Celebrating 25 Years of advocating for equal opportunity for and with the 10% of Minnesotans who are deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind How MCDHH Makes a Difference
In the Minnesota tradition of commitment to access, the 2008 Legislature passed a law requiring all candidates for office who file with the Campaign Finance Board to caption their online and television ads and post transcripts of their radio ads. Minnesota citizens who are deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing and who want to get information about candidates through campaign ads will now be able to do so.
In the following captioned video, Minnesota Senator Ann Rest demonstrates the power of captioning in creating accessibility. A transcript of the audio content with video descriptions is also available.
You were able to read my introduction to this video, but not hear it. The captioning allowed you to see what I said. Captioning closes the communication gap between voters who can hear and voters who are Deaf and hard of hearing. That’s 10% of all voters in Minnesota.
We passed a new law in the 2008 legislative session. Candidates who accept public funding for their campaigns must now caption their ads on TV and online. They also need to post scripts of their radio ads on their web sites.
With captioning and script posting, all potential voters with access to televisions or computers will be able to hear, or see, campaign ads. It’s easy and inexpensive. It’s the law. But more importantly, it’s also an opportunity for candidates to engage more voters in their campaigns for public office.
[Graphic – For information on vendors who provide this service and more, contact: Minnesota Campaign Finance Board www.cfboard.state.mn.us & Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans www.mncdhh.org]
MNCDHH wants to help candidates comply with the campaign ad captioning law and get their messages across to all of Minnesota’s voters, including those who are deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing.
As of December 2011, three Minnesota companies are on the Approved Captioning Service Vendors list. Their contact information is provided below as a public service.
Advocacy Resources for “Caption Your Ads – It’s the Law!”
How Can You Help Advocate for Captioned Ads?
MNCDHH and the deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing community in Minnesota have been working together to help candidates comply with the campaign ad captioning law.
You can help in these ways:
learn about the campaign ad captioning law.
watch campaign ads to see which ones are not captioned.
contact the candidates and ask them to caption their campaign ads.
contact us for other ways to help.
Information to Help You Advocate for Captioned Ads
Talking Points provides basic talking points on political captioning and the law. This is information that you can give to candidates to help them understand what they are supposed to do and why.
The Law gives you a quick introduction to the political captioning law in Minnesota.
Watchdogs gives you information on what to do about good and bad captioning.
MNCDHH also has a free online course, Making Your Case, that teaches you how to advocate for positive changes.
