If you can’t hear, your vote doesn’t matter. That’s what many elected representatives believe. The city of Vancouver helps fund CVTV to video and post meetings online for the public; however, captions are not included. Only after I filed an FCC complaint did CVTV officials write me back. They stated citizens can get amplification when attending City Hall meetings with hearing aids. What about those who don’t use hearing aids or are working? Also, elderly people over 70 are one of the highest voting demographic, often hard of hearing, and can’t be expected to attend every meeting.
I asked a former councilmember why Vancouver doesn’t caption. He said they decided not to waste “revenue” on captioning because of transcription costs.
Deaf people work and pay taxes, too. Isn’t a portion of it going to CVTV broadcasting? So how is equal accessibility a waste of taxpayer money? I bet there’s other spending the public thinks more wasteful. The city used taxpayer money to buy a new City Hall, a building that formerly belonged to The Columbian.
Don’t we all deserve equal access to first-hand facts, not just “spin” from The Columbian? Go protest. On Election Day, will they still think the deaf vote doesn’t matter?
