ASL Poser Derlyn Roberts with Criminal Past Dupes Tampa Police at News Conference

Dec. 4, 2017 — TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Hearing impaired people tuning into a news conference about the arrest of a suspected serial killer in Seminole Heights got a message of gibberish as they watched an American Sign Language interpreter.

Tampa Police Department spokeswoman Janelle McGregor said officials are conducting a review because they didn’t request an interpreter for the Nov. 28 news conference.

Police Chief Brian Dugan announced the arrest of 24-year-old Howell Donaldson III that day.

Rachelle Settambrino, who teaches sign language at the University of South Florida, says interpreter Derlyn Roberts signed the following: “Fifty-one hours ago, zero 12 22 (indecipherable) murder three minutes in 14 weeks ago in old (indecipherable) murder four five 55,000 plea 10 arrest murder bush (indecipherable) three age 24.”

The next day, a new interpreter was at the news conference.

Source: Associated Press

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Dec. 4, 2017 Video report from News 8 Tampa WFLA.

U.S. Appeals Court Finds Movie Theaters Must Accommodate Deaf-Blind Patrons

(AP) — Federal disability law requires movie theaters to provide specialized interpreters to patrons who are deaf and blind, an appeals court said Friday Oct. 6, 2017. 

Associated Press | October 8, 2017                                                                                              

The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Cinemark, the nation’s third-largest movie chain, in a case involving a Pennsylvania man who wanted to see the 2014 movie “Gone Girl” and asked a Cinemark theater in Pittsburgh to supply a “tactile interpreter.” The theater denied his request.

The plaintiff, Paul McGann, is a movie enthusiast who reads American Sign Language through touch. He uses a method of tactile interpretation that involves placing his hands over the hands of an interpreter who uses sign language to describe the movie’s action, dialogue and even the audience response.

The federal appeals court concluded Friday that tactile interpreters are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that public accommodations furnish “auxiliary aids and services” to patrons with vision, hearing and speech disabilities.

“It would be impossible for a deaf-blind person to experience the movie and understand the content without the provision of tactile interpretation,” said Carol A. Horowitz, managing attorney of Disability Rights Pennsylvania, which filed suit on McGann’s behalf.

The ruling said Cinemark still can argue that providing the interpreters would present an “undue burden,” an exception to the disability law that takes into account the cost of the accommodation and the business’s ability to pay for it. It sent the case back to a federal judge to consider that argument.

Because of the intensive nature of the work, McGann requires the services of two interpreters. The interpreters cost a few hundred dollars per showing.

Cinemark earned $257 million in 2016. The movie chain also has said that before McGann, it had never before received a request for tactile interpretation.

A spokesperson for the Plano, Texas-based chain said Cinemark is evaluating its legal options.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed documents in support of McGann.

EEOC Sues Walmart for Disability Discrimination, Failed to Accommodate Deaf Employee With Visual Impairment

Retail Giant Suspended and Failed to Accommodate Longtime Deaf Employee With Visual Impairment, Federal Agency Charges

Sept 26, 2017 - WalMart violated federal law when it failed to accommodate a longtime employee because of his disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, Paul Reina, who has a developmental disability and is deaf and visually impaired, worked as a cart pusher in the Beloit, Wis., Walmart store for 16 years before a new manager started at the store. In his first month, a new store manager suspended Reina and forced him to resubmit medical paperwork in order to keep his reasonable accommodations. Prior to the suspension, Reina performed his job with the accommodation of assistance from a job coach provided by an advocacy organization. Reina's conditions had not changed.

When Reina and his legal guardian submitted new medical paperwork, requesting the continued accommodation of assistance from a job coach, the store cut off communication, the EEOC said. The store's insistence that Reina take a suspension until a new but unnecessary request for accommodations was finalized, coupled with the company's failure to communicate, made a return to work impossible for Reina, the EEOC said.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores East, LP, Civil Action No. 3:17-cv-739), in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The lawsuit asks the court to order Wal-Mart to pay Reina appropriate back and front pay as well as compensatory and punitive damages. The lawsuit also seeks a permanent injunction enjoining Wal-Mart from failing to provide reasonable accommodations for disability in the future.

"Employers have a legal obligation under federal law to work with employees who need accommodations for disabilities," said Gregory Gochanour, regional attorney for the EEOC's Chicago District. "When companies shirk that obligation, the EEOC will fight to uphold the rights of people with disabilities."

Julianne Bowman, district director of the EEOC's Chicago District, said, "It is the employer's responsibility to make sure that all managers are trained on the laws against disability discrimination. Effectively denying a request or a reasonable accommodation to someone with a 16-year track record of successful work is illegal discrimination."

The EEOC's Chicago District is responsible for investigating charges of employment discrimination, administrative enforcement, and the conduct of agency litigation in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota, with Area Offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.

Source: EEOC press release

EEOC Sues Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas for Disability Discrimination, Refused to Hire Hearing-Impaired Applicant

 Health Care Company Refused to Hire Hearing-Impaired Applicant Because of Her Disability, Federal Agency Charges

Sept 26, 2017 - BlueCross/Blue Shield of Texas, a Dallas health care company, violated federal law by failing to provide a reasonable accommodation to a hearing-impaired applicant during the application process, resulting in her denial of hire, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

According to the EEOC, Sheryl Meador, who is deaf, applied through an online application process for an open claims examiner position with BlueCross/Blue Shield of Texas. After submitting her résumé, she received an e-mail from the company with instructions to complete a 35-minute assessment exam that included an audio portion. Meador was unable to complete the audio portion of the exam because of her disability. There were no captions or other visible accommodations that would allow Meador to complete the audio portion of the assessment exam and thus complete the application process.

