Effective Communication

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One of the most important cases that affect business owners in New Jersey is a case where a deaf patient repeatedly requested that her doctor hire a sign language interpreter. When the doctor refused to provide a sign language interpreter after repeated requests over a period of some 18 months, the deaf patient sued. At the end of the trial, the jury awarded $400,000 to the deaf patient. To learn more about this case, see NJ Doctor Sued for Refusing to Provide ASL Interpretation, Doctor Liable for Not Providing Sign Language Interpreter, and The Price of Disability Law.

It is important that small and large businesses be familiar with both federal and state disability laws that may affect their business.

Caption: A woman is fitting in a hearing aid

Caption: A woman is fitting in a hearing aid

Like the blind and visually impaired, there are degrees of hearing impairments and speech impediments. How one communicates depends on one’s ability to hear, lip-reading skills, speaking abilities, and so on. Some people are deaf (cannot hear anything at all) and some are hearing-impaired (can hear a little or less than the average person). Some deaf people can read lips proficiently and speak well; others cannot and rely on sign language as the exclusive method of communication. Some hearing-impaired people need to hear and read lips simultaneously for effective communication. Hearing aids may help some—but not all—hearing-impaired people. The possibilities are endless.

When a person with a hearing impairment or speech impediment visits a business, it is sound business practice to find ways to communicate effectively. Sign language interpreters are not necessary in all cases. In simple business transactions, such as the selling of pizza, books, or clothes, exchanging written notes can be effective. These exchanges of written notes using pen and paper cost virtually nothing to the business owner. If you see a customer wearing a hearing aid, it is always a good idea to assume that the customer can read lips, so speak as clearly as possible and avoid covering your mouth or face.

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Deaf people are not deaf to justice. Blind people aren’t blind to justice either. When deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, and visually-impaired people are offered accommodations, generally, there should not be any issues related to fulfilling their juror obligations. Provided that individuals with disabilities understand the proceedings and can intelligently answer questions during the voir dire stage, they can serve their juror obligations just as well as anyone.

Caption: Empty seats in the jury box

Caption: Empty seats in the jury box

Yet, I was disheartened several weeks ago when I heard through the grapevine that certain legislators at the North Carolina House of Representatives were opposed to the idea that the deaf and hard-of-hearing should serve as jurors. The National Association of the Deaf blogged about this in North Carolina Legislators Oppose Deaf Jurors. When I read some of the transcript excerpts, I was astonished.

One legislator said, “You know we don’t have quadriplegics running track. Nor do we need to have deaf persons serving on juries…. But if you think about this realistically, folks, as an attorney, I’m never going to let a deaf person serve on a jury. It’s not going to happen.”

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t this the 21st century?

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Unlike music and stand-up comedy, the internet is largely a visual art. Colors, photographs, videos. These are the things that make websites look attractive. But unless the photographs are captioned and the videos are narrated, these things are unimportant to someone who is completely blind.

If you are a sighted person and have a few minutes of spare time to participate in a research project, try this experiment. Remain seated in front of your computer. Keep your hand on the mouse or trackball. Now, close your eyes or put blindfolds on. While your eyes remain closed, move your mouse to the address bar and type in your favorite search engine. Once you think you’re in, type in a couple of keywords. Next, navigate to a computer folder, open up an audio app, and play your favorite music tracks.

Blindfolded female navigating her laptop.

Caption: Blindfolded female navigating her laptop.

It’s quite hard, isn’t it?

Really, we who are sighted must keep our eyes peeled in order to navigate the computer and the internet.

The blind and visually impaired depend on specially-designed software that allow them to navigate the internet. The software is sensitive, however, and some websites contain code that may disrupt the software’s ability to read the text out loud. Recently, the blind and visually impaired were involved in a lawsuit against Target because part of Target’s website was not accessible. In this blog post, I would like to provide a brief overview of how blind or visually impaired individuals surf websites, and what online accessibility means for the blind and visually impaired. In addition, I’d like to briefly discuss the impact the Target lawsuit may have had on other businesses with internet presence.

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Copyright © 2009 Matthew Stoloff All Rights Reserved