It is important to remember that many people have some type of disability. People with disabilities face many obstacles including accessibility issues in public. Specifically after watching the youtube video, “What Happens When Deaf People Go to the Movies”, it opened my eyes to how many minuscule activities in public are not fit for people with hearing impairments.
In the video, two deaf men try to go to a movie. There are dated devices called Captiviews that display subtitles to go along with the movie. The employee goes to the back room to dust off the device and even has to change the batteries, because it has probably not been used in months. They end up leaving the movie because they are having a bad experience with the device that is supposed to help them.
I believe this video was made to educate non deaf individuals of the inaccessibility in everyday life activities. Almost as a call to action, to advocate for change. For example, the Captiview devices were old and broken; if they were more up to date, more deaf people could enjoy a fun outing, such as going to the movie theater.
These problems in our communities have caused individuals with impairments to not go out as much, as they worry they will not have the accessibility they need to be out in public. I can relate to this in my personal life, my grandmother is deaf and hearing aids have always helped her. Recently, stores such as Target and Amazon have stopped selling the specific batteries she needs for them. She now has to order them on a special website which is very expensive, and takes weeks to come in the mail. For these reasons, she doesn't feel as comfortable going out and talking to people.
If we had more accessibility in our society for these individuals, disabilities could be normalized in a new way.
Real World Response: https://twitter.com/RubyMor1029/status/1513226329423900672
Comments