Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act mandates that reasonable accommodations be made for people who are deaf and hard of hearing so they may have equal access to verbal information.
A wide range of services and devices are available to promote effective communication and allow access to goods and services. Examples of auxiliary aids and services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing include computer-aided transcription services.
Computer-aided transcription services – also known as Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) – are commonly referred to as “real-time captioning.” CART is a professional service that can be delivered on location or remotely. It is the system that court reporters, closed captioners and voice writers use to convert speech to text. The CART provider types into a stenotype machine and the CART software processes the code. The resulting captions are quickly displayed as readable text on small or large screens, over the Internet or broadcast live via satellite.
Thanks to the ADA and CART technology, individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing can be actively engaged in conferences or meetings and enjoy the latest feature film, breaking news report or TV show. In short, people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of life, be it at work or leisure.
SOURCES: