Skiing accident Left Woman Deaf But Her Passion Remains

image from agelesspassions.com

A woman who lost her hearing during a barefoot skiing accident is now, more than 20 years later, planning to ski barefoot in all 50 states. When Karen Putz first became deaf, she was in despair. But she went on to raise a family (including three deaf kids) and travel all over the U.S. playing in Deaf volleyball tournaments. Read about Karen's skiing goal in the Chicago Tribune and her backstory on her blog.

School would rather take videos down than caption them

image: brainchildvn on Flickr

Many of UC Berkeley's educational videos don't meet ADA requirements, according to the Department of Justice. In response, the California school says that rather than caption more than 20,000 course capture videos accessible to the public, it would rather just take them down in order to save money. A senior is quoted in the school's student newspaper as complaining that Berkeley "does not adequately support its disabled students." Read more in the Daily Cal here.

Woman wanted for Hurting Deaf Girl

image from NY State Police

Police in a little town just north of New York City are looking for a woman who rammed a deaf girl with her shopping car at a Walmart. It happened Saturday morning. Read more about it here.

Gally comes close but misses March Madness

Gallaudet lost to Morrisville State this weekend, knocking the Bison out of contention for a spot in March Madness. Morrisville State won by a score of 72-68. Gally had a chance to tie with only 10 seconds left in the game but missed the shot. Read more about what happened in the Washington Post.

Why she refused to alter her twins' genes

Sarah-Jane Moloney O'Regan decided not to alter the genes of her twins' to prevent them being born deaf. The sign language interpreter explained why on Ireland's Late Late Show here or watch the video below.

First March Madness for Gally?

image from Gallaudet.edu

The Gallaudet men's basketball team has already set a school record by winning 20 games. And they aren't done. The school is hosting the North Eastern Athletic Conference tournament for the first time this weekend. If the Bison can pull off wins in their two games, they would be the first team in Gally history to earn a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament. Read more in the Washington Post.

New Show from Deaf West

A new Deaf West Theatre production opens March 7 in LA at the Wallis. "Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo" will run through March 26. The cast includes deaf and hearing actors. You'll find more details here.

SCOTUS sides with Service Dog

A Supreme Court ruling could have an impact on students with disabilities across the country, according to the ACLU. The high court has unanimously ruled in favor a Michigan girl who wanted to bring her service dog school with her. Administrators at the Napoleon Community School had told Ehlena Fry's family that she could have human helpers but not her Goldendoodle named Wonder. Her family thought that was a violation of ADA law. The case now goes back to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Warehouse coworkers learn ASL

Kamal Nasser is helping coworkers at Columbus's AT&T warehouse learn ASL. Nasser is deaf, so this is making work better for him, but it's also bonding his coworkers together. WSYX has a video report. No captions, but you can read the story here.

Deaf MS Man Shot to Death

Rafael Thompson was found dead in his car in Jackson with multiple gunshot wounds, according to MS News Now. Thompson had attended the Mississippi School for the Deaf before going to college. Jackson Police have no suspects in the case. Here's a video report from MS News Now.

MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS

Deaf Man Killed by Train

A Colorado deaf man was hit and killed today afternoon by train while he was crossing the tracks. KDVR-TV has surveillance video from a neighboring business in the video report below.

Large Collection of ASL GIFs now Available

A library of more than 2,000 GIFs of individual signs are now available through GIPHY, the GIF search engine. The collection of ASL looping flashcards is cut from a educational series called "Sign With Robert" featuring Robert DeMayo. There's text to make it clearer. "Sign With Robert" director and producer Hilari Scarl says, "The GIF format has the ability to loop infinitely, so it's perfect for learning new signs. [It] doesn't require the back and forth of hitting play, rewind or repeat." Particular sign can be found by using the search bar. There's an example below.. and you can access the "Sign with Robert" GIPHY library here.


via GIPHY

Deaf Student: School Discriminated Against Me

A deaf Lousiana college student has filed a lawsuit claiming that the University of Louisiana-Lafayette did not him as required by ADA. Fabian S. Strauss says he requested a note taker but was denied. Read more about it in the Louisiana record here.

