Update on the captioned films on Virgin Atlantic - NOT good news

[signtalker]

Jen, myself and mazzy have written so many emails and phoned concerning this matter, if you read back on the thread you will see that virgin, DO NOT supply video watchmans or DVD players to hearing impaired /deaf people, because of the sept 11th and cutbacks deaf people and hearing impaired have lost out due to the service for them being scrapped, actually the video watchmans that are provided by virgin ARENT your bog standard DVD player, hence the reason i said, playing back of subtitles was a problem,these are portable watchmans and have prooved excellent for my son and deaf people i work with in my job.
There is no simple answer to this, mazzy(im sure you dont mind me saying) is hearing impaired, my son also, and im interpreteur for the deaf, this is something we come across every single day of our lives, the DDA doesnt cover airlines, so really apart from kicking up a stink and getting some sort of compensation, there is little to be done, beleive me , this has been an ongoing thing for months now, with me mazzy and virgin.
It is an avenue to look into, for anybody who is computer techy minded,, we would have no trouble marketing this idea, if we did it at an affordable price LOL!!, the other thing to bare in mind is to have subtitling in BSL and not english, that way profoundly deaf people would have even more access!.
Off soapbox now

Jules

 

[Mazzy]

Jen, thanks for your input, but as Jules said we have tried everything and not really got anywhere, apart from a little compensation, it is just a case of waiting now to see if Virgin will bring back some kind of service for the deaf. As I am not a regular traveller on long haul flights (once every 18 months usually) it is a large amount to spend on something I would only use that often. Thanks for posting, it is nice for you to take the time to do so.

Jules, you have taken the words out of my mouth! Do let me know how you get on tomorrow when you ring Virgin, let's hope you make an impression on them!

 

[Jen80370]

Jules,

Sometimes a soapbox is the only way we can be heard over the din of the ridiculous...I only wish I had one big enough to hold all of you so you could be heard.

I am not familiar at all with services for the hearing impaired. MY SIL works for the MS Society in NJ and I have heard stories of people pooling resources for equipment only used in rare occasions (Like a portable DVD player) that are shared. Maybe this is something services in the UK could order...maybe I'm just a hopeless idealist, but if a central group had DVD players that people could rent or sign out for holidays...just at thought. Then again, if the world were that swell, we'd also have world peace and I'd have thinner thighs...

Regardless, my good vibes and pixie dust are firmly in your corner...good luck!

Jen

 

[Mazzy]

Jen, you really made me lol!!!! Yes, it would be nice to have a perfect world wouldn't it? It sounds a wonderful idea to have such a scheme, I will see if Jules can shed any light on that, but I don't have high hopes!

I've just noticed you are off to the Dolphin in June. I too am a Dolphin fan, we stayed there in May 99 on our first ever trip to WDW and absolutely loved it! We were due to go back last Xmas but had to cancel as I have problem with one of my feet, but we will be there THIS Xmas as I have serious withdrawal symptoms, even if I have to go in a wheelchair, I will be there with bells on! I hope you have a fab trip!

 

[Jen80370]

Thanks so much...I cannot wait to go! Be sure to check the trip reports boards in July. I'll be sure to post when I get back!

 

[Jen80370]

Mazzy...I just saw this on the Budget Board...

Portable DVD player deal
Just got a Wal-Mart circular, they have an Apex portable DVD player at Walmart.com (just the website, not the store) for $199.77. That is an awesome price!

We recently bought one (different brand, higher price, but a great deal at the time) to bring along for our drive down to WDW. Hope this helps someone!


__________________

the link to where it is can also be found on the Budget Board. I'm sure Walmart ships to UK...good luck!

 

[Mazzy]

Thanks for that Jan. Can you believe they are out of stock already?

I'm not quite sure how I stand with US DVD players. I know that US and UK videos are not compatible, does anyone know if DVDs are different too?

 

[UKDEB]

Yes, Maz, they are. US DVDs are Region 1, UK are Region 2. Most players bought in the UK can either be 'chipped' to play both, or come already compatible for both regions. Not sure how easy it would be to get a US (Region 1) player chipped to play Region 2.