London Knights fan calls for captioning of video content shown during the game
CBC
When a video announcement about inclusion and accessibility was shown on the big screen during a recent London Knights game, Laurie Chappell wasn't able to tell what the message was about.
That's because Chappell, an ardent Knights fan, is also hearing-impaired. The video message, like all the in-game video content played on the new screen at Canada Life Place, did not have closed captions.
“It makes it difficult if there’s something that you’re supposed to be involved in as a member of the audience, and I can’t be involved in it," said Chappell.
Chappell, 65, had an inner-cochlear implant seven years ago to help with the hearing loss she was first diagnosed with in 2004. She relies on reading lips in conversations and reading captions at events.
After attending multiple Knights games during their spring playoff run, Chappell began to write to the Knights, the OHL and Canada Life Place management.
Her request, something she said would be a good first step, is for the team to provide closed-captioning on all pre-recorded video content shown on the big screen during games. The ads, video features, the interviews displayed during breaks in the action are meaningless to her and other hearing-impaired fans without the context the captions provide.
"There are ways of doing live captioning," said Chappell, "but I understand it's one step at a time."
Initially Chappell corresponded with the Knights marketing director, who told her the team currently lacks the technology to provide closed captioning because videos are supplied completed by sponsors.
"I didn't really like that answer," said Chappell.
From there she took it up with Canada Life Place and eventually the Ontario Hockey League. Rico Phillips, the OHL's former director of cultural diversity and inclusion, told her that in-game captioning would be on the agenda of the league's summer meetings.
Chappell checked back in October for an update and was told Phillips is in a different role. She asked for contact information for his replacement, but did not receive a response.
CBC News reached out to the OHL and received an email from Bryan Crawford, who said the league is "actively reviewing" closed captioning for in-game video content. However he also said there are technical challenges to making the technology work across the 20-team league.
"As you can imagine, our arenas vary significantly in age, technology and operating systems," said Crawford. "The content for the video boards is also created by a variety of different partners, so implementing a consistent league-wide solution requires both technical assessment and coordination with our teams and video production partners."
Crawford said they've started to gather information from other leagues to understand best practices, but for now, there is no league-wide program in place.
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