Redskins Ordered To Continue Captions

Fans attend a draft day party at FedEx Field. Lyrics to songs at games will now have to be captioned. (2005 Photo By Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)
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Joseph B. Espo, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the effects of the decision could be far-reaching. "We think this has significance for other sport venues," he said. "The people who run other sports venues need to take note of this and bring their stadiums into compliance with the law."

Washington's newest stadium, Nationals Park, captions everything said on the ballpark's public address system, said team president Stan Kasten, who said he had not seen Williams's ruling.

The judge did not say precisely how equal access should be provided at FedEx Field but noted that the plaintiffs would not be aided by the assisted listening devices the stadium has long provided to patrons who request one.

Whether the midfield screens must be positioned in the sightlines of the JumboTron screens in the end zones is an issue for a jury if the two sides proceed to a trial, the judge said.

In an interview, Redskins General Counsel David Donovan said the team would begin looking for ways to address the judge's remaining concern that deaf fans be able to read the lyrics of music used during cheerleader dance routines.

Otherwise, he said, the decision would have little consequence for stadium operations.

"We already caption every word spoken in the public address system in the stadium," Donovan said. "We've just got to figure how to address the issue of lyrics to songs. There isn't anything else in this decision that we don't already do."

The team said the captioning systems also have helped hearing fans, providing way to follow announcements when cheering overwhelms the address system or during beer runs to the concourse.

But Rich Tandler of Midlothian, Va., a season-ticket holder since 1967, said he hadn't noticed the LED boards. "It's pretty unobtrusive," said Tandler, who runs the blog RealRedskins.com. "If it helps a small number of people, I certainly don't see it distracting everybody else. But the music thing seems excessive. I can't understand the lyrics half the time myself."

Marc Charmatz, a longtime attorney for the National Association of the Deaf and another of the plaintiffs' attorneys, said that although the Redskins had acted on their own after the lawsuit was filed, it was important to pursue the case to its conclusion.

"The Redskins never wanted to admit any legal responsibility whatsoever, with the result that they could turn on and off the captioning at any time they wanted," Charmatz said. "So it was necessary to get a ruling that they have a legal requirement to provide captioning."

Staff writer Mark Maske contributed to this report.