Winter 1997 Issue | VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1
A Publication of advocates for better communication
Editorial Staff: Editor-in-Chief: Arlene Romoff · Copy Editor: Karin Mango
a.b.c. Executive Board: Co-Coordinators: Ruth R. Green · Administrative Affairs: Lois Beadle, Chair · Cultural Affairs Committee: Arlene Romoff & Paula Brown Glick, Ph.D., Co-Chairs · Health Care Committee: Sue Bromberg & Ruth R. Green, Co-Chairs · League Representative: Keith Muller · Membership Committee: Barbara Cohen, Ph.D., Chair · Restaurant Committee: Belle Hammerschlag, Chair · Telecommunications Committee: Joseph Gordon, Chair · Travel Committee: Ruth Shapiro, Chair
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL: Quiet Dignity
Paper Mill Playhouse Offers Open Captioning
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE: Open Captioned & Sign-Interpreted Performances
Recommendations Made to Department of Transportation
WNBC Captions Local News
Walter Reade Theatre Shows Open Captioned Films
Update on Cultural Institutions Now Available
SIGNS OF PROGRESS: Are They Real?
Task Force Presents Grant Workshops
Telephone Tip
A Visit to the Museum of Modern Art
Inform System at MoMA is Accessible to All
City Council Publishes Movie Accessibility Study
It Takes More Than a Sign Language Interpreter!
Travelin' Ears by Ruth Shapiro
Department of Justice Rules on Movie Theatre Violations
Co-Coordinator's Report
Browse through this issue and you will see stories about captioned live theater, open captioned movies, airport access, listings of facilities with infrared systems. You get the unmistakable feeling that finally progress is being made, enabling people with hearing loss to go about their lives with “quiet dignity.”
What is quiet dignity? I first experienced “quiet dignity” several years ago when I visited the Coca Cola pavilion in Atlanta. Their brochure told me what accommodations they had for visitors with hearing loss. Their videos were captioned at the touch of a button. Everything I needed to know, I could find out for myself without any fuss at all. It was a most unusual feeling - I wasn’t excluded from anything because of my hearing. It was such a refreshing change from the frustrations and struggles that I was used to. I walked out of that exhibit knowing that this was the standard that every public facility should follow: that we could participate totally and freely just like everyone else. That is quiet dignity.
From that time on, I knew that was the goal of effective advocacy for people with hearing loss. Angelo Del Rossi, the Executive Producer of the Paper Mill Playhouse, demonstrates an understanding of this concept when he says it is his goal “to make the theatre an experience for all to enjoy with dignity and independence.” Whether in the theater, the workplace, an airport, hospital, hotel, or museum - can you function with “quiet dignity”? The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) calls this “equal access” - providing appropriate accommodations and informing the consumer about them. Whether you call it equal access or quiet dignity, you will know it when you experience it.
Arlene Romoff, Editor
Editor’s Note: Have you been to any places where you’ve experienced “quiet dignity”? We’d love to hear from you, and share your story with our readers.
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE OFFERS OPEN CAPTIONING
To assist people with hearing loss, the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey is now offering open captioning for all of its mainstage productions. The Paper Mill, whose lavish shows rival Broadway productions, is the first theater on the East Coast to provide this service.
There are many people with hearing loss who are unable to benefit effectively from infrared listening systems, yet do not understand sign language. Until now, these people - late-deafened adults, oral deaf people and others with severe to profound hearing loss - were excluded from enjoying live theater productions. Now they can attend a show, using the captions exclusively, or in combination with the already installed infrared listening system.
The captioning is shown on a digital screen located in front of the side section of the orchestra, and scrolled manually in synchronization with the dialogue on stage. By entering the script ahead of time, the captions that are shown are verbatim, with no time delays or transcription errors.
The Paper Mill Playhouse has always been committed to accessibility, providing barrier-free access throughout the facility, sign-language-interpreted performances, an infrared listening system, audio-description for those with visual impairments, large-print and Braille programs and program information on audio tape. These services benefit more than 2,500 individuals each year.
