San Francisco Airport to Offer Hearing Impaired Passengers Announcements on Video Screens

Dec. 27, 2005
The equipment is scheduled to be installed over the next 18 months. The cost has not yet been determined.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Hearing-impaired airline passengers will soon be able to read public-address announcements on 80 large video screens at San Francisco International Airport as part of a settlement, officials said.

The airport and Disability Rights Advocates, an Oakland nonprofit group that sued in 2002 claiming the airport violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, announced the end of their legal battle Dec. 21.

The lawsuit claimed that a lack of appropriate signs and employees trained to assist the disabled made air travel at San Francisco International Airport unnecessarily confusing and complicated.

"We're hoping SFO is going to be a model for other airports to follow," said Kevin Knestrick, an attorney for Disability Rights Advocates.

The equipment is scheduled to be installed over the next 18 months, said SFO spokesman Mike McCarron. The cost has not yet been determined.

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