations, including businesses that are public accommodations,
privately-operated transportation, and commercial facilities. The ADA
mandates public accommodations must comply with basic nondiscrimination
requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation, and unequal treatment.
They also must comply with specific requirements related to, among other
things, reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures;
effective communication with people with hearing, vision, or speech
disabilities; and other access requirements.
Aside from the ADA, the 1986 Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) also covers
certain aspects of accommodations for the deaf and hard-of-hearing; it
states that where safety briefings are presented to passengers on video
screens in the aircraft, the carrier shall ensure that the video
presentation is accessible to persons with hearing impairments by using open
captioning or an inset for a sign language interpreter as part of the video
presentation, or by closed captioning.
Said Kenneth DeHaan, founder of the Facebook Cause Require Subtitles On All
Airline Carriers about the proposed requirement: “We lose value on our
tickets when we cannot enjoy the entertainment on board because there are no
subtitles. It is not right that we have to pay a full fare and not receive
the same service as hearing passengers.”
DeHaan contends that passengers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing travel a lot
so they should be given the same consideration by the airlines as hearing
customers. He questions whether it is fair or ethical that they have to sit
through long flights, unable to understand whatever is being displayed on
the in-flight entertainment, while hearing customers are able to enjoy the
services to the fullest.
Macsata noted that AAPR has initiated an online petition in support of the
requirement at http://www.flyfriendlyskies.com
Source:
http://www.eturbonews.com/14605/deaf-and-hard-hearing-ask-captioning-airline-inflight-entertainm