Angelo Del Rossi, Executive Producer of the Paper Mill, summed up the theatre’s philosophy in a reply to the editor of this newsletter, “The support and encouragement of people like you is most appreciated as we continue to make the theatre an experience for all to enjoy with dignity and independence.”
The Paper Mill Playhouse gratefully acknowledges the support of Merck & Company, Dun & Bradstreet, PNC Bank, Everett and Bernice Hansen, the Paper Mill Playhouse Guild and the New Jersey Council on the Arts/Dept. of State for their support of these services.
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE: Open Captioned & Sign-Interpreted Performances
If you haven’t been to a live theater performance because of your hearing loss, we at a.b.c.encourage you to attend an open captioned performance. It is a cultural experience that you can now bring back into your life - or enjoy for the first time. The Paper Mill Playhouse performances that will be shown open captioned and sign language-interpreted for the rest of the season are:
For ticket information about these shows, or additional information on any of the assistive services, call the Paper Mill box office at 201/376-4343.
RECOMMENDATIONS MADE TO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
a.b.c.’s Travel Committee submitted a response to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) request for suggestions and comments on making air travel accessible for passengers with hearing loss, and the cost of these arrangements. The new laws would cover airports and aircraft.
Suggestions made by the DOT include:
a.b.c. Board members reviewed the Department of Transportation’s suggestions and agreed to add:
Ruth Shapiro, Chair, Travel Committee
WNBC, News Channel 4 in New York, has added realtime closed captioning to its local news broadcasts. Paula Walker, WNBC News Director, says all 26.5 hours of local news are now closed captioned. In addition, the station will close caption all breaking news stories. This is good news indeed for the caption viewer, since now there is more of a choice of news broadcasts which are realtime captioned.
WALTER READE THEATER SHOWS OPEN CAPTIONED FILMS
Tickets Available at the League!
The Film Society of Lincoln Center presents open captioned first run movies once a month at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, 165 West 65th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, plaza level). The movies are usually shown at 3:00, 6:30, and 9:30 PM, but call the theater for their schedule.
Ticket sales begin two weeks before the show date (one week ahead by phone.) Admission is $8 for the general public, $5 for members, and $4 for seniors (for 3 PM only.) The box office opens daily at 1:30 PM. To order tickets by phone, call 212-777-3456 and use express code 954. There is a $1.50 surcharge per ticket. Tickets are also available at the League for the Hard of Hearing, at the reduced rate of $5. Call the League for more information.
You can visit the Film Society website at www.filmlinc.com, and also get the latest information on all Walter Reade Theater programs, including many foreign subtitled films. For more information, the box office number is 212/875-5600,5601. For mailing list and membership, call 212/875-5610. The email address is readeit@aol.com, and the fax number is 212/875-5636.
The theater has an assistive listening system, and is wheelchair accessible.
UPDATE ON CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS NOW AVAILABLE
a.b.c. Update - Assistive Listening Systems & Services in Cultural Centers, Theatres & Auditoriums, updated January 1997, is now available from a.b.c. This nine page booklet lists listening systems and services at cultural institutions in the Greater New York Metropolitan Region for people with hearing loss. The information was compiled from reports, published data, in-person visits and telephone surveys made by a.b.c. members and volunteers. To obtain your copy, see the order form in this issue. This report is now also available on our website at http://www.lhh.org/abc/systems.htm.
Facilities are constantly upgrading or changing their services. The following is additional information to the latest Update:
City Cinemas has informed us that they have made repairs and replacements of assistive listening systems in movie theaters at 68th St. Playhouse, Village East (at 12th Stret & 2nd Avenue) and Cinemas 1, 2, 3. The City Cinemas at West 57th Street in Manhattan, Bensonhurst Oriental at 86th Street and 18th Avenue in Brooklyn, and Metropolitan Brooklyn are no longer in operation. The UA Movieland 8th Street in Manhattan is also closed.
SIGNS OF PROGRESS: ARE THEY REAL?