According to the suit, Meador contacted BlueCross/Blue Shield of Texas and informed the company's recruiting coordinator that she is deaf and requested a reasonable accommodation for the audio portion of the assessment exam because of her disability. Meador and representatives from the company exchanged emails relating to her disability and her application. However, the company ultimately failed to respond to her requests. As a result, she was not allowed to complete the application process and was denied the claims examiner position.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which protects employees from discrimination based on their disabilities and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees' and applicants' disabilities. The EEOC sued in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Civil Action No.3:17-CV-02626-D) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC seeks injunctive relief, including the formulation of policies to prevent disability discrimination in the future, as well as lost wages and compensatory and punitive damages.

The EEOC expects to be joined in this effort by Disability Rights Texas, a federally designated legal protection and advocacy agency for people with disabilities in Texas. Disability Rights Texas represented Meador throughout the EEOC investigation.

"One of the Commission's priorities is to remove barriers to employment for people with disabilities," said Suzanne Anderson, EEOC supervisory trial attorney. "Applicants with disabilities must be provided access to online application processes so they have a chance to present their qualifications to employers for open positions."

Joel Clark, senior trial attorney for the EEOC, said, "Sheryl Meador was very interested in the opportunity to apply for the claims examiner position. She made repeated efforts to communicate with BlueCross/Blue Shield of Texas and ask for an accommodation so she could apply. For her to be ignored is both unconscionable and unlawful."

The EEOC is advances opportunities in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.

SOURCE: EEOC press release 

Oklahoma City Police Fatally Shoot Man Who Was Deaf In Front Of His Home

Magdiel Sanchez, 35, was shot and killed by a police officer in his front yard Tuesday night. Neighbors say he was non-verbal, waved his arms often when trying to communicate and was deaf. 

# # #

article by Ken Miller, the  Associated Press | Sept.20, 2017                                                             
Oklahoma City police officers who opened fire on a man in front of his home as he approached them holding a metal pipe didn't hear witnesses yelling that he was deaf, a department official said Wednesday.

Magdiel Sanchez, 35, wasn't obeying the officers' commands before one shot him with a gun and the other with a Taser on Tuesday night, police Capt. Bo Mathews said at a news conference. He said witnesses were yelling "he can't hear you" before the officers fired, but they didn't hear them.

"In those situations, very volatile situations, you have a weapon out, you can get what they call tunnel vision, or you can really lock in to just the person that has the weapon that'd be the threat against you," Mathews said. "I don't know exactly what the officers were thinking at that point."

Sanchez, who had no apparent criminal history, died at the scene. The officer who fired the gun, Sgt. Chris Barnes, has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Mathews said the officers were investigating a reported hit-and-run at around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday. He said a witness told Lt. Matthew Lindsey the address where the vehicle responsible for the hit-and-run had gone, and that Sanchez was on the porch when Lindsey arrived.

He said Sanchez was holding a metal pipe that was approximately two feet (0.6 meters) long and that had a leather loop on one end for wrapping around one's wrist. Lindsey called for backup and Barnes arrived, at which point Sanchez left the porch and began to approach the officers, Mathews said.

Witnesses could hear the officers giving Sanchez commands, but the officers didn't hear the witnesses yelling that Sanchez couldn't hear them, Mathews said. When he was about 15 feet (4.5 meters) away from the officers, they opened fire — Lindsey with his Taser and Barnes with his gun, apparently simultaneously, Mathews said.

He said he didn't know how many shots were fired, but that it was more than one.

When asked why Barnes used a gun instead of a Taser, Mathews said he didn't know. He said it's possible Barnes wasn't equipped with a Taser. Neither officer had a body camera.

Sanchez's father, who was driving the hit-and-run vehicle, confirmed after the shooting that his son was deaf, Mathews said. He said Sanchez wasn't in the vehicle when his father struck something and drove off. It wasn't a person that he struck.

A man who saw Oklahoma City police officers open fire on Sanchez says his neighbor was developmentally disabled and also didn't speak.

Neighbor Julio Rayos told The Oklahoman on Wednesday that in addition to being deaf, Sanchez was developmentally disabled and didn't speak, communicating mainly through hand movements. Rayos said he believes Sanchez became frustrated trying to tell the officers what was going on.

"The guy does movements," Rayos told the newspaper. "He don't speak, he don't hear, mainly it is hand movements. That's how he communicates. I believe he was frustrated trying to tell them what was going on."

Jolie Guebara, who lives two houses from the shooting scene, told The Associated Press that she heard five or six gunshots before she looked outside and saw the police.

"He always had a stick that he would walk around with, because there's a lot of stray dogs," Guebara said.

Guebara said Sanchez, whose name she didn't know, wrote notes to communicate with her and her husband when he would occasionally stop and visit if they were outside.

Police initially said Sanchez was carrying a stick, but Mathews described it Wednesday as a metal pipe.

Sanchez's death is the latest in a string of controversial killings by Oklahoma police in recent years. In 2015, a white Tulsa County reserve deputy fatally shot an unarmed black man who was on the ground being subdued. He said he meant to shoot the suspect with a stun gun but mistakenly used his firearm instead. He was sentenced to four years in prison.

In May, a white former Tulsa police officer, Betty Shelby, was acquitted in the 2016 killing of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man who had his hands up when she fired. Much like in the Sanchez killing, another officer almost simultaneously fired a Taser at Crutcher when Shelby fired her gun. Unlike Sanchez's killing, both Tulsa killings were captured on video.

Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission Director Put On Paid Leave

Illinois - The director of a state agency created to advocate for the state’s more than 384,000 deaf residents has been placed on paid “administrative leave,” The State Journal-Register has learned.

article by Dean Olsen, for The State Journal Register | Sept. 13, 2017                                           
Leslie Strain, spokeswoman for the Springfield-based Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission, wouldn’t say why John D. Miller of Sherman was put on leave.

“It is a personnel matter,” she said Wednesday.

She also wouldn’t say whether Miller’s new status is related to complaints about Miller’s conduct filed this summer with the commission and the executive branch’s Office of Executive Inspector General.

