Handhelds handy? Hardly!*

What is the attraction that public venues have to handheld captioning devices? I am part of a group that is advocating for captioning in public venues such as movie theaters, live theater, and sports events. We have had many positive responses from these venues. Some may be reluctant initially, but are won over when they see the positive responses from the public. For some reason, most venues have heard of handheld devices and gravitate towards them, even when they are told that they are one of the least-preferred options by consumers.

So what’s the big deal? Why don’t people like using handheld devices to receive captioning? To answer this question, I challenge you to try it out yourself, and you can do it in the comfort of your own home.

If you have a smart phone, look for free captioning apps. There is one for the iPhone called “Subtitles.” It gives you access to subtitles for many, many TV programs and movies. I was watching a DVD of Sons of Anarchy. There is an Irish character in the program, and for the life of me I can never understand a word he says. I searched for the episode on my iPhone in Subtitles, picked my language, started the subtitles, and started the episode. (Once you start the subtitles, it advances automatically at the pace of the program. You don’t have to do anything else unless you pause the program. It doesn’t identify who the speakers are unless there is the “slash-ear” icon next to it.) Now, the iPhone is light weight and unobtrusive. The episode is only an hour long. I held up the phone to read the captions when the character was on. On one level, it worked beautifully, and I finally understood this character.

But let’s examine this a little deeper. The reality is I was laying in bed and watching the show. As small and light as the iPhone is, I was propping my arm up in many different locations to stay comfortable, and scootching down in the bed so that I could more easily look back and forth between the captions and the TV. I didn’t need the captions to understand all the characters, so I had the luxury of looking away from the phone for several minutes at a time. Normally I don’t use glasses to watch TV, but now I needed my reading glasses to read the captions. This meant I was looking over my glasses to see the TV and having to refocus to watch the fast moving captions on the screen.

Cheryl demonstrating iPhone Subtitles App

If I had been in public, this would have been more of an issue. Have you ever sat in the middle seat on a flight, with strangers on either side, and gone through that silent negotiation for who will use which half of the armrest? Imagine needing to explain the captioning device to the person. Now imagine having the conversation when you really don’t hear very well and the lights are down. What if you had something else in your hands, like popcorn, a drink, a program guide, or a tissue? What if you wanted to hold hands with a loved one? What if you couldn’t get comfortable reading the captions and seeing the stage/screen unless you held the device slightly outside of your seating area in the next theater-goer’s space? What if that person is bothered by the light from it no matter where you hold it?

Then I thought of the people I know in the Hearing Loss Association of Oregon who would be likely to use the devices. Many are older, have had a stroke, or have other physical difficulties. How would they manage to hold this in a way they could read it for a 2 hour program? Not a very attractive option.

The stories from people who have used them in real venues include having to get up in the middle of a show to get a different device when the one they have malfunctions; having to replace batteries; and being inconvenienced by needing to hold on to it, stand in line to get it, and stand in another line to return it. One person got her ticket refunded and was able to come to a different show when her device malfunctioned. The next time she checked out two devices. Sure enough, one of them malfunctioned again, but this time she had a backup.

Another issue my friends call “the ick factor.” Who disinfects these devices between uses? As you are juggling things in your lap, do you put it on the floor? How many people have sneezed and coughed with it? What about going to the bathroom? What do you do with it while you are there? Do you wash your hands? Come on, inquiring minds want to know!

For some reason, it takes a lot of convincing to get venues to understand why the handheld devices are not well received. It’s not just hard of hearing people being picky or difficult. If they install a system that interferes with people’s ability to enjoy the show, it will be a waste of money because the public won’t use it. And it is a public smart venues should be courting. Beginning 1/1/11, 10,000 Baby Boomers reach the age of 65 daily until 2030, and well over a third of the population over 65 experiences hearing loss.

Which brings me to my final point: with handheld devices, you can only reach an audience equal to the number of functioning devices you have on hand. Every new customer means more devices, maintenance, and storage. At the same time, many people who are becoming hard of hearing tend to avoid these activities because they expect they will not be able to  follow the dialogue. They stop attending because they aren’t aware of access devices they could request. In venues where it is possible, reader boards really make the most sense for the customer and the business.

Slowly but surely, people who are hard of hearing or deaf are not limited to the Tuesday 2:00 show of the movie that least interests them at the one participating theater within 50 miles of their home. The most successful venues have relied on input from individuals with hearing loss as they make decisions about where to place reader boards, what types of devices to use to deliver the text to the user, and how to incorporate assistive listening devices with the text delivery. As advocates, we are learning about what challenges they face, and they are learning about the challenges and needs of the hard-of-hearing public.

If you want to read more about captioning, legal issues, and success stories, check out Hearing Loss Law at http://www.hearinglosslaw.com/articles/washcap-1/ and www.or-cap.org.

*My thanks to Clark Anderson for the title!