There seems to be reason to believe that progress is being made. Recent settlements with cinema chains (Cineplex-Odeon; UA), ADA cases, and entertainment centers (Disney) have actually brought visible results of progress as well as a validation of the opinions being advocated by consumers and providers. In addition, recent success stories where theaters and museums have agreed to provide both sign language/oral interpreters and CART services (Paper Mill Playhouse; Museum of Modern Art) add to the optimism.
Yet skepticism (admittedly even my own) is not quickly being replaced with excitement. These advances have been hard-fought victories preceded by intense frustration among advocates and consumers. Unfortunately, we cannot become complacent. Even with this progress our vigilance must continue. Consumers know all too well that public pronouncements and advertisements do not mean assistive listening devices will be working, that staff have been instructed on use and maintenance, or for that matter, informed that the equipment is even available! Through advocacy and vigilance, however, we can continue with the drive to achieve access. Working closely with members of a.b.c. has given me a better understanding of what it takes to move forward.
Several issues attract my interest and fuel my frustrations. Common sense just does not always apply when access is the question. For example, ADA requires amplified, hearing aid compatible and TTY public telephones, yet public pay telephones are for the most part either not accessible or working. ADA spells out the requirements in plain language. Telephone companies, however, when they determine it is profitable to install a pay phone at various locations, NEVER install accessible phones. But, they are not exempt from the ADA! A little investigation provides the answer: if local building codes have not included the ADA requirements, then local requirements are followed. A simple person like me would think that the ADA would have been incorporated by now, but that is not the case. New construction, incredibly, can be built and renovations can be made without regard to telephone accessibility! I am sure other details further complicate this scenario but this is the gist of it. Therefore my cynicism continues.
Keeping up the effort is fundamental for continued success. Kudos to those who are vigilant, persistent, and sensible in their approach to improve accessibility. I hope to be able to continue doing my part to contribute. While progress is being made, a good dose of skepticism is needed to keep up the effort. Believe it when we see it!
Keith D. Muller, ACSW, Executive Director, League for the Hard of Hearing
TASK FORCE PRESENTS GRANT WORKSHOPS
The New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State requires New Jersey cultural organizations to prepare long-range plans for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as part of its grant application process. The New Jersey Arts Access Task Force, funded by the Council, conducts free workshops to assist New Jersey cultural organizations in preparing their compliance plans. Workshops, which are conducted at various sites, are designed by discipline and include question and answer periods. For information, call Michael Mooney at 201/379-3636, ext. 2336.
If you have difficulty identifying a caller on the telephone, getting Caller ID service may be of help to you. When you order this service from your phone company, a small electronic box attached to your phone line indicates the phone number of the calling party, as well as the name of the caller, if that information is available. Not all calls can be identified, but this service may be helpful in letting you know who is calling just by glancing at the Caller ID box. Call your phone company for more information about this new type of service.
A VISIT TO THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
As part of the Cultural Affairs committee’s ongoing project of making cultural institutions more accessible to people with hearing loss, Dr. Paula Brown Glick and Arlene Romoff, co-chairs of this committee, recently met with Francesca Rosenberg, the Special Needs Coordinator of the Museum of Modern Art. They reviewed the programs and services that the museum had to offer, and found that the museum was very accessible to visitors with hearing loss.
The Museum of Modern Art, known as MoMA to New Yorkers, offers visitors many programs and services beyond just viewing their galleries. There are gallery tours, slide programs, movies, educational videos, and audio tours available to the general public. For these, the museum offers a variety of accommodations for people with hearing loss.
The two movie theaters are equipped with an infrared system, and headsets are available. Although the English language movies are not captioned, MoMA does show many foreign language films with English subtitles. The films are listed in the Members Calendar, which is available at the information desk. This is an excellent resource to know about since it is accessible to all people - hearing or not.
The Education Center’s video screening area is equipped with an infrared amplification system. Headsets are available at the information desk nearby. Unfortunately, the videos are not captioned, but the museum did promise to have the videos for the upcoming special exhibitions captioned so that they would be accessible to all people with hearing loss.
