Suit Seeks Captions On Ohio Stadium Scoreboard

COLUMBUS, Ohio —A hearing-impaired football fan wants The Ohio State University to offer captioning on the scoreboard and television monitors at Ohio Stadium.

Thirty-two-year-old Vincent Sabino from the Columbus suburb of Hilliard says he can’t hear the announcers. A federal lawsuit was filed on his behalf in Columbus last month by the National Association of the Deaf, which charges that the university is violating the Americans With Disabilities Act by not providing captioning at all its venues.

Ohio State spokesman Jim Lynch said the university is working with Sabino’s attorney and understands its legal obligations under the act.

The suit says captioning would help hearing-impaired fans by explaining such things as referees’ calls.

NBC 4‘s Tom Brockman was told that officials intend to comply with obligations.

“We have fairly frequent requests for interpreters at concerts held in the Schottenstein Value City Arena (and many other public lectures and events). We consistently provided interpreters when asked. We have not ever had any requests for captioning at sporting events,“ Lynch said. “Had this individual called us to request an accomodation for his disability, we would have taken steps to comply.“

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.