The Kansas Legislature's Audio And Video Streams Are Violating The Americans With Disabilities Act

By Shanna Groves, Kansas Reflector

April 10, 2021

The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. The author of two books about hearing loss, Shanna Groves teaches lip-reading/speechreading classes and is a member of the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Thirty years ago last summer, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. Ten years later, I was a working mom with a newborn, a newly diagnosed progressive hearing loss, and a challenge in my place of employment: lack of access to audio-only conference call meetings. I was so new in my disability journey that I didn’t know what my workplace disability rights were as outlined by the ADA.

As a member of the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, I have come a long way in understanding the ADA and in bringing awareness to accessibility needs for Kansas residents who, like myself, cannot fully hear. The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government’ programs and services.

Recently, I wanted to learn more about Kansas HB 2443, which would provide an employment preference for persons with a disability for state government positions. I logged onto the Kansas House Commerce, Labor, and Economic Development Committee’s livestream page to view a committee hearing about the bill. The screen had an audio-only stream that did not provide live captions or a transcript. No sign language interpretation was available.

I reached out to Legislative Administration Services in Topeka and was directed to the House, Senate & Committee Video YouTube page, which provides auto-generated closed captions of a committee meeting 30 to 60 minutes after the meeting has ended. Because the captions are auto-generated, I was not certain how accurate they were. At one point, I could see an unmasked committee member’s lips moving but no captions on the screen for several seconds. Because most of the members were wearing face masks and I could not see their lips, I wondered how many of them were talking when the captions failed to work.

How is this accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing? It is most definitely a violation of ADA Title II, which “prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all services, programs, and activities provided to the public by State and local governments.” A federal court might ultimately answer that question, after Chris Haulmark, who is deaf and ran for a House seat in 2018, filed a lawsuit against the Kansas Legislature for this ADA violation in December 2020.

Robert Cooper, executive director of the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, provided me with historical insight into legislative meeting accessibility issues when I contacted him.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Cooper told me by email, the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing took care of making sure the Legislature’s activity was accessible. But then Legislative Administration Services dropped KCDHH from providing that assistance, he said.

“For maybe 20 years until about two years ago, LAS has pretty much disregarded KCDHH,” Cooper said. During those years, CART (Computer-Aided Real-time Translation) was often provided, along with interpreters. “The deaf community has suggested for that administrative function should return back to KCDHH, but to no avail,” Cooper said.

Last fall, KCDHH members were asked by LAS to provide input into audiovisual streaming services for future legislative meetings, which was proposed to begin in December 2020. As of April 8, 2021, the legislative live meeting streaming services are still audio-only, with no live captions, transcript or sign language interpretation when I last checked.

Hearing loss has forced me to rise up and confront the accessibility inequities that are currently posed by the Kansas House and Senate. I am inspired by the advocacy work of students at Gallaudet University, the only university in the world where students live and learn in American Sign Language (ASL) and English. In 1988, they protested for a Deaf President Now and succeeded in this quest when the first deaf president, Dr. I. King Jordan, was appointed at Gallaudet. To quote Dr. King Jordan, “The world has watched the deaf community come of age. Together we’ve overcome our own reluctance to stand up for our own rights.”

It is time for all Kansans to stand up and advocate for the rights of our state’s deaf and hearing loss community. I encourage you to contact Legislative Administrative Services and demand that all public Kansas House and Senate meetings be accessible to everyone, as required by the ADA, by being live-captioned, live transcribed, and sign language interpreted.

Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

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