One Billion Videos Captioned.. sort of

While YouTube is bragging about have one billion captioned videos, critics are pointing out that many of the automatically generated captions are wildly inaccurate. It's been eight years since Google added the automatic speech recognition designed to generate captions and the company says it's accuracy is up by 50 percent. But in the anouncement about the number of captioned videos, Google Product Manager Liat Kaver admits the program is not where the company wants it to be:

A major goal for the team has been improving the accuracy of automatic captions — something that is not easy to do for a platform of YouTube’s size and diversity of content. Key to the success of this endeavor was improving our speech recognition, machine learning algorithms, and expanding our training data. There were limitations with the technology that underscored the need to improve the captions themselves. Results were sometimes less than perfect, prompting some creators to have a little fun at our expense!

Read the full announcement from YouTube here.

Deaf High School Mascot

Deaf from birth, 15-year-old Freshman Kamron King "has mastered sign language and how to lip read and speak." As his high school mascot, King says he "uses his eyes and his energy to get the crowd fired up." He's affectionately known as "Kam the Ham." Here is an NBC News video report.

Irish Comedian Insults Deaf with Fake Signing

An Irish comedian stood up in front of a group gathered to hear a streamed political speech and pretended to use sign language. His random gestures were not appreciated by the Deaf community, Irish Deaf Society said it was insulted by the prank. Read more about it here.

Shot after not understanding gunman's demands

John Kelly was getting money out of an ATM when he was shot four times because the deaf man couldn't hear the commands of robbers. WISN-TV in Milwaukee has a video report here.

A review of Switched at Birth from a deaf perspective

The TV series Switched at Birth has gotten a lot of positive press for its protrayal of deaf characters. But one reviewer says that while the show is a "GREAT innovation" it doesn't live up to its potential. Case in point:

If you are fluent in sign and have been in and around the deaf community it is annoying that the cast can’t learn ASL properly after 4 full seasons. It’s painful to watch Vanessa Marano (Bay Kennish) struggle through her lines as if she has an ASL coach telling her how to sign off set. It’s terrible. She is supposed to have known her deaf “sister” for 4 years now plus she is dating deaf guys for a few years and she doesn’t know the difference between the sign of “English” and “night.”

Read the full review in the San Francisco News.

Police: Video Made of Deaf Man's Beating

A video shows a deaf man being beaten in Detroit by another deaf man.. and "police said the woman holding the camera in the video set it all up," reports WDIV-TV. The three attended the same school for the deaf.

Super Bowl Signing

Kriston Pumphrey
image from NAD

The Super Bowl festivities will include the talents of an NTID alum (National Technical Institute for the Deaf). Kriston Lee Pumphrey will sign the National Anthem and “America, the Beautiful.” Pumphrey lives in Detriot where he works as an anchor at sign language channel DPAN-TV, but he considers Seattle his hometown. WJBK-TV has more on his background here, NTID has a news release here, and the National Association of the Deaf here.

Ruling on Firing of Deaf School Teachers

A judge has overturned a decision by an arbitrator about the firing of two teachers at the Iowa School for the Deaf over what administrators said was poor performance. Read the full story from Associated Press here.

The Good Vibrations Music and Arts Festival

Organizers of a Texas music festival set for the summer claim it will be the first to be completely accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing community. KHOU-TV has a video report.

Man pleads guilty for Gallaudet Univ. burglary

"A former employee of Gallaudet University’s food service department pleaded guilty Monday to holding deaf workers at gunpoint during a burglary" at the school, according to the Washington Post. Just days after he had been fired, Donald Williams wore a mask and used a gun to force his way into the kitchen. Read the full story here.

Court hears appeal of deaf patients

Two deaf people were in federal court today because a hospital refused to give them in-person interpreters. Baptist Hospital provided VRI but Cheylla Silva and John Paul Jebian are challenging that technology as inadequate to meet ADA requirements. A lower court judge dismissed the case but they are appealing and hoping the federal appeals court overturns the lower court ruling. Read the full story from the Miami Herald here.

Gally Hoops

Gallaudet University's basketball team is 14-3 overall and 6-0 in the North Eastern Athletic Conference. The Austin American-Statesman has a look at several players on the roster here.

