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To find these articles and others, you can do a simple search at google.com. I used the key word "scoreboard captioning"
and found quite a few sites.
Other than what's listed above in Montana, I am not aware of any college stadium
currently doing this. Obviously, it is one of those services that would provide ALL participants with information since even
people without
hearing loss frequently have trouble understanding announcements over the noise of the crowd -- universal
design.
The mechanics of how it's done are pretty clear -- what's more difficult is introducing the idea and
gaining support. It's a community effort that needs to work at educating people about the benefits of providing this service.
It
may also involve locating sponsors who would be willing to cover equipment costs or captioner fees. An organization
such as SHHH (or teamed with ALDA) might be able to pursue this.
Good luck,
Marcia Kolvitz, Ph.D., Associate
Director
Postsecondary Education Consortium
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I
personally have captioned at a few stadiums, it is not a difficult process to set up. The stadium needs an encoder, or someone
to provide it. Just think of their replay board as a giant TV. The hookup is similar, but that does depend on how current
their technology is.
Most likely you would have the captioner on site, as whatever is being announced in
the stadium would be appearing on the screen. It would be possible to be remote, as most television captioning is done,
but phone lines would need to be in place for an audio line (for the captioner to hear the announcers) and another phone
line to send the captions to the encoder and out to the scoreboard.
Most recently I provided captions at
the University of AZ graduation at McKale center, and had captioning on their large four-sided scoreboard that hangs in the
middle of McKale center, it as great!
Deanna
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Something that occurs to me. My dad is retired and since then has become a dedicated Cubs fan (he always loved them,
but now has time to watch them). Most of the games have captioning on the TV. I would wonder if there isn't
some
way to tap into the source of this caption signal (most of the games are live anyway) and just route this to the board or
a hand held devices like the Disney people pioneered for their outdoor programs? Since the TV
captioning is already
paid for, this seems like just a matter of adding a connection. I AM NOT AN ENGINEER, but I'd sure like to see one tackle
this problem, cuz it seems like someting that would be pretty easy.
Rich -- MN
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Below are the responses to your questions. If you have any additional questions you can e mail me at sshushan@sandiego.gov
Stephen shushan
Assistant Stadium Manager
Stadium Qualcomm, San Diego
Q: If a video is shown
on the stadium scoreboard, would
it be captioned?
A: NO
Q: If not, do you have any plans to provide
captioning or
what difficulties do you have in providing captioning?
A: THE PROBLEM WITH CAPTIONING IS THAT IT
WOULD COVER TO MUCH OF THE VIDEOBOARD.
Q: Would television adequately cover what is said on the
scoreboard
video?
A: IT IS OUR POSITION THAT INFORMATION ON THE SCOREBOARD AND TV COVERS WHAT IS CARRIED OVER THE SOUND SYSTEM
Q: If on television, would the station that is broadcasting the game always provide captioning?
A: ONLY
THE MAJOR EVENTS DO CLOSE CAPTIONING. WHEN IT IS AVAILABLE WE WILL DISPLAY THE CLOSE CAPTIONING ON THE TELEVISIONS AROUND
THE STADIUM.
Q: If the use of television is required, where would the
user watch it?
A: IN THE
SEATING AREAS , AT CONCESSION STANDS AND
RESTAURANTS
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The Pittsburgh Pirates new stadium, PNC Park has such captioning, which, if I remember correctly runs below the scoreboard
(I've only been there once - not a big baseball fan). There are also assistive listening devices available, although I didn't
avail myself of them.
See http://www.pittsburghpirates.com. Click on PNC Park go to the A to Z Guide to the ballpark.
There is a section on accomodations for those with disabilities - "Disabled Access". There is a phone number there
or I have tracked down a contact if you want to know more:
Eric Wolff. phone: 412-325-4784
If phoning
is difficult, try their e-mail address listed on the website.
Wayne Benson
awbenson@juno.com
Pittsburgh,
PA.
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Dear Carlos,
The University is required to provide
access....reasonable... is the word. If you had 100 students who all had a hearing loss and needed captioning.. then the
scoreboard type captioning would be the MOST REASONABLE! The new baseball and football and basketball stadiums in Houston
have the words of the announcer on a screen... like the moving words at the airports. Captioning has also been done via
TV when they provide large screen TV type coverage. It will be up to them as to which solution they will come up with.
You can bet it will involve cost... and their perception of HOW MANY folks will benefit. Their attorney will tell them
they MUST provide if you (and many others) request it - IN WRITING... requesting the WHOLE SEASON... far enough in advance
to allow them to arrange it. Make sure you ask for updated progress to let you see if they are really working on it or are
playing the STALL and DENY game.
BE SURE AND COPY YOUR REQUESTS to me and to an attorney so that we have been informed
of the date of request in case you have a fight on your hands.
Sincerely,
Malisa W. Janes, Rh.D. - The AccommoDAtor
2112 West Main
Houston, TX 77098
adajanes@hal-pc.org
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