Deaf advocates sue Redskins seeking closed-captioning
Associated Press
National Football League News Wire
GREENBELT, Md. -- Advocates for the deaf are suing the
Washington Redskins to get them to offer closed-captioning during
games at FedEx Field.
The National Association of the Deaf filed the class-action
lawsuit Aug. 31 in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on behalf of
three Maryland fans who regularly attend home games.
"Providing captioning is not rocket science; it is simple, and
it is the right thing to do," Shane Feldman said in a statement.
Fedlman was joined in the suit by Paul Singleton and Brian M.
Kelly.
They contend the team is violating the Americans With
Disabilities Act by failing to provide captioning for the deaf and
hearing-impaired. It asks the court to order the Redskins and
stadium officials to provide and display captioning on scoreboards
and video monitors for all announcements, plays and penalties.
NFL teams are not required by law to do so. Redskins spokesman
Karl Swanson said the team considered a proposal to purchase
captioning equipment, but the proposal was rejected by Feldman.
Feldman was concerned about a possible 10-minute delay, said
Marc Charmatz, senior attorney with the National Association for
the Deaf Law and Advocacy Center.
Swanson said the Redskins are considering providing deaf and
hearing-impaired fans with 7-inch TVs that would pick up captioning
in the stadium. He added that all emergency information is posted
on the large screens and on TV monitors throughout the stadium.
What a dumb-***, if the deaf person wants to see closed caption, go home and watch the TV instead! What is the point of having closed caption if the deaf person is watching the game in the stadium?