City to pay for no Terp

A city in Rhode Island will pay $25,000 in damages and legal fees to a deaf man for failing to provide him with an interpreter during his arrest and night in jail. David Alves was arrested when police mistook a sign language gesture for an obscene gesture. Read the full story from Associated Press here.

Yachtsman of the Year

A deaf man has been named Britain's yachtsman of the year. Gavin Reid beat out others with Olympic medals and titles, because of his part in a "dramatic ocean rescue." As CNN reports, "Reid swam to a stranded vessel before climbing its mast and untangling a distressed crew member. All while negotiating rough seas." Read the full CNN story here. NBC has an interview with Reid below, but there are no captions. You can read that story here.

Gally: One Year with a Female President

image from Gallaudet.edu

Read the story here. "In its 152-year history, Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. never had a deaf female president — until a year ago. Roberta Cordano is the first deaf woman to lead the school," reports NPR. The news outlet recently spoke with Gally President Cordano about the how the school provides a place of support and community for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Read the story here.

Charges Dropped against deaf Oklahoma man

A 67-year-old Oklahoma man was seriously injured in Oklahoma City when he was stopped by police. Prosecutors charged Pearl Pearson with resisting arrest.. even though he could not hear the officer's commands and warnings because he is deaf. KFOR-TV reports charges he resisted arrest have been dropped.

Deaf Driver runs over Body in Road

A search is underway for a driver in the Jacksonville, Florida area who hit someone walking down a road and then drove off. A deaf man later ran over the body but stopped to help. Since David Bicknell couldn't call the police himself, he drove to "a gas station where he wrote a note asking a clerk to call the police," according to WFOX-TV.

Deaf Boy to be allowed to Stay in UK

We told you recently about a "six-year-old deaf boy who fled Iraq with his family after ISIS threatened to kill disabled children." His parents were told he would have to leave the UK. Here's an update: Lawand Hamadamin "has been given a last minute reprieve to stay in Britain," according to The Telegraph. His brother and parents had settled into Derby where he learned British Sing Language at the Royal School for the Deaf. Read more from The Telegraph here.

Deaf Couple Rescued from Snowstorm

A deaf California couple is safe after being rescued from a snowstorm after three days. KNBC-TV has a video report. No captions but you can read the story here.

Why your next Uber driver might be deaf

A new story from Quartz explains how some deaf drivers have found work with Uber. Susan Johnston Taylor says, "NAD is currently working with Uber to make its app more user-friendly for hard-of-hearing drivers (or partners, as Uber prefers to call them). These initiatives include a flashing light to notify a driver of a ride request (in addition to the existing audio notification), turning off the option to call a deaf driver, and a prompt to make sure passengers enter their destinations." Read the full story here.

Gally's in the middle a tech revolution

Now that the FCC has voted to "phase out TTY teletypewriter systems and transition to RTT on smartphones," Gallaudet becomes an important player in the new technology. Gallaudet’s senior research engineer Norman Williams now holds the patent for RTT. WJLA-TV has a video report (no captions) and a text report here.

Gally's NFL prospect

image from Gallaudet.edu

Carneilus Smith didn't learn sign language until he got to Gallaudet University. He tells NFL Draft Diamonds, "I had deaf roommates and teammates that I had to learn sign language to communicate with them and as well as play on the field with them to lead. Now I’m fluent in ASL in just 4 years." Read the full interview with the football standout here.
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College Football Player shows off ASL Skills

A video showing an Ohio State football player signing with two deaf fans got a lot of social media attention during the last month. The story behind the video from Ohio's Journal-News is here. Below is the video:

Video of SUV that killed deaf woman

DC police have released a video showing the SUV that may have hit and killed a deaf woman who was crossing a street. Jacqueline Cole was walking in a marked crosswalk when she was hit and the driver of the vehicle did not stop. Read more about it from the DC Police here.

Doll With Cochlear Implants For Christmas

A little girl living near Oklahoma City wanted a doll for Christmas that looked like her, including her cochlear implants. Thanks to the work of a high schooler and a 3D printer, she got her wish. KWTV has a video report.

News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

Hit and Run Driver Kills Deaf Woman

The search is underway for the driver of an SUV that hit and killed a 54-year-old deaf woman early this morning in Northwest, DC. WUSA-TV has a video report here.