MoMA offers sign language gallery tours once a month. They also have regular gallery tours, and for these, you can request either a sign or oral interpreter in advance. They also have personal FM receivers available for people who require amplification. For their regularly scheduled slide and lecture programs, you can request sign language or oral interpreters, or Computer Assisted Realtime Captioning (CART). MoMA also plans on repeating a very popular lecture series by a well-known art history professor from Gallaudet University, conducted in American Sign Language. At this lecture series, voice interpreters and CART captioning will be provided.
For special exhibitions, MoMA usually offers Acoustiguide tape tours. High volume headsets are available for these tours, as well as scripts of the dialogue. For their permanent collection, they have recently installed Acoustiguide’s INFORM system, which is a hand-held receiver that gives audio information about designated works of art in their permanent collection. The receivers can be used with a variety of accessories, and a script of all the narrations is also available. (See the article below about INFORM.)
MoMA has been very good about informing the visitor about the services available at the museum, on signs throughout the museum, and also in brochures. Working with Ms. Rosenberg, we were able to point out how to make the museum even more “user friendly” to the visitor with a hearing loss. Our suggestions included placing more information about CART captioning, oral and sign language interpreting availability in all their lecture and gallery talk brochures, as well as indicating when scripts and amplification systems are available. These changes will enable a visitor with a hearing loss to know, without even asking, what programs and services are available.
It was a pleasure touring the museum with Ms. Rosenberg - and we were delighted when she invited us back in the spring to see the improvements we suggested. She welcomes your suggestions, requests and comments, so that your visit to MoMA can be a most enjoyable one. She can be reached at 212-708-9864 (V), 212-247-1230 (TTY).
INFORM SYSTEM AT MoMA IS ACCESSIBLE TO ALL
There is a new system available at many museums that allows the visitor to learn about the works of art in the galleries while listening to a narration through a hand-held receiver. The system is called INFORM and it is by Acoustiguide, the company that supplies museums with narrated tape tours. INFORM is different from the tape tours, though. The visitor can proceed at random, not in any prescribed order as is necessary with the tape tours - and there are no tapes. The system is entirely digital.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) now has this system in place for its permanent collection. Dr. Paula Brown Glick and Arlene Romoff, co-chairs of a.b.c.’s Cultural Affairs committee recently tested the INFORM system to see if it was accessible for people with hearing loss. They found, much to their relief, pleasure and surprise, that it was an excellent unit with a variety of features to accommodate the variety of needs of people with hearing loss.
The hand-held receiver looks like an elongated telephone receiver with push-buttons on the underside. When the museum visitor walks through the gallery and sees a work of art with a small number on the wall adjacent to it, he can punch in that number on the INFORM receiver and listen to information about that work of art. The receiver has its own volume control, which may be sufficient for some patrons with hearing loss. The receiver is also hearing aid compatible, so if the patron has a telephone-switch (also known as a t-coil or t-switch) on his hearing aid, he can use that to listen through his own hearing aid. If the patron doesn’t have a t-coil, then MoMA has high volume headsets that can plug into the jack at the bottom of the receiver. If a person has the Direct Audio Input (DAI) feature on his hearing aid, he can plug his own cord into that jack also.
A person with a cochlear implant would also be able to use his own appropriate cord to plug into the jack on the receiver. If the patron cannot benefit from amplification at all, the scripts of all the narrations are available in notebook form, so all he needs to do is flip to the appropriate page and read the description.
Other museums have started using this system as well. It is important to ask for the special services you may need, such as the scripts or a high volume headset attachment. But be aware that not all museums know that these options are available so it is wise to phone ahead if possible. If that is not possible, then make sure that you ask at the rental desk. If they do not have a script, inform them that they can be obtained from Acoustiguide and that you are entitled, by law, to have a script. If you plan to use the jack on the receiver with your own cord attachments, make sure you have the correct cords with you for a standard input jack when you rent the receiver.
Paula and Arlene were very pleasantly surprised to learn how versatile the INFORM system is. By using it with the appropriate accessories, a person with hearing loss can be totally accommodated. And that is very good news.