The complaints, filed by the Illinois Association of the Deaf, an all-volunteer group that has been critical of Miller and the agency in the past, say Miller has “harassed and attempted to intimidate several IAD members.”

The complaints say the alleged harassment by Miller, which included him contacting one IAD member’s employer, apparently is related to the members’ dissatisfaction with the agency and its board, and for the IAD’s support of a bill to reform the 20-year-old agency.

“The IAD and its members are guaranteed freedom of speech under the U.S. and Illinois Constitution,” IAD attorney Andres Gallegos writes in a “cease and desist” letter dated July 20 to Miller and commission attorney Tonia Bogener.

“We recognize the limits of free speech, but the exercise of that constitutional right cannot be interfered with, suppressed or punished because of its content, particularly by a state agency executive,” Gallegos writes.

Strain wouldn’t respond to the association’s allegations.

She also wouldn’t say when Miller, 47, went on leave, though she said the move was “recent” and took place “in the last several months.” She wouldn’t say how long Miller might be gone.

Miller has been director of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission since 2004 and is paid $81,528 per year.

Strain wouldn’t say who made the personnel decision, though the state law that created the commission 20 years ago says the agency’s 11-member commission hires, fires and supervises the director. The governor appoints all commission members, and the agency is part of the administration of Gov. Bruce Rauner.

The Office of Executive Inspector General told Gallegos in an Aug. 17 letter that it is “more appropriate” for the association’s allegations to be addressed by the governor’s office. A Rauner aide didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Dennis O’Brien, a Wheaton resident who is chairman of the commission’s board, didn’t respond to an email and phone message.

Miller couldn’t be reached. No one answered the door when a State Journal-Register reporter stopped by his home this week and left a written request for comment.

While Miller is on leave, day-to-day operations of the agency, staffed by a handful of state employees, are being handled by assistant director Janet Lambert, according to Strain.

Members of the Illinois Association of the Deaf have questioned Miller’s competence and criticized the commission’s board, as well as Miller and Lambert, for a lack of advocacy in the General Assembly to pass legislation benefiting the state’s deaf and hard of hearing population.

The association also has faulted the agency for a lack of “information and referral” services to deaf people who are attempting to secure educational services in public schools, those who are fighting discrimination on the job, and those having disputes with interpreters.

The association supports Senate Bill 752, which passed the Senate 54-0 on April 25 and would make several changes in the agency. The bill is pending in the House.

The Senate unanimously voted May 31 to adopt a nonbinding resolution that calls on the Rauner administration to work with the IDHHC to “develop a report of recommendations to help ensure the commission is better able to serve the deaf, hard of hearing and DeafBlind community.”

Miller said this spring that he and the commission’s board oppose SB 752; he said changes that are part of the legislation were “misdirected” and would result in unnecessary duplication of services.

Under the bill, people appointed to the board by the governor would have to be confirmed by the Illinois Senate. The agency would be explicitly required to “advocate” for the deaf and provide a range of services.

The bill also would require more board members to be deaf or hard of hearing. Parents or guardians of deaf children would need to be represented on the board, and at least one board member would have to be both deaf and blind.

Corey Axelrod, president of the Illinois Association of the Deaf, said the association’s board of directors voted this past weekend to continue to support the legislation.

The IAD emailed a letter to commission chairman O’Brien on Wednesday asking about Miller’s status.

“We’re trying to figure out what the heck is going on,” Axelrod told the SJ-R. “There has been no transparency whatsoever from the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission or the governor’s office.”

The IAD letter also says the commission’s website is outdated and adds that the agency’s “lack of outreach is a concerning issue. ... Without clear and public information regarding the status and activities of the IDHHC, the impacted constituencies are searching for answers.”

http://www.sj-r.com/news/20170913/illinois-deaf-commission-director-put-on-paid-leave

Capstone Logistics Sued For Employment Disability Discrimination of Deaf Applicant by FEDS

Warehouse Refused to Hire Qualified Applicant Because He Is Deaf, Federal Agency Says

July 17, 2017 - BALTIMORE - Capstone Logistics LLC, a leading provider of outsourced supply chain solutions to distribution centers in the grocery, food service, retail and other industries, violated federal law when it refused to hire an applicant because of his deafness, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced today.

According to the EEOC's suit, George Harris, who is deaf, applied for a warehouse position with Capstone and the site manager at Capstone's warehouse in Jessup, Md., emailed Harris to schedule an interview. When Harris arrived for the interview on May 6, 2016, the site manager canceled the interview and said they would reschedule so that human resources and an interpreter could be present.

However, Capstone did not contact Harris, the EEOC said. When Harris called using a video relay, the site manager said the human resources department was working to contact an interpreter and that it would take another week or two to schedule an interview.

On May 16, the site manager instead sent Harris a text message saying, "…we have determined that there is no job that we can offer that would be safe for you. There is just too much equipment traffic in our work areas and being able to hear a horn or equipment in operation is paramount for safety. I would not want to put you in a dangerous position." Capstone never asked Harris about his ability to perform any of the essential functions of a warehouse position, with or without reasonable accommodation, the EEOC charged.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to undertake a rigorous assessment of whether a disabled employee poses a safety threat in the workplace. The EEOC's regulations state that an employer's direct threat assessment must be "based on a reasonable medical judgment that relies on the most current medical knowledge and/or on the best available objective evidence."

The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Capstone Logistics, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:17-cv-01980) in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. As part of the suit, the EEOC is seeking back pay and compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief prohibiting the company from engaging in any employment practices that discriminate based on disability in the future.

"This case should send a strong message to all employers that they must make hiring decisions based on the applicant's qualifications, not speculation about his disability," said Spencer H. Lewis, Jr., district director of EEOC's Philadelphia District Office. "There is a wealth of resources to assist employers in making hiring decisions and providing a reasonable accommodation, including information on our website or on the Job Accommodation Network's website."