Protecting deaf children from abuse in TN

A Tennessee woman is hoping her effort in schools called The Sign Club will help deaf children not become isolated and more likely fall victim to sexual abuse. WSMV-TV in Nashville has a video report. No captions, but you can read the story here.

WBRC FOX6 News - Birmingham, AL

Gally's ASL poetry contest

An eighth-grader who attends the Iowa School for the Deaf student won Gallaudet University’s national American Sign Language poetry contest. Read more about the 13 year old who wrote the poem “Impressing the Girl” in the Omaha World-Herald here.

Tim Tebow helps with adoption

Tim Tebow's foundation has helped a 4-year-old deaf boy in China be adopted by an American woman. Christine Mullican says, “I’ve always wanted to adopt. I just knew that’s how I wanted to build my family." Here's video about the adoption.

Closed: Canada's first restaurant staffed mostly by deaf servers

A unique new restaurant opened in downtown Toronto in July of 2014. Signs Restaurant said it was going to be Canada's first restaurant mostly staffed by deaf servers. The restaurant closed last week, leaving some 40, mostly deaf, workers without jobs. Read more about what happened in MetroNews.

6-year-old Deaf Boy on ISIS Hit List

Photo: Penguin PR

A six-year-old deaf boy is asking to stay in the UK. His family fled Northern Iraq when "ISIS ruled that disabled children should be killed by lethal injection." Read more in the Mirror.

Deaf Seattle worker Sues Cheesecake Factory

image by NightScream

The Cheesecake Factory is facing a federal lawsuit that claims the restaurant chain didn't provide an interpreter for a dishwasher in Seattle during disciplinary meetings. Oleg Ivanov was shown training videos without captioning and was later fired for missing a shift. Read more about the EEOC suit here.

Get to Know Gally's new Hillel Director

image from Gallaudent.edu

Jacob Salem is the new Hillel director at Gallaudet University. Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world. The Washington Post profiled Salem since he's the first campus Hillel director to be deaf. Read about the challenges for Gallaudet's Jewish students here.

FCC switching from TTY to Texting

The FCC has unanimously voted to move from TTY to RTT (real-time text messaging) as a standard for wireless carriers and device manufacturers. Among other things, the switch will "allow 911 operators to receive incomplete messages during an emergency." You can read the FCC order here or details about the issues including the history of the TTY here.

a Nyle DiMarco message

Nyle DiMarco has a message for hearing parents with a deaf child. And there's more help from the Nyle DiMarco Foundation here.

Deaf man proposes to girlfriend with Santa’s help

"A deaf couple became engaged with the help of Santa Claus at an Indiana mall this week," according to WANE–FM.

Arts and Accessibility Event

CymaSpace is presenting a "showcase series celebrating the future of inclusive cultural events" December 11 in Portland. There will be "a fully accessible live performance with ASL interpreted performance, sound-reactive lighting, creative captions and more." The group's focus is "making cultural events inclusive for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing." There are more details here.

Coach Of The Year!

screen capture from ESPN video

The Oakland Raiders have named the coach of the California School For The Deaf its High School "Coach Of The Year." Warren Keller led the Eagles to a 11-2 record. That's an improvement over last year's record of 5 and 5. Read more from the Raiders' website here.

a technology to visualize sounds

"A deaf musician is creating a universal algorithm to make beautiful, visual music," reports Quartz. Watch a video about the work of Myles de Bastion and CymaSpace here.

NTID 1st Deaf Prof gets his own Postage Stamp

Robert Panara will be honored with a U.S. postage stamp. The stamp "shows Panara, who died in 2014 at 94, signing the word 'respect,'" according to the Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf. Read more about NTID's first deaf professor be-immortalized-postage-stamp">here.

Champions on the Football Field

A deaf school's football team is undefeated this season. WGNO-TV has a video report on the success of the the Louisiana School for the Deaf War Eagles and their female coach. No captions but there is some text here.

Deaf man sues Florida over truck driving license

"A Central Florida man said the state of Florida is discriminating against him-- it won't let him take the test to obtain his commercial driver's license because he is deaf," reports WKMG-TV. Here's a video report.