CITY COUNCIL PUBLISHES MOVIE ACCESSIBILITY STUDY
The Council of the City of New York has published a study, “Admit Some: An examination of movie theater accessibility in New York City for persons who are disabled.” This is a staff report to the Committee on Consumer Affairs, Hon. Karen Koslowitz, Chair. Dr. Paula Brown Glick, a.b.c. Cultural Affairs Co-Chair, attended the public announcement and obtained a copy of the report. There were a few reporters and television cameras present. The study was carried out by Columbia University students in the School of International and Public Affairs with staff of the NYC Council Office of Oversight and Investigation. Fifty-two out of 103 movie theaters were surveyed, and data gathered on entrances, seating, and amenities. Wheelchair access was one concern; access for people who are hard of hearing was another. The survey found many flaws in New York City theaters’ access and accommodation for disabled people. Theaters were rated with three stars, two stars, one star, or none.
It was recommended that theaters make a greater effort to post signs and notify patrons of the availability of assistive listening devices. Assistive listening devices were not available in 21% of the theaters visited. Unfortunately, the report does not tell whether the theaters that had assistive listening systems had the required number of receivers, or whether they were in working order at the time of the visit. Also, 75% of theaters which had telephones did not provide telephones with volume controls or TTY capability.
A concise chart indicating the theaters, their ratings and the accessible services they provide can be obtained from the New York City Council Office of Oversight and Investigation.
IT TAKES MORE THAN A SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETER!
There is a pervasive impression that the best way to accommodate all deaf and hard of hearing people is to provide sign language interpreters. Consider, however, that of the 28 million Americans with hearing loss, approximately 2 million are at the profound level, and of those, about 300,000 to 400,000 use sign language as their main means of communication. If only sign language interpreters are provided, then the vast majority of people with hearing loss are excluded from communication access!
The population of people with hearing loss is quite diverse: hard of hearing, late-deafened, deaf-blind, oral deaf and culturally deaf. To address the communication needs of all people with hearing loss, three modes of communication access are necessary - amplification, sign language, and captioning. The individual’s degree of hearing loss and preferred method of communication will determine which access method is preferred.
Amplification systems Infrared or FM amplification systems enable sound picked up through microphones to be transmitted directly to receivers worn by the individual. These receivers, used either alone or in conjunction with the person’s hearing aids (via induction loops or direct audio input), have their own volume controls enabling people to use their own residual hearing most effectively.
Captioning Computer Assisted Realtime Translation (CART) captioning enables verbatim transcription of spoken language to be displayed on a computer screen or display device such as a television monitor or a message board. This service is provided by a court reporter specially trained in realtime captioning. CART captioning is usually used by people with severe to profound hearing loss, who do not use sign language for communication and cannot effectively use amplification systems.
For pre-recorded movies, videos and television programming, post-production captioning can be inserted in either open or closed formats. Closed captioning can only be viewed on a television equipped with closed caption decoding circuitry.
Sign language interpreters translate spoken language into American Sign Language (ASL), or sometimes Signed English. Oral interpreters mouth spoken language in a way that is easier to speechread. Both these communication methods are usually used by people with profound hearing loss.
Total communication accessibility for live situations requires an amplification system, CART captioning, and sign language interpretation. Although CART captioning, technically speaking, can provide access for all people with hearing loss, those people who can use their residual hearing with amplification usually prefer to do so, and, likewise, those people who communicate in ASL usually prefer that method of communication. Total communication accessibility for pre-recorded movies, videos and television programming requires an amplification system and captioning.
It does take more than a sign language interpreter!
TRAVELIN’ EARS by Ruth Shapiro
Florence, ah Florence! It’s been in my thoughts and dreams ever since a brief stay there twenty-one years ago. Early in October, 1996, I went back for two wonderful weeks, visiting museums, listening to lectures on the history of art and architecture of this glorious city and soaking up the Florentine atmosphere as a member of the Humanities Institute, a Boston-based organization that runs study tours in Florence and other European cities. It took months of research to find a small group of no more than fifteen people that would stay in Florence and study its art and architecture in early fall. I sent information from a.b.c.’s Travel Kit to the tour director. We spoke several times about my needs, including safety issues and making the lectures accessible using an FM system. She had no experience with a participant who was hard of hearing and had never heard of FM units. Although she said she was willing to cooperate, she seemed frightened by the prospect of having someone in the group who was “disabled.” The agenda was so ideal for me that I booked the trip anyway, made airline reservations and started my packing list.
