CCAC Introduction

Rarely do I compliment a blog/website and when I do consider that as a honor. I've known about this organization called "Collaborative for Communication Access via Captioning (CCAC) for awhile and so I've decided to put their CCAC logo on my blog seen on the left column that links to their blog page.  This is the one admirable and doable goal that reaches across all boundaries for people with hearing loss from mild to profoundly deaf.  This about helping ensure on creating the greatest number of  access for everybody since captioning does reach out to the most number of people in an audience. And without the worry about petty internal politics or discrimination and segregation based on hearing status, amount of "deaf experience" you have or whether you know sign language or not.

Captioning is the single most accessible and acceptable form of communication for most people with hearing loss. Their core concept is based on accessibility that reaches out to the greatest number of people in an audience and thus practices the goal of inclusion to those who need it which is essentially anybody and everybody.

The CCAC states 5 simple goals and actions that makes common sense for everybody.

CCAC Goals and Actions:

1. Ensure that captioning is mentioned and included regularly in all the places we need it; universally; as a common everyday practice.
2. Have captioning mentioned and included in all the places that sign language is mentioned and used now.
3. Support consumers to learn about and ask for captioning, and get it, without all the hassle encountered now in too many places.
4. Push captioning into a "respected" resource/language/technology.
5. Encourage professional providers and also those offering systems to expand services.

What naturally makes sense and we all know this is that captioning should a common everyday occurrence no matter where you go. Technology and greater awareness will make that a reality someday soon.

I like #2 goal. One of the biggest misconception and myth about people with hearing loss is that all of them know sign language.  This is simply not true. This same kind of myth (that had an unfortunate unintended consequence) is perpetuated in one Superbowl commercial which had the potential to leave an impression that all deaf/hh people know sign language as their preferred mode of communication. Not even close. In fact, the signing segment of that population makes up a very small minority when compared to a population of 36 million people with hearing loss in the United States. This goal also makes clear that "sign language only" access isn't acceptable form of alternative communication access if the target audience also includes deaf and hard of hearing people whether done live or in a video format such as on YouTube.

The rest of the goals and actions listed are just as good with large doses of common sense. 

In closing, I encourage you to spread the word about the CCAC organization because it does BENEFIT you in more ways than you can imagine. This is the kind of advocacy organization worth joining.