Settlement for Deaf Man Jailed for 40 days

The Arlington County jail will pay Abreham Zemedagegehu $250,000 as part of a settlement for leaving him behind bars for 40 days without an interpreter. WJIA-TV has more of the Ethiopian immigrant's story here.

5 Years for Molesting Teen

A Chicago-area man will spend five years behind bars for sexually assaulting a deaf teen. The Daily Herald has more on the story here.

Vice: Why the Deaf Community Fears President Trump

Deaf novelist Sara Nović explains why the Deaf Community is concerned about what may lie ahead for them during a Trump presidency. She explains how potential budget cuts, a roll back of ADA enforcement and changes to health care coverage leaves many fearful in a Vice article here.

deaf literacy vital for blended families

"Research shows that a lack of early access to visual language, like ASL, can limit literacy for the rest of a person’s life," reports Minnesota Daily. "That’s why University of Minnesota associate professor of deaf education Debbie Golos created a set of online resources in 2010 to help children and adults learn language visually." Read about her effort here.

Lawsuit: Sports Arena not ADA complient

A class action lawsuit has been filed against a Denver arena. The jumbotron at the Pepsi Center could provide captioning.. but doesn't. A deaf woman is suing after a year of trying to get that changed. KDVR-TV has a video report.. that ironically doesn't include captioning. But you can read the story here.

Video of Arrest of Deaf Man Outrages Activists

A video of Toronto area police officers arresting a deaf man in Canada has gone viral and outraged activists. A police officer repeatedly tells a deaf man to turn around and put his hands behind his back.. while the deaf man makes a writing motion to the officer. The man is soon taken down and handcuffed. You can see the video and a story about it from the CBC here.

#NoMoreCraptions movement

"A new campaign dubbed #NoMoreCraptions is calling out 'crappy' captions on YouTube, where creators are asking each other to make their content more accessible by writing their own captions on their videos," reports Mashable. Read the full story here.

Goal for 1st deaf student at Miami Culinary School: Top Chef

Joselyn Escobar is the Miami Culinary Institute’s first deaf student. The Miami Herald shares her journey in this article here. Below is a video about her effort.

Can deep learning help solve lip reading?

A new lip-reading program called LipNet was able to "outperform experienced lip readers to a significant degree, achieving 93.4 percent accuracy in certain tests, compared to 52.3 percent accuracy from human lip readers." The Verge has a story about the research here. A video about the Artificial Intelligence built on deep learning is below.

Students get to Vote

Some students from the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind got a chance to cast their ballot for the first time today. KRDO-TV has the full story in a video report here.

A 1st for a Deaf Canadian

Jonathon Anderson is the first deaf Canadian iron worker to earn a red seal certificate. "The national designation lets qualified tradespeople use their skills anywhere in the country, something Anderson said he’s very proud of," reports CTV. Here's a video report.

"Strange and illogical" Hollywood stereotypes

from the Ruderman Family Foundation 

Acadamy Award winner Marlee Matlin took part in a panel at the Ruderman Studio-Wide Roundtable on Disability Inclusion in Los Angeles. Matlin, along with other actors and filmmakers debunked some of the weird myths and preconceptions they had to work around in their careers. Read the full story from BuzzFeed here.

Deaf man wins $400k in lawsuit

A former Oregon inmate has won $400k in a jury verdict against the Oregon Department of Corrections. David VanValkenburg claimed the state "didn’t provide him with a qualified interpreter for prison medical appointments and denied him a prison job and a class to help him prepare for his release." KEZI-TV has a video report.

Meet Gallaudet's 1st Female Deaf President

Roberta Cordano explains how she plans to approach her new job of leading Gallaudet University.. and why she never attended the school herself in a Washington Post article here.

Roll Tide!

Issues related to the deaf community at the University of Alabama is featured in an article in the student newspaper of the school. Read what The Crimson White has to say about accessibility and education here.

The Who’s Tommy

American Sign Language is integrated into a stage presentation of “The Who’s Tommy” playing now at the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre in the DC suburbs. It started this past Friday and runs through Nov. 20. The Washington Post has an article about the play here. There's info on tickets here.

Deaf Football Team gets National Attention

ESPN2 broadcast the latest game of the California School for the Deaf's football team in Fremont this past Thursday. KTVU has a video report on undefeated Eagles.