Departure day finally arrived. I went off with my wheeled suitcase full of clothes, guide books, lots of film and a supply of extra batteries for the assistive listening and alerting devices in my carry-on luggage. When I boarded the Continental flight, I told the steward I was hearing impaired and had to be told face-to-face if there was an emergency. The memory of a trip home from Australia when one of the engines failed reminds me to do that every time I get on a plane.
Shortly after take-off, a map was put on the screen at fifteen minute intervals (except during the movie, which wasn’t captioned) showing where the plane was on our flight path, followed by a chart of the miles we had traveled, distance to our destination, time until our arrival and the time at our destination. This was the first time in years - since my hearing loss - that information the pilot announces on the public address system was accessible to me. What a relief! I relaxed and buried myself in my book, looking up occasionally to check on our progress.
Getting through customs and immigration in Florence was no problem. I arrived safely at my hotel after I gave the taxi driver a card with the address. Sylvia, the tour director, was at the front desk when I checked in. She looked surprised and relieved when I introduced myself. What kind of “disabled” person was I? I looked and acted normal. That evening, at the orientation session, I told the group about my hearing loss, asked them to make sure I was looking at them when they talked to me, and explained how the FM unit worked. Sylvia had trouble remembering to use the FM. Ilse, our lecturer, a Ph.D. ex-American, was more comfortable with the unit, which I put in a small cotton shoulder purse which makes it easy to wear.
Our hotel, a renovated 16th century Palazzo, was in a quiet residential neighborhood, ten minutes walking distance from the city center. Each room had its own fully equipped mini-kitchen, a real blessing when you hate noisy restaurants as much as I do and don’t want to eat every meal out for two weeks.
Our days were filled with Ilse’s lectures and slides, walking tours and bus trips. I used the FM unit with a neck loop or headphones everywhere and gave the microphone to the guides and lecturers in every museum, church and historic site we visited, all places where I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to understand what the speaker was saying. There was never a problem after I explained what the unit was for. After a few days, the Florentine guides looked for the unit. Their grapevine had spread the word about the American who was hard of hearing and had a special microphone.
In the evening we went to dinner in small groups of four or five at neighborhood restaurants. Sometimes I made my own meal and read or watched TV using my FM unit to enhance the sound. The combination of lots of free time to wander through the streets with my camera, my new Resound hearing aids which have lessened my fatigue level enormously, the FM unit which gives me hearing access and the ability to shop and cook for myself created an ideal travel situation for me.
I ran into a problem using the phone in my room to reconfirm my flight home. Although I had a portable phone amplifier, it didn’t provide me with enough volume to cope with English spoken with a heavy Italian accent. One of my new friends made the call for me. I packed and said good-bye to the group and Florence reluctantly. Before I left, Sylvia commented that I had a lot of “courage.” I was startled by that because I try not to allow my hearing loss to prevent me from having a good time. Research, planning, explaining my needs and being prepared to cope with different situations work for me.
On the way home, I had another adventure. The Florence airport was fogged in. My connecting flight via Rome to Kennedy was canceled. I ended up flying home on Air France, with a three hour layover at the Paris airport where I indulged in a scrumptious, calorie-laden pot de creme at the restaurant.
The flight plan and trip information were posted on the screen on this flight, too. Knowing that I could keep track of where I was, I buried myself in a book, had a tasty fish dinner, slept a little, arrived at Kennedy Airport three hours later than I was supposed to, took a taxi home and happily slept in my own bed after a delightful visit and a long trip home. Even though I flew Air France, Alitalia posted my frequent flyer miles to my Continental account after I wrote them and explained the situation. That means I have almost enough mileage for a free airline ticket. Does anybody have any information on Hawaii?
