Status Report
Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF)
During the 2013 season, OSF will caption a total of 39 performances, up from 13 in 2010. Up to 27 patrons have chosen the caption section, a number that we, and OSF, would like to see grow. OSF offers reduced pricing for seating in the captioned section and, depending on ticket availability, will accept requests for captioning performances that are not automatically captioned.
The 2013 schedule of automatically captioned and for signed performances can be viewed at: http://www.osfashland.org/accessibility-information.aspx
OR-CAP has encouraged OSF to captions that can be viewed by the entire, or an expanded section rather than having the caption display, as they do now visible to a small caption section at stage right. The reason for this is that supertitles are visible to all and therefore don’t require special seating and can be used by anyone including those who did not know about caption availability. Until more accessible captions are provided at OSF we have asked them to make the process of ordering tickets for the caption section more straight-forward.
University of Oregon (UO)
OR-CAP has worked closely with the Athletic Department for nearly 3 years with the result that the Department has committed to provide captions at all sports venues. Starting in 2011, captions have been provided automatically for football at Autzen Stadium and at Matthew Knight Arena for men’s basketball, as well as upon request for women’s basketball and volleyball and other athletic events that aren’t expected to reach an attendance mark of 6500. Attempts to offer captions for the 2012 Olympic Trials were ineffective due to last-minute problems. Captioning of other track and field events at Hayward Field, baseball at PK Park and captioning at the new soccer/lacrosse field are promised.
Captions for athletic events in Matthew Knight Arena are displayed on the central scoreboard. Captioning of non-athletic events in the Arena often involve raising the scoreboard and therefore a different method, or methods, for displaying captions is required. The University is solving this problem, or range of problems since different technology, location and displays are required by different kinds of presentations. Progress is being made: for example the Brad Paisley concert in February 2012 was captioned.
The UO needs to make online requests for captioning using their website (www.GODUCKS.com) a more easy and self-evident process.
We had our first conversations with UO about automatically captioning non-athletic events where the public is invited and the offering is in large capacity venues in January 2012. Although the University does provide captions on request for lectures and live performances, the public is usually unaware of that option so we are focused on having captions provided without having to make a formal request.
Oregon State University (OSU)
In 2011 we started discussions with OSU for captioning athletic events. It was thought that our work with the Athletic Department would progress quickly since, among other things, the UO personnel are willing to share their experience with OSU and OSU seems to have a centralize procedure to providing accommodations.
There was an initial rush to caption football games at Reser Stadium and the Michelle Obama commencement speech there was captioned. Since that time no progress has been made with captioning other athletic venues in spite of repeated requests and suggestions.
As with UO, we expect to take-on captioning of non-athletic venues at OSU following implementation of captioning of athletic events.
Portland Center for the Performing Arts (PCPA)
With OR-CAP’s encouragement and support, PCPA has obtained funding from the Theatre Develop Fund (TDF) and has initiated captioning of select performances of Broadway plays. Once TDF funding ends, PCPA is obligated to continue to provide captioning and the hope is that they will extend their list of captioned performances.
Like many of the other venues we have worked with, the PCPA website does not make obvious the fact that captions are provided for specific performances and makes ordering tickets for them cumbersome. In 2012 we worked with PCPA to streamline that process.
Hult Center, Eugene
With CAP’s encouragement, the Hult provided captions at performances of Broadway plays and for a one-man performance by Bill Cosby using supertitles. Since that time, after experiencing difficulties maintaining control of font and color of the supertitles, the Hult has abandoned supertitles and will consider i-Caption or similar hand-held devices which CAP strongly opposes. The Hult is attempting to schedule a test of these devices but has not done so since September 2012.
The Hult Center assistive listening system has been effective assistive system for years, in spite of efforts by HLA-Lane County and OR-CAP.