EEOC Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence added, "Mr. Harris was qualified for the warehouse laborer position but Capstone refused to communicate with him about his ability to do the job let alone explore possible reasonable accommodations that would address any purported safety concerns. The EEOC will take vigorous action when an employer makes a hiring decision based on a bias against or outdated stereotypes about individuals with a disability."

Eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring, especially class-based recruitment and hiring practices that discriminate against racial, ethnic and religious groups, older workers, women, and people with disabilities, is one of six national priorities identified by the EEOC's Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP). Addressing emerging and developing issues in equal employment law, including issues involving the ADA, is another SEP priority.  

The EEOC's Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the EEOC Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C. and parts of Virginia.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.

source: EEOC press release

Deaf Rights Movement History with the Disability Rights Movement

The 'Deaf Rights Movement' encompasses a series of social movements within the disability rights and cultural diversity movements that encourages deaf and hard of hearing people and society to adopt a position of respect for Deaf people, accepting deafness as a cultural identity and a variation in functioning rather than a communication disorder to be cured. (wikipedia - Deaf rights movement )

"Through Deaf Eyes" is a two-hour HDTV documentary for PBS exploring nearly 200 years of Deaf life in America. The film presents the shared experiences of American history family life, education, work, and community connections from the perspective of Deaf citizens.

Interwoven throughout the film are six short documentaries produced by Deaf media artists and filmmakers. Poignant, sometimes humorous, these commissioned stories bring a personalized sense of Deaf life in America to the film. Through first person accounts and the film as a whole, THROUGH DEAF EYES tells the story of conflicts, prejudice and affirmation that ultimately reaches the heart of what it means to be human.

THROUGH DEAF EYES has a dedicated PBS website, with more resources to explore:

http://www.pbs.org/weta/throughdeafeyes/index.html

YouTube Published by ASL IVC (I do not own the rights to this video.)

Sign languages are an important part of Deaf culture.

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is another great resource. The NAD is the nation's premier civil rights organization of, by, and for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in the United States of America. https://www.nad.org/

(if any other resources to be considered for additions to this post, please contact us)

Deaf Rights Symposium - August 18 - 20, 2017 - Chicago Area

SPOTLIGHT on DEAF RIGHTS ISSUES:

The Americans with Disabilities Act and other similar civil rights laws are purposefully broad to include protections for a diverse population of people with disabilities. How do these laws apply to d/Deaf specific issues? How can d/Deaf people utilize these laws to their fullest capacity to protect their right to equal opportunity? What should service providers know when it comes to serving d/Deaf individuals? The Great Lakes ADA Center is hosting this wonderful event!

Registration now open!

Call for Volunteers!

The Great Lakes ADA Center's Deaf Rights Symposium is looking for volunteers to help with the symposium. Volunteers do NOT need to have any ASL experience prior. We will need volunteers for a variety of needs such as assistance with registration, room moderators, runners, general information support team and more. All are welcome to apply by completing the Volunteer Form.

Scope of Conference

This conference provides education and professional development to providers and consumers working with and navigating the rights of d/Deaf persons toward effective communication and equitable participation in society. The conference will focus on issues of access and equitable treatment in the areas of:

• Arts and Culture;
• Employment;
• Government Services;
• High Education;
• Healthcare;
• Judicial and Law Enforcement;
• Professional Services (Legal, Financial, etc)

QUESTIONS

Contact Great Lakes ADA Center at:

• (877)232-1990 (V/TTY)
• (312) 767-0377 (VP)
• DeafRights@adagreatlakes.org

Registration now open!

Closed Captioning for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Now Available on Facebook Live

June 6, 2017  (USA TODAY) — Facebook says it's bringing closed captioning to Facebook Live to make at least some of the videos streamed live on the social network accessible to people who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Not all Live videos will have closed captions. But if publishers deploy captions and if Facebook users turn them on, Facebook users will automatically see closed captions on Live broadcasts, Facebook's director of accessibility Jeffrey Wieland told USA TODAY. Facebook videos that are not live-streamed already had this capability, but only if the publishers offer captions.

The move is part of the broader push at Facebook to make more of its content accessible to more people. More than 5% of the world's population, about 360 million people, are deaf and hard of hearing. About 30 million people in the U.S. have some degree of hearing loss, a figure that's likely to increase as the population ages.

"It's absolutely an imperative for the deaf and hard of hearing community so our hope really is that we can continue to build more and more tools in the captioning space that increase the amount of videos that have captioning both real time and otherwise," Wieland said.

Too often people who are deaf and hard of hearing are unable to watch online video clips because the captioning is wildly inaccurate or because there is no captioning at all. The accuracy of captions for live television and Internet are frequently even worse.

Captions are a key accessibility tool, says Rikki Poynter, a 25-year-old deaf YouTuber who advocates for more and better closed captioning.

"We want and need to be able to understand online content especially if these videos contain information like weather announcements and forecasts, anything regarding politics, etc. Obviously, all online content being captioned is important to me, but it's extra important when it can cause an effect on our lives," Poynter said in an email. "Also, we just want to watch fun videos, too."

Closed captioning is mandated on television but not on the Internet. It was developed in the 1970s to make television accessible to deaf and hard of hearing viewers but is also widely used by people who have no hearing difficulties. In fact, Wieland says Facebook has found that people engage more with videos that have captions.

Facebook said it does not know how many of its videos have closed captions. That's because the responsibility for providing the captions falls on video publishers.

Starting in 2014, Facebook made it possible for publishers to add closed captions via a text file when uploading videos to their pages. Publishers can also use Facebook's speech recognition service to generate automatic captions for videos on their pages that can then be edited. Facebook says it's exploring technology to improve captioning on video.

With the latest updates to Facebook Live, publishers who have their own captioning technology will be able to add captions to Live videos, Wieland said. Publishers who don't create their own captions can work with vendors to insert captions into Live broadcasts, he said.

