National Association of the Deaf

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) commends ESPN on its decision to caption the live, online coverage of the World Cup soccer tournament and U.S. Open golf this year. We hope that other companies will take notice of the affordable and technologically possible means to bring accessible entertainment to millions of deaf and hard of hearing fans.

“ESPN’s unprecedented decision to caption the World Cup and U.S. Open on ESPN3.com represents a great step forward for millions of deaf and hard of hearing Americans who are unable to access online media,” said NAD President Bobbie Beth Scoggins. “We are deeply grateful to ESPN for its efforts.”

There is currently no law mandating video programming on television that is broadcast over the Internet be captioned. The NAD has advocated tirelessly both to change the law and to encourage companies to caption even when captions are not required by law. ESPN is a shining example to other companies that televise live events online, and to other websites that stream pre-recorded video content.

“ESPN is committed to serving sports fans and we felt that captioning the World Cup and U.S. Open created an opportunity for millions of fans to have full access to world-class sports programming that was previously unavailable,” explained Scott Pentoney, ESPN’s Manager of Program Compliance. “We are pleased the decision was so well received and hope to include even more future events.”

The NAD appreciates ESPN’s exceptional commitment towards making its online programming accessible and urges them to expand their online captioning coverage to include all of their programming. We hope that more online media distributors follow their example.