Movie Captioning
Because of the efforts of OR-CAP’s legal counsel, John Waldo, the three major movie theatre chains (Regal, Cinemark and AMC) have committed to providing captions at all locations and all performances at those theatres as they are converted to digital movie projection. All but Regal use Captiview system, where a small screen on a gooseneck is positioned in the viewer’s line of sight while Regal uses Sony Entertainment Glasses. Both devices seem to be satisfactory. Carmike, another of the large chains with one theatre in Corvallis Oregon has, with OR-CAP prompting, started to provide captions with the Captiview System.
Portland Trailblazers
The Trailblazers, who play at home in the Portland Rose Garden, made our list of projects in 2012. We initially met with the Trailblazers management to request captions and, while our request was accepted, there was no commitment to make installation of captions a top priority. Since that meeting no progress was made and the management team that we met has been replaced. We have since renewed our request with the new management but there has been no movement to provide captions.
Once the Trailblazers have installed captions we will make an effort with the Rose Garden to caption all other events at the Rose Garden.
Airlines and Airports
The only part of airports and airlines that fall under the ADA, and therefore fall within the traditional focus of OR-CAP, are retail entities within an airport. Department of Transportation (DOT) rules apply to the conduct of air carrier personnel (e.g., pilots, flight attendants, gate agents or check-in counter personnel).
The DOT has had, and has extended, a comment period on proposed rule-making and OR-CAP has submitted comments on the proposed rules. We hope these comments will lead to accommodations for people who are Hard of Hearing or Deaf that will make communication at baggage kiosks, airline counters, airline gates and security check-points better understood. Those comments are available on our website: www.or-cap.org. If you would like to view and perhaps comment on the proposed rule-making you have until January 9, 2012 to comment at: http://airconsumer.dot.gov/rules/rules.htm#kiosk and http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=DOT-OST-2011-0177-0006, respectively.
A General Note on Advocacy and Support
If any of you who enjoy live performance but have avoided attending plays because of inability to understand what is being said, we encourage you to go to captioned performances at OSF, PCPA or the Hult Center and other venues where captions are provided. If you do go, please let us (or.cap.comm@gmail.com) know about your experience and we will forward your comments to the venue.
During the 2013 season, OSF will caption a total of 39 performances, up from 13 in 2010. Up to 27 patrons have chosen the caption section, a number that we, and OSF, would like to see grow. OSF offers reduced pricing for seating in the captioned section and, depending on ticket availability, will accept requests for captioning performances that are not automatically captioned.
The 2013 schedule of automatically captioned and for signed performances can be viewed at: http://www.osfashland.org/accessibility-information.aspx
OR-CAP has encouraged OSF to captions that can be viewed by the entire, or an expanded section rather than having the caption display, as they do now visible to a small caption section at stage right. The reason for this is that supertitles are visible to all and therefore don’t require special seating and can be used by anyone including those who did not know about caption availability. Until more accessible captions are provided at OSF we have asked them to make the process of ordering tickets for the caption section more straight-forward.
University of Oregon (UO)
OR-CAP has worked closely with the Athletic Department for nearly 3 years with the result that the Department has committed to provide captions at all sports venues. Starting in 2011, captions have been provided automatically for football at Autzen Stadium and at Matthew Knight Arena for men’s basketball, as well as upon request for women’s basketball and volleyball and other athletic events that aren’t expected to reach an attendance mark of 6500. Attempts to offer captions for the 2012 Olympic Trials were ineffective due to last-minute problems. Captioning of other track and field events at Hayward Field, baseball at PK Park and captioning at the new soccer/lacrosse field are promised.
Captions for athletic events in Matthew Knight Arena are displayed on the central scoreboard. Captioning of non-athletic events in the Arena often involve raising the scoreboard and therefore a different method, or methods, for displaying captions is required. The University is solving this problem, or range of problems since different technology, location and displays are required by different kinds of presentations. Progress is being made: for example the Brad Paisley concert in February 2012 was captioned.
The UO needs to make online requests for captioning using their website (www.GODUCKS.com) a more easy and self-evident process.