"I think it's a great idea. It's something that people have been wanting for YouTube live broadcasts, but haven't been able to get it," Poynter said. "I'm very interested in seeing how the live captions on Facebook streams will work."

Closed captions, like other accessibility features, were an afterthought for much of the Internet. But tech companies are under growing pressure to address the pervasive lack of accessibility as the world's population grows and ages and as more of everyday life takes place online. Dependent on growth, these companies cannot afford to overlook large swaths of the population.

They also could face some legal exposure. It's unclear if websites and mobile apps are legally required to provide equal access to people with disabilities under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act which became law before the Internet was as ubiquitous as it is today. But consumers and their advocates are filing lawsuits, claiming tech companies have just as much of a legal obligation to make their services accessible.

The challenge for companies like Facebook and Google's YouTube: the growing number of online video clips flooding those services. More and more, these companies are leaning on artificial intelligence to automatically generate captions or on community members to volunteer captions.

YouTube first launched closed captions in 2006. Three years later it began using automatic speech recognition to add closed captioning to YouTube videos. YouTube users watch videos with these captions many millions of times each day, but the captions are too often riddled with errors. Poynter's campaign #NoMoreCraptions called out "crappy" captions on YouTube.

Google's automatic captions have improved over the years, she says, so the words are mostly correct but the grammar still isn't. "Everything is a run-on sentence and there's no punctuation," Poynter said.

One of the worst problems, she says, are community contributed captions.

"Some of the biggest YouTubers use that method to get captions and a lot of people will write in unnecessary (and sometimes very, very rude) commentary about the YouTuber or things in general. It's not what captions are for. It's one thing when everything is written incorrectly as far as grammar and stuff goes, but to deliberately add in such content is worse," Poynter said.

Facebook says it's a business imperative to build close captioning tools for video. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has predicted that videos will become a primary way that people share on Facebook in coming years.

"We have always felt that our mission of connecting everybody in the world means everyone. And in order for us to include people who are deaf and hard of hearing as equal members of our platform, we have to build great captioning tools for them," Wieland said. "My hope is that we get to a point as an industry that it is simply the default experience that videos come with closed captioning. We certainly have a ways to go, but I'm optimistic."

Poynter urges Facebook and other major tech companies to accelerate their efforts.

"Any big companies that read this article (including Google, YouTube, and Facebook), please work on bettering captions," she said. "We've gotten better than what it was years ago when stuff first came out, but there's still more work to be done!"

Follow USA TODAY senior technology writer Jessica Guynn on Twitter @jguynn

© 2017 USATODAY.COM

Hermon and Heroda, Twin Sisters Use Style Breaking Barriers for the Deaf

Hermon and Heroda Berhane: photo - Being Her blog

Article by Torera Idowu, for CNN | May 4, 2017                                                                                  

Fashion bloggers Hermon and Heroda Berhane were 7 when they both mysteriously went deaf at the same time. Now 34, the Eritrean-Ethiopian twin sisters have blossoming careers in modeling and acting as well as a fashion blog.

Their mission is simple. "We want to tell people around the world that you should embrace disability, not hide from it," the twins said in an email interview with CNN.

Childhood in Eritrea
Growing up in Eritrea, the sisters had a happy childhood, and like many twins, they share a special bond.

Hermon once injured her cheek while riding her mountain bike. Heroda wasn't even with her but said she knew something had happened.

"When my left cheek started hurting, I knew she was in trouble. ... It was the only explanation for my pain," Heroda said.

Like most twins, Hermon, left, and Heroda Berhane share a strong bond.

It took their parents a long time to realize the girls were deaf.

"We were playing together in the backyard of our parents' house; our mother was trying to call our names, and we did not hear at all," the twins said.

Their brother was also deaf, so the family decided to move to the UK to seek medical help.

'Deaf people can do it'                                                                                                                     

Hermon's acting journey began after she took a trip to South America, while Heroda's confidence grew when she landed a role in a television commercial.

As far as Hermon is concerned, "Deaf people can do it like everyone can."

"We had quite (a lot) of barriers through our lives, especially (our) career, but we fight for it. ... We will have to use our deafness and being black women to break these barriers."

'People are hungry for real inspiration'
The twins recently launched a fashion blog, Being Her, where they model affordable urban and traditional Eritrean outfits to a growing audience.

"People are hungry for real inspiration, and we want you to see that we're wearing clothes that we can afford and most importantly that you can relate (to) with our personality."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/04/health/deaf-bloggers-breaking-boundaries/

Deaf People and Employment in the United States: 2016

The National Deaf Center on Post-secondary Outcomes released a report detailing employment data for deaf people in the United States.

Employment is the most commonly used metric for success in the United States today. When you meet a new person, one of the first few questions asked is typically... so, what do you do? Vast amounts of federal funding dollars are earmarked for employment training, placement, and rehabilitation programs across the country. In order to assess the needs of a specific population, we often use employment data as an outcome measure. Despite positive post-secondary enrollment trends and improvements in legal policies surrounding access, anti-discrimination, and the workforce, particularly through the Americans with Disabilities Act, employment outcomes for deaf adults remain mixed, and the data appears to vary wildly across sources.



 Deaf Employment Report_final.pdf

For the many resources available from the National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes, visit:

http://www.nationaldeafcenter.org/resources/current-research

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/nationaldeafcenter/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE

Webinar March 9th:"Communications Approaches During and After An Emergency" for People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

March 9th, 2017

It is well known that people who are deaf or hard of hearing can experience communication issues during emergency announcements. It is also well-known that meetings need communications accommodations for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. In the emergency world, there are crucial meetings that people in the community need to be involved in after an emergency.

