AllDeaf.com points to a story about deaf people who want to see closed captioned ads. We may fast forward through commercials when watching TiVO or a taped program, but there are times when we’d like to know what is said on the commercial.
Super Bowl time, for one. Hey, with all the hoopla about commercials during the big football game of the year, we want to be included. People talk about hilarious commercials. We like to laugh, so please caption it so we can laugh with everyone else.
The story talks about political ads. Deaf people can vote. At least, those 18 and older. I’ve voted in every minor and major election since turning 18. Political campaigns aren’t required to be captioned — only for presidential candidates who receive federal funding.
Considering not everyone turns out for voting, don’t candidates want to grab as much of the deaf vote as possible? Not that I would be influenced by the candidate who captions vs. not captions, but it can make a difference in an election where you have one Republican, one Democrat and two Independent candidates. That would be the Texas race for governor.
Super Bowl advertisers, are you listening? If you pay big bucks to run your commercial during the big game — what’s a measly few bucks for captions?