Deaf School visits College Football Team

The Louisiana School for the Deaf visited the LSU football team during practice Wednesday. SEC Country has more, including a video here.

Video of Road Rage that leaves Deaf man Dead

Cellphone video shows Paul Peterman trying to get into the car of another driver during a road rage incident. Peterman is deaf and ended up dead following a confrontation of a Florida firefighter. The Daily Mail has more here.

Mickey D's pay up for ADA violation

McDonald's is settling an ADA complaint for just over $56k. Ricky Washington, who is deaf, applied for a job at a Mickey D's in Belton, Missouri back in 2012. The restaurant manager refused to interview him, even though he had previous experience, because he needed a sign language interpreter for his interview. Read the original complaint here.

how Helen learned to speak

Watch Helen Keller and Teacher Annie Sullivan demonstrate how Helen learned to speak. This video was recorded in 1930.

More on Road Rage Death

We're learning more about the events that led up to the death of a Florida deaf man. Paul Peterman was on his way to work when he got into a confrontation with another man, Joshua Tullis. Both men stopped on the side of the road and Tullis says he has a video that shows part of what happened. WPLG-TV has a report here.

More on Road Rage Death

We're learning more about the events that led up to the death of a Florida deaf man. Paul Peterman was on his way to work when he got into a confrontation with another man, Joshua Tullis. Both men stopped on the side of the road and Tullis says he has a video that shows part of what happened. WPLG-TV has a report here.

More on Road Rage Death

We're learning more about the events that led up to the death of a Florida deaf man. Paul Peterman was on his way to work when he got into a confrontation with another man, Joshua Tullis. Both men stopped on the side of the road and Tullis says he has a video that shows part of what happened. WPLG-TV has a report here.

Marlee Matlin on Trump Insult

image from MarleeMatlin.net

Academy-Award winner Marlee Matlin is speaking out about reports that Donald Trump called her "retarded" while she was a contestant on The Apprentice. Matlin told her Twitter followers, "The fact that we are talking about this during a very important moment in American history has upset me deeply." Read more from ET here.

Road Rage leaves Deaf man Dead

A deaf man is dead after a road rage incident Thursday in the Miami area. WSVN-TV has a video report.

Report: Trump called Marlee Matlin "retarded"

Donald Trump called a Academy Award winning actress Marlee Matlin "retarded" according to three sources who spoke anonymously with The Daily Beast. The deaf actress competed on Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice in 2011. The information came from longtime staffers of the show who said Trump would make fun of her voice. One staffer said when he did this in front of her "she stood up for herself." Read the full story here.

Helen Keller's Handwriting

Helen Keller had impeccable handwriting. Open Culture has a Collection of Her Childhood Letters here.

ASL Pop Art exhibit

"Being hard of hearing and raised by Deaf parents, James Van Manen grew up with ASL as his first language. He combines his experience in the Deaf community with his love for pop art in the exhibit, titled 'ASL Pop Art'" reports the Columbia Chronicle. Read more about the Chicago exhibit here.

Burned Texas Boy in Coma

A hard-of-hearing boy is in a Texas hospital after he was set on fire by bullies, according to relatives. They tell MySA that he was often picked on by these playmates but fire officials dispute that version of what happened. Kayden Culp is just 10 years old and was put into an induced coma because a fifth of his body is covered in burns. KENS-TV has more in a video report. No captions but there's text here.

Former employee of deaf school charged with fraud

Prosecutors say Leslie Sue White stole money from the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind. White was a financial analyst who had worked for the school in some capacity for 17 years. She is accused of taking $67,000 from school accounts. The Desert News has the full story here.

Gallaudet to inaugurate new president

image of Bobbi Cordano from Gallaudet.com

Gallaudet will inaugurate Bobbi Cordano as its first deaf female president this coming Friday.  She then begins her term as the college’s 11th president in January.  Lisa Kauppinen of the World Federation of the Deaf will speak at Friday's event and members of Deaf West Theatre will perform. If you want to watch Friday, Cordano's inauguration will be live streamed here.

