Trailblazers games are now captioned!

trailblazersThanks to the Trailblazers and Oregon Communication Access Project (OR-CAP), Trailblazers games are now captioned!

On November 2 at the Trailblazers/Spurs basketball game at the Moda Center the game announcements were captioned for the first time, much to the enjoyment and enhancement of the game for fans in attendance.   The public-address announcements are transcribed by an off-site captioner listening through a telephone connection, and displayed in print form on the replay scoreboard.  Captions not only benefit those with hearing loss or who are deaf but enhance the game for everyone regardless of hearing ability because of the crowd noise in sports arenas and stadiums renders everyone hard of hearing. Continue reading

Cambridge researchers discover how to ‘rub out’ background noise on hearing aids

By ELEANOR DICKINSON

Researchers at Cambridge University’s engineering department are developing a device which could rid hearing aid wearers of annoying background noise.

Led by Dr Richard Turner, the research could forever remove sounds such as wind, traffic and talking, which affect people’s aids. Dr Turner said: “The poor performance of current hearing devices in noise is a major reason why six million people in the UK who would benefit from a hearing aid do not use them.” Continue reading

Southwest Airlines to offer closed captioning on wireless inflight entertainment in early 2014

We may be getting close to the tipping point where people start to understand the importance of captioning. I’ve said for some time that 50 years ago, nobody thought about wheelchair ramps, it just didn’t happen. Now, nobody thinks about wheelchair ramps, it happens automatically. We are at the stage where people are thinking about captioning. Now we have to get to the point where nobody thinks about it anymore, but just does it. ~John Waldo, Advocacy Director and Counsel Washington State Communication Access Project

Southwest Airlines will be among the first carriers in the United States to introduce closed captioning to its wireless video entertainment product when the low-cost giant rolls out CC in early 2014. Continue reading