We had our first conversations with UO about automatically captioning non-athletic events where the public is invited and the offering is in large capacity venues in January 2012. Although the University does provide captions on request for lectures and live performances, the public is usually unaware of that option so we are focused on having captions provided without having to make a formal request.
Oregon State University (OSU)
In 2011 we started discussions with OSU for captioning athletic events. It was thought that our work with the Athletic Department would progress quickly since, among other things, the UO personnel are willing to share their experience with OSU and OSU seems to have a centralize procedure to providing accommodations.
There was an initial rush to caption football games at Reser Stadium and the Michelle Obama commencement speech there was captioned. Since that time no progress has been made with captioning other athletic venues in spite of repeated requests and suggestions.
As with UO, we expect to take-on captioning of non-athletic venues at OSU following implementation of captioning of athletic events.
Portland Center for the Performing Arts (PCPA)
With OR-CAP’s encouragement and support, PCPA has obtained funding from the Theatre Develop Fund (TDF) and has initiated captioning of select performances of Broadway plays. Once TDF funding ends, PCPA is obligated to continue to provide captioning and the hope is that they will extend their list of captioned performances.
Like many of the other venues we have worked with, the PCPA website does not make obvious the fact that captions are provided for specific performances and makes ordering tickets for them cumbersome. In 2012 we worked with PCPA to streamline that process.
Hult Center, Eugene
With CAP’s encouragement, the Hult provided captions at performances of Broadway plays and for a one-man performance by Bill Cosby using supertitles. Since that time, after experiencing difficulties maintaining control of font and color of the supertitles, the Hult has abandoned supertitles and will consider i-Caption or similar hand-held devices which CAP strongly opposes. The Hult is attempting to schedule a test of these devices but has not done so since September 2012.
The Hult Center assistive listening system has been effective assistive system for years, in spite of efforts by HLA-Lane County and OR-CAP.
Movie Captioning
Because of the efforts of OR-CAP’s legal counsel, John Waldo, the three major movie theatre chains (Regal, Cinemark and AMC) have committed to providing captions at all locations and all performances at those theatres as they are converted to digital movie projection. All but Regal use Captiview system, where a small screen on a gooseneck is positioned in the viewer’s line of sight while Regal uses Sony Entertainment Glasses. Both devices seem to be satisfactory. Carmike, another of the large chains with one theatre in Corvallis Oregon has, with OR-CAP prompting, started to provide captions with the Captiview System.
Portland Trailblazers
The Trailblazers, who play at home in the Portland Rose Garden, made our list of projects in 2012. We initially met with the Trailblazers management to request captions and, while our request was accepted, there was no commitment to make installation of captions a top priority. Since that meeting no progress was made and the management team that we met has been replaced. We have since renewed our request with the new management but there has been no movement to provide captions.
Once the Trailblazers have installed captions we will make an effort with the Rose Garden to caption all other events at the Rose Garden.
Airlines and Airports
The only part of airports and airlines that fall under the ADA, and therefore fall within the traditional focus of OR-CAP, are retail entities within an airport. Department of Transportation (DOT) rules apply to the conduct of air carrier personnel (e.g., pilots, flight attendants, gate agents or check-in counter personnel).
The DOT has had, and has extended, a comment period on proposed rule-making and OR-CAP has submitted comments on the proposed rules. We hope these comments will lead to accommodations for people who are Hard of Hearing or Deaf that will make communication at baggage kiosks, airline counters, airline gates and security check-points better understood. Those comments are available on our website: www.or-cap.org. If you would like to view and perhaps comment on the proposed rule-making you have until January 9, 2012 to comment at: http://airconsumer.dot.gov/rules/rules.htm#kiosk and http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=DOT-OST-2011-0177-0006, respectively.
A General Note on Advocacy and Support
If any of you who enjoy live performance but have avoided attending plays because of inability to understand what is being said, we encourage you to go to captioned performances at OSF, PCPA or the Hult Center and other venues where captions are provided. If you do go, please let us (or.cap.comm@gmail.com) know about your experience and we will forward your comments to the venue.