Support for deaf woman refused service

A deaf woman who was outraged by the way a Massachusetts Dunkin Donuts employee treated her is getting support from her community, reports WFXT-TV.

College: We'd rather remove videos than make them accessable

A California university would rather remove its online videos rather than accurately caption them and make them accessable to everyone. That's basically what administrators at the University of California at Berkeley are telling the Justice Department. A statement released by the school (which you can read here) says a final decision has not be made but that Berkeley things it's too expensive to make the online material accessible, even if it is a violation of ADA law not to make it accessible. The statement says:

In many cases the requirements proposed by the department would require the university to implement extremely expensive measures to continue to make these resources available to the public for free. We believe that in a time of substantial budget deficits and shrinking state financial support, our first obligation is to use our limited resources to support our enrolled students. Therefore, we must strongly consider the unenviable option of whether to remove content from public access.

The controversy began when a faculty member and a student at Gallaudet University complained. Not only do many of Berkeley's videos lack captioning, much of the captioning that is available is inaccurate. The material is also not accessable for those who are blind.

Deaf Teen Shot & Killed after High School Game

A deaf basketball player was killed Friday following a high school football game in California. A gunman approached Desean Welch and Lamar Francis. "This boy was talking. I told him that we're deaf. I cannot understand. I cannot read lips," Francis told KABC-TV. That's when the gunman shot Desean Welch who played basketball at the California School for the Deaf in Riverside. Here's KABC's video report.

Deaf Expo in Arizona

The Northern Arizona Deaf Expo will be in Flagstaff this coming Saturday (Sept. 24) at Coconino Community College. Find out more in the Arizona Daily Sun.

First deaf actor to portray Quasimodo

Deaf actor John McGinty is playing Quasimodo in the Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. McGinty is "the first deaf actor to portray Quasimodo, despite the character being deaf in Victor Hugo’s novel," reports the LA Weekly.

Lawsuit: Deaf Boy Handcuffed

The Kansas City public schools system is getting sued by an angry mother. A school resource officer handcuffed her deaf, 7-year-old son, according the lawsuit filed by the ACLU, which you can read here. WDAF-TV has a video report.

Iowa Deaf Community wins battle with Theater Co.

An Iowa theater has put off production of the stage show Tribes until deaf actors can be found. The Deaf community in Cedar Rapids did not support the play because a hearing person had been cast in the main role of a deaf person. Here's more in a video report from KCRG-TV.

"I'm a deaf actor. That shouldn't define me"

Genevieve Barr talks about what it's like being a deaf actor in a Guardian opinion piece today. She writes:

In the same way that being deaf doesn’t define all that I am as a person, I don’t want it to define the roles I play. It’s an incredibly limiting way to live and to work. And because I have a disability that I cannot hide (or fully disguise), that means I stay firmly in the bracket of “deaf actor”, rather than “actor”. In the rigidity of the casting process, that can mean fewer than 10 auditions per year.

Read the full article here.

Deaf Woman Refused Service

Dunkin' Donuts is apologizing to a deaf Massachusetts woman who was refused service. WFXT-TV has Jessica Sanzillo's story.

NBC doing show on Louisiana School for Deaf football team

The football team at the Louisiana School for the Deaf NBC’s weekend Today program, tentatively set for Sunday. They are aiming at another national championship even while dealing with flooding in Lousiana. Read about it in the Baton Rouge Advocate here.

The cost for deaf inmates to make calls to family is outragious

As expensive and arduous it is for inmates communicate with their families "deaf inmates have it far worse. The technology is often too expensive, outdated or in disrepair," reports Jack Smith IV in Mic. He quotes an activist as saying, "It takes a deaf person three times as long as other people to make those calls. So you have deaf people paying $700, $800 a month just to talk to their husband or wife." Read the full story here.

Ingrid Michaelson and Deaf West

Indie pop artist Ingrid Michaelson performed her new song ‘Hell No’ with members of Deaf West Theatre this past Friday on NBC's Today Show. The song is part of her album, “It Doesn’t Have To Make Sense." Here's the video.

Bullies dump deaf student's backpack in toilet

A Nebraska high school senior had his backpack stolen and dumped into a toilet. It has his tablet, school supplies, homework and debit card.. and his cochlear implant. KMTV has a video report here.