• Webinars begin at 2.30pm ET/1.30pm CT/12.30 pm MT/11.30am PT/9.30am Hawaii.
• Registration: Free on-line at http://www.adapresentations.org/registration.php
• Registration closes at midnight, March 8th, 2017

The webinar highlights two efforts to bridge those gaps. First, the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing (ACDHH), along with the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA), Maricopa County Department of Emergency Management (MCDEM), Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management (DFFM), and the American Red Cross-Arizona/New Mexico/El Paso Chapter collaborated to create the "Emergency Response Interpreters Credentialing Program" (ERIC) for ASL Interpreters and CART providers wishing to provide services during emergency and disaster response situations. As a result of this program, trained and qualified interpreters and captioners are available to work in a variety of high-pressure settings, such as evacuation shelters, press conferences, active wildfire camps, and community meetings. The inaugural training for the ERIC program was hosted in November of 2016 and organizers have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. This webinar will discuss the role of each agency in the training and implementation phases of the program, as well as training content and participant requirements.

In the second presentation, the North Carolina Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing (DSDHH) will share its experience in organizing events for Hurricane Matthew survivors who are Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing with assistance from FEMA and NC Emergency Management Recovery. They will review the obstacles survivors who are Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing face when they attend local community meetings or events that were provided to public even when communication access (ASL interpreters, CART) are being provided? DSDHH will describe how the event for survivors was set up with FEMA's and NC Emergency Management's participation.

Learning objectives:

• Identify potential gaps in accessibility for Deaf and Hard of Hearing community members during emergency/disaster response.
• Understand the importance of multiple agency partnerships in addressing identified gaps
• Understand the participation and training requirements necessary for professionals providing accessibility during emergency/disaster response
• Strengthen awareness on the importance of having a separate event for disaster survivors who are Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing in order to meet their needs for more depth access to information that will impact how much they receive during the recovery process.
• Develop tools in organizing an event for disaster survivors who are Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing.
• Recognize the importance of working collaboratively with FEMA and local emergency responders in the event of a federal disaster declaration.

Presenters:

• Vicki Bond is the Interpreter Outreach and Development Coordinator at the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing, where she provides outreach and education to interpreters and providers working with interpreters throughout the state of Arizona. She helped to create and pilot the ERIC program, ensuring that the training content and support systems created by the team would be sufficient to sustain the professionals providing access during emergency response events in Arizona. Vicki has been an ASL/English interpreter for 13 years, having earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Arizona in Educational Interpreting, and a Master of Arts degree in Interpretation from Gallaudet University. She holds the NIC Advanced certification, and the State of Arizona Legal A Interpreting License.
• Judy Kioski is the Administrator for the Arizona Emergency Information Network (www.azein.gov), the State's source for real-time emergency bulletins, preparedness information and related resources. This website is a nationwide model for emergency response agency partnerships and social media interaction. Judy has been working in emergency public information and crisis communication since 2003. Over the past 13 years, she has been responsible for coordinating a "single governmental voice" when responding to an emergency that requires state assistance and coordinates the state Joint Information System. She works with state agencies, tribes, counties and volunteer organizations in coordinating public awareness campaigns, emergency messaging and preparedness issues.
• Donna Platt is Emergency Preparedness Coordinator with North Carolina Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing. She has over 17-year experience providing support, training, and consultation to 9-1-1 telecommunicators and emergency responders on effective communication access to Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing individuals in Washington State and North Carolina as well as education and resources on 9-1-1, emergency notification and preparedness to those consumers. Donna was one of four co-organizers in coordinating Disaster Preparedness Skills Building Training for Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing in Seattle for two years. She was one of subject expert matters for the development of Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc.'s Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network (CEPIN) training manual for both emergency responders and community members who were Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing. She is currently NENA Accessibility Committee Co-Chair to ensure that 9-1-1 technologies and services are communication accessible for individuals with disabilities when calling 911 directly. Donna has served on three national committees; National Association for the Deaf's Emergency Communication Subcommittee, FCC Emergency Access Advisory Committee, and Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center National Advisory Committee-University of California-Berkeley.

These 90 minute webinars are delivered using the Blackboard Collaborate webinar platform. Collaborate downloads files to your device in order to run. We recommend that you prepare your technology prior to the start of the session. You may need the assistance of your IT Staff if firewalls prevent you from downloading files.

To view upcoming sessions, go to http://www.adapresentations.org/schedule.php

To see previous sessions, go to http://www.adapresentations.org/archive.php

The information presented in this webinar is intended solely as informal guidance, and is neither a determination of legal rights or responsibilities by NIDILRR or FEMA.

SOURCE: Press Release

Super Bowl 2017 National Anthem and “America The Beautiful” in American Sign Language (ASL)

On behalf of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), actor Kriston Lee Pumphrey will perform in American Sign Language both the National Anthem and “America The Beautiful”.

Kriston Lee Pumphrey, an anchor at sign language channel DPAN-TV, performed both the National Anthem and "America The Beautiful," at the Super Bowl LI (51), alongside country music superstar Luke Bryan Feb. 5 in Houston.

YouTube published by BennettASL | Feb. 5, 2017

"One of the reasons why DPAN-TV was established is because we feel deaf people should have access to information," In s statement  Pumphrey said. "People don't realize the deaf community misses out on a lot of things going on in the world and in the news. And, to be on a national stage, this is a huge deal for us".    

Kriston Lee Pumphrey is a performing artist who is working as a news anchor at the Deaf Professional Arts Network (DPAN-TV). Kriston Lee graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2009 with a degree in business and communication. Kriston Lee co-founded ColorFest, a Deaf LGBT leadership conference for college students that is hosted both at Gallaudet University and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. Kriston Lee is involved in various community related advocacy work and currently serves on the board of a D.C. based nonprofit organization that strives to end sexual assault and domestic violence within the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. (source: National Association of the Deaf (NAD) )

"We Can't Breathe": The Deaf & Disabled Margin of Police Brutality

Nov. 30, 2016 -- The National Council on Independent Living’s Diversity Committee releases “We Can’t Breathe: The Deaf & Disabled Margin of Police Brutality Project.” This project includes a video and toolkit that can be utilized for educational training for disability organizations and agencies. The video discusses the narratives of 5 people with disabilities on the margins that have been victimized by police brutality and other forms of systemic violence. The We Can’t Breathe Toolkit was designed to equip disability organizations, agencies, and community members with the tools to process the video and build policies, programming, and advocacy that center intersectional organizing. The project addresses how state violence affects people with disabilities who are also women, people of color, and LGBTQ+. This training intentionally utilizes an intersectional framework to combat the racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia that pervade disability organizations and agencies.

