I don’t smoke, but there are times I wish I did.
I just spent 45 minutes on relay making the usual business calls I do every week. One of them was to netflix. The past few months I have gotten a couple movies that weren’t captioned. We also had the unlimited service where you’re supposed to be able to download movies to your computer any time. What a nice feature! Except I can’t take advantage of it, since the streamed movies are never captioned.
What it essentially boils down to is I pay for ‘unlimited’ access, only it’s LIMITED to me since the streamed movies don’t come captioned. Additionally other movies I’d like to see don’t come captioned. Um– OK I realize that some dvd’s just don’t come that way. It’s not their fault.
But other people get ‘unlimited’ movie access for the same price I pay for ‘limited’ movie access.
Does that make sense? Is that ‘equal access?” No it is not. In fact, it is unfair. I realize I cannot always have ‘equal access.’ BUT– I feel the price I pay should reflect the ‘limited access’ I get.
The only other option is to pay the lower price and then be extremely limited. In other words two movies per month for 4.99, or everything for 8.99. Since I cannot view streamed movies, why can’t they charge deaf people 6.99 for unlimited captioned movies but no uncaptioned streamed movies?
When I asked why their streamed movies aren’t captioned, the woman on the other end explained ‘it wasn’t possible’ right now.
I said, “I don’t understand. There are programs that can caption streamed videos.” She had no answer to that of course. She was simply giving the standard BS response for when deaf people complain.
Of course they COULD offer captioning. Captioning isn’t impossible! I guess I’m just in a bitchy mood today. ARGH!
That cigarette sure looks good.
Filed under: hearing loss
You’re right. Some places give lowered rates because of the inaccessible part, like discounted tickets to popular attractions. If enough people ask for it, it might become possible even at Netflix, one of the most aggressive advertisers for their business.
Go drink a glass of champagne and your bitchy mood will disappear – guaranteed!
But yes – I get wild with things like that too!
Cheers
Robyn
Here, I got a Marlboro Light just for ya! *smile* It’s a never ending battle, but keep your chin up! Get their email or snail mail address, and write a letter telling them about the various services that offer captions for streamed video. Contact Bill Creswell for more information, he is a veritable fountain of info on that.
Hey there,
I had that same phone call too. They claim that you are not paying for the instant viewing feature which means it is available to all who can use it (meaning, some Mac users, the Deaf, and so forth can’t). Since your payments are for the service of getting and watching, specifically, DVDs and not the instant viewing feature online and streamed to your TV.
I’ve also argued that Netflix does dub their videos. I’ve gotten DVDs where the movie was subtitled and not dubbed (not by options) and argued about that. I’ve also pointed out that when Netflix transfers the video into online format, they strip off the CC encoding–that requires additional work since ripping anything off DVDs usually rips off CC as well.
I’ve contacted NAD to see if I can bring about a lawsuit against Netflix due to violations of ADA. Basically what NAD told me was that there was no precedence to something like this thus rendering them unable to make such lawsuit.
I have a few information on netflix I’ve researched on. This has been complained to NF for more than two years now…maybe if you can email me and we might be able to get together and see if we can do a class action lawsuit…
And yes, unfortunately, with Netflix, it has to be that route.
-Ben
Believe me, only if you have gone to Nicaragua, you will DEFINITELY need more than one cigarette through the day living as a deaf person. It is not easy down there so considering yourself lucky.
I gotta correct you on one thing, “the streamed movies are never captioned”, there are foreign films does have subtitles available online, better than nothing, right? We can always keep contacting them and to remind them to make it work somehow. We can send in feedbacks, etc but to bitch out about it, etc will NOT help.
The Netflix fees remain the same AFTER the online movies became available so not like we pay extra for it at all so basically online movies is just extra feature. It will be different story with equal access if they charge us more fees when online movies were launched but it did not happen.
Please tell me you are joking about the lower prices because I think it would be a great idea for us to contact cable TV, satellites to lower prices, too. Low visuality people might as well get lower price for not able to see pictures clearly on TV. *rolls*
We should at least appreciate of what we have for now and things will eventually get better only if we can make it happen.
-SG
Hi Dianrez,
The worst someone can say is, ‘no.’
Yes I think we should always ask for accommodations and discounts when they aren’t provided. We’ll never get anything if we don’t ask.
Hi Robyn,
Unfortunately I can’t drink much these days because of the headaches. I’ve become a teatotaler. Hope that changes soon.
Eddie,
Thanks. . . er (cough, couth)
Ben, Clearly you’ve pursued this and know much more about the technology than me. I appreciate the information. I’ll be happy to join your cause, but I’ve taken on the theater industry recently.
SG,
So nice to see you! Believe me, I am very happy I don’t live in Nicaragua. You made some great points, especially about the blind.
I wasn’t joking. I’m dead serious. First of all, yes I think the blind SHOULD get a discount on cable services. Secondly, I’m aware there’s a new technology for the blind where they can get a descriptive voice stream while watching movies. One of our Seattle theaters has it– the Cinerama. I think this option should be required on all DVDs, and I also think the technology should be available to them for every program they watch on TV. Further, I believe Netflix should offer this technology to the blind, as well as captioning for the deaf/hh.
Unlike Nicaragua, the US does have the technology and the capability to provide equal access (or pretty close to it) for all. The movie industry makes more money than most businesses today and it surely wouldn’t hurt them to provide equal access to the blind and deaf/hh. If they won’t, then I think all of us deserve discounts.
The extra money I pay for an ‘unlimited’ netflix account goes towards improving technologies that increase access only to the hearing, i.e. video streaming. I thought it was a VERY interesting point Ben made that during the process of streaming their movies, they actually end up STRIPPING the DVD of captioning already present. AND when it’s a foreign film, they somehow have the capability to add English back in. If they can do that to foreign films, they certain add English subtitles to the rest of them. They just don’t want to take the time because it would them cost more.