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RULES ON MOVIE THEATER VIOLATIONS
The Department of Justice received complaints originating in New York City in 1993 and then another in Boise, Idaho in 1994 that Cineplex Odeon theaters had inadequate numbers of receivers available for hard of hearing people. The ADA requires that the number of receivers equal four percent of the number of available seats in each auditorium, but Cineplex Odeon had not fully complied with this. In settlement, (#DJ 202-22-9) Cineplex Odeon agreed to provide additional receivers where they were required by customer demand, and to provide receivers for four percent of the number of seats in all new motion picture auditoriums, and in auditoriums where there have been alterations to or replacement of audio-amplification systems. Neck loop coupling devices are also to be provided. This settlement applies to all Cineplex Odeon theaters - more than 1000 screens in 250 theaters.
United Artists theaters in California were also the source of a complaint to the Department of Justice. The complaint concerned seating access for people with mobility impairments as well as those with hearing impairments. United Artists has more than 400 theaters nationwide. It was found that United Artists violated the ADA requirements of installing assistive listening systems and maintaining them in proper working order.
Movie theaters may use infrared or FM assistive listening systems. They both provide clear and effective amplification when installed so that there is no interference, and transmitters and receivers are properly maintained. Infrared waves are confined within a closed space and the same receivers can be used in any auditorium within a cinema complex. FM, on the other hand, can travel through walls, and the receivers must be set to the same frequency as the transmitter. Now multi-frequency FM systems are available, but they must be set correctly.
In their rulings, the Department of Justice stated: The theater owner “shall take all steps necessary, which may include providing staff training, to ensure that appropriate staff at all theaters:
All receivers and transmitters must be tested at least once every month, and staff should test immediately any receiver and/or transmitter about which a customer complaint is received; appropriate staff should keep a record of testing, and establish procedures whereby repairs are made or new equipment obtained as soon as practicable.
Theaters should also: install signage; include information about the availability of assistive listening systems in each theater’s pre-recorded telephone announcements; display a “trailer” indicating that the auditorium has an assistive listening system available; develop a document providing information indicating that assistive listening systems are available and distribute this document to audiologists and clinics in the area; ensure that each theater has in its files printed operating instructions for the use of the particular type of assistive listening system available.
We at a.b.c. are interested in any observations and experiences that you can report. For example, in a recent visit to the East Hampton United Artists theater, we found that each infrared receiver was placed in an envelope, and that a slip indicated the date when the receiver had been cleaned and another slip indicated when the batteries had been checked or replaced. We find that monitoring the installation, maintenance and effective performance of assistive listening systems is a responsibility that can be shared among people who use these devices. When a.b.c. receives information about problems with assistive listening systems, we will respond and if necessary report our findings to the theater.
Dr. Paula Brown Glick, Co-chair, Cultural Affairs Committee
In 1996 a.b.c. received a grant from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to develop a curriculum for advocacy training for consumers with a hearing loss and to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum and the materials with various consumer groups. The goal of the curriculum, which is to be used with consumer groups, is to provide information about the Americans with Disabilities Act, information about entitlements, assistive devices and ways to obtain them. Information on methods of recourse, should an individual with a hearing loss not be successful in obtaining his or her entitlements, is also included. The emphasis is on effective advocacy. Any group interested in conducting an advocacy training workshop can request a copy of the curriculum and materials.
A grant has been received from United Way of New York which will fund much needed clerical support for a.b.c.
Plans are under way to establish a Parent Committee in 1997 to work on an educational entitlements packet for children with hearing loss. A grant has been requested to underwrite this activity.
While more places are aware of the needs of people with hearing loss, much still remains to be done. We congratulate the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center for showing open captioned first-run films once a month. We congratulate the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J. for providing open captioning at selected performances for the rest of its season.
We are always delighted when we see signs for amplified phones and TTY’s although this should not be a rarity. The fact remains that with 28 million Americans with hearing loss, these accommodations should be commonplace. It is only as we all make our voices heard that accessibility will become a fact of life.
Suzanne Bromberg, Ruth Green - a.b.c. Co-Coordinators