In conjunction with the release of the We Can’t Breathe Project, there will also be a Facebook and Twitter chat the evening of November 30th from 7pm – 8pm EST. Anyone can participate in these conversations through the Facebook event page and/or NCIL’s Twitter page. 

SOURCE: Press Release

McDonald's to Pay $56,500 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit

Refused to Interview Deaf Applicant, Federal Agency Charged

ST. LOUIS -- McDonald's Corporation and McDonald's Restaurants of Missouri will pay $56,500 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination suit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today. EEOC had charged that McDonald's refused to interview a deaf job applicant at its Belton, Mo., restaurant because of his deafness.

According to EEOC's lawsuit, the young man applied online in June 2012 for a position at the Belton McDonald's. The applicant, who is unable to hear or speak, had previous experience working at a McDonald's in another state as a cook and clean-up team member. According to the suit, when the restaurant manager learned that the young man needed a sign language interpreter for his job interview, she canceled his job interview, even though the applicant's sister volunteered to serve as an interpreter. The restaurant continued to interview and hire new workers after the young man made several attempts to reschedule an interview.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). EEOC filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, (EEOC v. McDonald's Corporation, et al, 4:11-CV-00395), in December 2015 after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

In addition to monetary relief for the applicant, the three-year consent decree resolving the suit requires McDonald's, which recently sold the Belton restaurant, to ensure that the new owner trains management employees on the ADA's requirements, including providing reasonable accommodations to disabled applicants and employees. The restaurant will also maintain a telephone line that applicants can call to request accommodation, and McDonald's will submit annual compliance reports to EEOC.

"Federal law clearly requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to deaf and hearing-impaired employees and applicants," said EEOC St. Louis District Director James R. Neely, Jr.

EEOC Regional Attorney Andrea G. Baran added, "Unemployment rates for disabled workers far exceed those of the general population, and employers create a huge barrier to employment when they fail to provide necessary reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. Such behavior is short-sighted in addition to being unlawful."

EEOC Senior Trial Attorney Dayna F Deck said, "Employers must recognize their obligation to accommodate applicants with disabilities. If a deaf applicant's primary language is American Sign Language, then working with the applicant to have an ASL interpreter at the job interview is key to providing that applicant an equal opportunity to compete for the job."

Eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring is one of six national priorities identified by EEOC's Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP).

EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. The St. Louis District Office oversees Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and a portion of southern Illinois. Further information about EEOC is available on its website at www.eeoc.gov.

SOURCE: Press Release EEOC Oct 18, 2016

Public Meeting Oct. 6th: On Chicago Police Department Interactions With People With Disabilities and Deaf People / Guest - USDOJ

The U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) held forums across the city of Chicago to get input from the public on the conduct of the Chicago Police Department. Access Living’s young leaders group, Advance Youth Leadership Power (AYLP), organized a number of advocates to attend the hearings and share their experiences for the public record. After the forums, AYLP and Access Living were asked by the USDOJ if it would be possible to have another forum focused on the experiences of people with disabilities and Deaf people.

As a result, Access Living and AYLP would like to invite people with disabilities and Deaf people to our offices on Chicago Avenue on October 6, 2016 from 5:30 to 8 pm. The first two hours will be dedicated to testimonies on a first-come, first-served basis. The USDOJ will be present to take notes on people’s stories and be available to connect for follow-up conversations. The last half hour, for those who choose to do so, will be dedicated to small group conversations to debrief on what people share. This component will not be recorded but we offer it as a way to help people process.

We ask that those who attend share their PERSONAL stories of interactions with the Chicago Police Department. While advocates are welcome to make suggestions, the USDOJ particularly needs to hear from people who have interacted directly with the Chicago Police Department, especially if they have not already testified. If you know someone who should share their story, please support them to do so.

Public Meeting on the Chicago Police Department and Interactions with the Deaf and Disability Communities
Special Guest: U.S. Department of Justice

WHEN: October 6, 2016 from 5:30 to 8 pm

WHERE: Access Living 115 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL. https://www.accessliving.org/

PH - (312) 640-2100 / tty (312) 640-2102 

Flyer for AL AYLP Town Hall with USDOJ.pdf

We would encourage you to share this information with people who do not have e-mail access. 

HEARD STATEMENT ON THE AUGUST 2016 POLICE KILLINGS OF TWO DEAF MEN, DARNELL WICKER AND DANIEL HARRIS

from a Press Release on Aug. 31, 2016
Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf (HEARD)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf (“HEARD”) strongly condemns the law enforcement killings of deaf veteran, Darnell T. Wicker, in Louisville, KY; and of Daniel K. Harris, a Deaf man, in Charlotte, NC.

For years, HEARD has collected and catalogued stories of police brutality from our community in our Log of Police Brutality & Discrimination Against Deaf People. In 2014, after noticing an alarming trend of unnecessarily violent police interactions with deaf people, HEARD spearheaded a national “Know Your Deaf Rights” Campaign in collaboration with the American Civil Liberties Union. Among other things, this Campaign delivered to the U.S. Department of Justice, a petition signed by over 23,000 people, demanding national standards for law enforcement interacting with deaf people. HEARD still provides deaf community-led workshops for police and sheriff departments wherein law enforcement time and again admit to being woefully unprepared to work with our diverse communities. Simultaneously, we continue to support attorneys litigating cases involving police departments’ continued violations of long-standing federal disability rights laws requiring de-escalation and other reasonable accommodations.