Lord, Netflix must make tons of money. What do they do with it all? They aren’t spending it on captions– that’s for sure. They also aren’t spending it on packaging.
You are right that ‘bitchiness’ won’t accomplish anything though.
The truth is I was not so bitchy to the person at Netflix. I thanked her for taking the time to answer my questions when I was through. I realized it wasn’t her fault. She only answers calls, she doesn’t decide company policy for Netflix.
I believe in asking questions, asking for services, and asking for discounts. The worst anyone can say is, ‘no.’ If enough of us ask, they’ll consider changing their ways.
Have you heard the expression, ‘The squeaky wheel gets the oil.”? It means that the other wheels might need oil too, but when you’re low on oil, the wheel that makes the most noise will get the proper treatment. I have seen this time and again at the library I work. When folks complain NICELY, staff will bend the rules a little for them, because the truth is we know some of our policies have reasonable arguments against. Also we like to keep people happy with our services.
I say it’s time for us deaf/hh to get out there and do a little complainin’ and misbehavin. Our country is a world leader. When things improve here, other countries want to emulate that. I can’t help those in Nicaragua, though I would if I could.
I have the greatest respect for what you did there.
Hey Kim,
Point taken!
I do understand your point of view. I was just having some concerns with some people getting upset over little things knowing the fact there are worst ones out there for instance Nicaragua which have almost ZERO services, you couldn’t believe it.
But on other hand, I do understand your points. You have my support and yes, I agree that if they make so much money then there shouldn’t be a problem for them to throw in a few dollars to meet our needs.
That’s the thing many companies did not realize is that it might cost them extra money but in a long run, not only they will see their money back, they also will see more profits from it from much more wider audience by providing captions, etc.
You know when I was in Nicaragua, I met several deaf people there who have never travelled to US or anywhere for that matter, they all except one have never heard of VP (Video Phone) and more which has surprised me.
So it is amazing for the fact they are living with absolutely nothing while we practically almost have everything. Sure, it’s not 100% for our needs here but really, I’m happy with what we have here which is why I was hoping that everyone here in this country is aware how lucky they are.
But anyways, I see where you are coming from and you have my support.
-SG
SeekGeo,
The fatal flaw of your argument regarding Nicaraguans rests on the fact that in Nicaragua, they don’t know what they’re missing out on. However, here in America, the situation is entirely different. You see, in our case it looks like this:
Man A and Man B both LOVES soy milk. One day Man A and Man B goes to the store and sees that there isn’t any more soy milk. The store puts up a sign saying soy milk too expensive to carry so it became discontinued.
Man A shrugs it off and buys skim milk, instead. Man B gets upset because now he cannot have any milk because he is lactose intolerant.
But it was only last week that both men enjoyed the same pleasures of enjoying milk. Only now, one cannot.
With Nicaraguans, Man A and Man B never ever had milk. Man C comes in with a jarful of milk and shares to Man A and Man B. What Man C doesn’t realize is that neither Man A or Man B truly grasp the loss of having Milk.
Man C goes to America and sees Man B (American) getting upset about milk then goes on to say, “You should be glad you get to see the milk you cannot enjoy because Men A and B over at Nicaragua doesn’t even have the privilege of seeing the milk they cannot have.”
It’s almost offensive, if you look at it that way. Because week after week, Man B in America has to go back to the supermarket and be tortured by the fact he cannot have milk. Yes, he could offer to pay a higher price for it, or even sell his condo and be a soy farmer so he can have all the soy milk he needs, or even, go to another store (in another state) that carries it.
But in Nicaragua, Man A and Man B jokes about the funny drink called “milk,” and forget it ever existed.
Different needs begets different demands. I’m not saying that the Nicaraguans will never have the desire for milk in the future…I’m sure if you integrate it in their culture enough, the demand will be there.
Come to think of it, how do we know if Nicaraguans will have the same CC problems as we do? All the good American movies would automatically be subtitled because it’s a Spanish-speaking country.
So, I don’t know about being “happy” of not having something so simple even Nicaraguans could access so easily–our own damn movies!
-Ben
SG–Yes I am grateful every day. There is so much we have and so much we take for granted here in the US. This is why I have recently taken up knitting little dolls for African HIV orphans. I can’t think of anyone needier. But that has nothing to do with captions.
There are so many things that need fixin in this big old world of ours. We can’t fix everything, but if each of us focused on just a few things we could get a lot done. Again, I think it’s fantastic that you found a way to work with the Deaf in Nicaragua. You opened their eyes to things and I’m sure they taught you too.
Ben–When we were in Mexico recently I was surprised many TV shows were captioned. But they were captioned in Spanish! American movies were subtitled in Spanish too, so that the rest of my family was able to enjoy movies, but I was left out. If I knew Spanish it would not have been a problem. Oh well. . .I was happy to see that Mexican Deaf people have captioned television
Ben,
When I was in the classroom teaching deaf Nicaraguans, they asked me one simple question is why do some of deaf americans whine about not having enough CC, not having enough interpreters and such because in their eyes, they think we have EVERYTHING which is not true. But then again, because they have almost nothing down there so the way they see it, we do have everything and the way we see it, we don’t have everything.
Oh hella, they only have one interpreter in the whole city of Matagalpa so it takes up to 2-3 months to book one. And the worst part is they have ZERO rights, or anything like we have here with ADA, etc.
Before then, I would whine about something that I don’t have but not anymore, why? Because I have traveled to several countries and I will be damned how lucky we all are living in America. I’m sure you know that so I just simply appreciate of everything what we have and there is always room to improve rather than get upset or angry over something that doesn’t meet your needs all the time.
-SG