We are Working Hard: Reality is Different

If there is one thing I do not have the patience for it is what I call being stroked. People with a disability will know what I am referring to. You arrive at a building and access is limited and there is no accessible bathroom. You find out who is responsible for making the facility accessible and are told the problem is being worked on. This person assures you with great sincerity that access is very important. You are told that "they are working hard on the problem". Fast forward two years, three years or five years later and the problem is still being worked on. Yes, they are working very hard--they are working very hard to con people with a disability and lead you to believe access is a priority. If you believe any person that tells you they are "working hard" on the issue of access than I have a bridge for sale in Brooklyn. What they want is for your crippled ass to go away and never come back. You my friend are not a priority. If you were access issues would be resolved promptly.

The above thoughts came to me as I read an article about how captions are coming--slowly--to internet sites. Closed captioning is mandatory on television but not for programing on the internet. Thus I thought of the actress Marlee Matlin. A truly beautiful woman who two years ago made a short lived splash as a deaf person on the show Dancing with the Stars. Viewers were amazed a deaf person could dance. How inspiring! Spare me! At the time Matlin appeared on the show she was assured that ABC was working hard on the problem of captioning. Fast forward two years later and ABC.com is still working on the problem of captioning on the internet. Two years. In terms of internet technology two years is an eternity. Anyone who purchases a computer knows the machine they purchase is obsolete within months and two years for some is the expected life expectancy of a machine. So, why is ABC still working hard on the problem? The answer is simple: captioning is not a priority. ABC does not care. If I have learned one thing after thirty years of using a wheelchair it is that social and architectural change only comes with a fight. ABC and popular websites such as Hulu, You Tube, Netflix among many others have failed to value captioning. It should be included as part of every single video posted on line. I do not think this is an unreasonable expectation. Every new building constructed is supposed to be accessible. Why not make every new video posted starting tomorrow have captioning. I can just hear the howls of protest. I am being unreasonable. My request, not the word here, request, is impossible to achieve immediately. I am told we need time to work on the problem of captioning. Exactly how much time does ABC need and who is working on the problem? How many hours are spent per day and how many individual have been assigned to the task? Answers to these questions will never be revealed because they would demonstrate the time and energy spent on the problem are negligible. This is infuriating. I would rather be told the truth than lied to and mislead. But lies are the norm as are misleading statements. Hence when I am told someone is working on the problem of access I translate this to mean two things: first, I should go away and never come back; second, no one is really working on the problem. The only way to change this cultural response, that is force people not to blow you off with false promises is to fight--make a stink, threaten a law suit, garner bad publicity etc. Being patient does not work. Exceptions do exist but they are rare and noteworthy. The norm is resistance. Afterall, do you really believe it takes ABC more than two years to solve the problem of captioning?