Already this year, over 750 people have been killed by law enforcement. Studies show that no less than 60-80% of these victims are people with disabilities. Notably, Black people and other people of color are disproportionately represented among these victims. Similarly, HEARD’s multi-year investigation into police brutality against deaf people illustrates a clear pattern of police violence against deaf people with more than one marginal identity. So, Deaf Disabled, Deaf Black, Deaf Latinx, Deaf Indigenous; and Deaf people with Mental Illness, Deaf people who live in low/no income communities, for example, are disproportionately represented in the narratives we have collected. Although, many are just now taking notice, police brutality against marginalized and multiply-marginalized communities has long-since demonstrated the need for honest discussions about the very real connections between racism, classism, audism and ableism—each of which are deeply embedded in police culture, policies and practices.

While many well-meaning individuals and organizations continue to propose Deaf driver cards and yet more deaf/disability-specific “training” as the only solutions to these tragedies, we submit that neither are. These trainings and cards have existed for decades; and many of the victims were killed by “specially trained” officers. At very minimum, HEARD demands national guidelines; a serious cultural and role shift in “policing;” a decrease in contact between law enforcement and deaf/disabled individuals, for example, by and through crisis hotlines that do not invite armed officers where they need not be; deaf/disability disaggregation of government data on law enforcement-related violence; and actual accountability for officers who abuse their authority. Further, law enforcement must not assume that alleged “non-compliance” or “atypical behavior” is a “threat” justifying lethal force.

We are calling on our communities to practice solidarity with communities affected by police violence that also are demanding an end to police violence. For example, the Black Lives Matter Movement is calling for an end to police violence against Black people—this necessarily includes Black Disabled, Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing people. To be sure, working to end violence against Black people is, in fact, working to end violence against all people—including deaf and disabled people. We believe that cross-movement solidarity is critical to effectively addressing these terribly tragic and avoidable incidents. This kind of solidarity requires deaf and disability communities to advance racial and economic justice; and communities of color to advance disability and deaf justice.

We owe it to Darnell, Daniel, and all people, to stop these preventable deaths. HEARD is an all-volunteer organization. Our very existence evidences the incredible power of people, intersectionality, and love in social justice activism. Please join us in working to achieve racial, economic, disability and deaf justice—simultaneously. Our work will continue until all people can live free from all violence.

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HEARD is an all-volunteer nonprofit that works to identify & remove barriers that prevent disabled and deaf people from participating in and having equal access to the legal system. HEARD leads an ongoing national campaign to curtail police brutality against deaf individuals; created a national deaf prisoner database; and investigates deaf wrongful convictions.

For more info about Police Brutality Against Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled and Hard of Hearing People:

• HEARD Log of Police Brutality Against the Deaf
• HEARD Know Your Deaf Rights Campaign (in collaboration with the ACLU)
• HEARD Founder Guest ACLU Blog: Police Brutality and Deaf People

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Related Posts:

Daniel Kevin Harris Who Was Deaf, Fatally Shot to Death After N.C. Trooper Traffic Stop, UPDATE with video of start of chase

Marlee Matlin On Deaf And Police Interaction - on an American Sign Language - video

Daniel Kevin Harris Who Was Deaf, Fatally Shot to Death After N.C. Trooper Traffic Stop, UPDATE with video of start of chase

A North Carolina state trooper killed a deaf man last week after an attempted traffic stop, authorities and neighbors said Monday.

State trooper Jermaine Saunders shot Daniel Kevin Harris (photo) to death on Thursday after what North Carolina Bureau of Investigation described in a statement as "an encounter."

report by Tim Stelloh and Carolina Gonzalez for NBC News | Aug. 22, 2016

The bureau, which is investigating Harris' death, did not provide additional details. In an earlier statement, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said that the trooper tried to pull over a Volvo for speeding.

A brief pursuit followed, the statement says, and the driver, who is not identified, left his car.

"An encounter took place between the driver and the trooper causing a shot to be fired," the statement reads. The driver died at the scene, the statement adds, and the trooper was placed on administrative leave.

But a neighbor of Harris', Mark Barringer, who witnessed part of the confrontation, criticized the trooper's handling of the pursuit.

"They should've deescalated and been trained to realize that this is an entirely different situation," Barringer told NBC affiliate WCNC. "You're pulling someone over who is deaf. They are handicapped."

Howard Rosenblum, CEO of the National Association of the Deaf, said in a statement to NBC News that "there have been too many incidents with tragic consequences between law enforcement officers and deaf people."

Too often, Rosenblum said, officers order deaf people to comply with verbal commands — then act aggressively when they don't.

"This has led to many physical altercations between law enforcement officers and deaf individuals over the years, with some resulting in death," he said.

Intensive training should be required for officers, Rosenblum said, and some should be trained to communicate with people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

On a crowdfunding page said to be set up by Harris' family, a post says that any additional funding raised for a memorial will go toward educating and training law enforcement.

The page says that Harris was unarmed when he was killed by the trooper, although authorities didn't comment on whether he had a weapon or not.

The post adds that states should change their DMV registration systems so that a police stop triggers an alert showing that the person is deaf.

"With this change," the post says, "Daniel will be a hero in our Deaf community."

FOR A VIDEO REPORT BY NBC NEWS, VISIT: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/nc-trooper-fatally-shoots-deaf-man-after-traffic-stop/ar-BBvVDA4#image=1
# # #

UPDATE 08/26/2016
WSOCTV.com has posted the Raw Cellphone Video of the start of a portion of the pursuit that ended in the shooting death of Daniel Kevin Harris.

For the full report visit WSOCTV.com at: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/exclusive-video-shows-what-appears-to-be-part-of-chase-before-trooper-shoots-kills-deaf-man/429858803
(if video is removed or does not play please let us know in comments -TY)