A local community organization is asking area businesses to lend a hand to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community this weekend by adjusting settings on their television sets.
The Illinois School for the Deaf’s Homecoming is this weekend; and the Jacksonville Community Center for the Deaf along with the City of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce are asking local businesses to turn on the closed captioning setting on some or all of their public television sets in an effort to put forth a welcoming, deaf-friendly message to visitors as well as the 400 deaf and hard-of-hearing community members and ISD students in the Jacksonville area.
The Jacksonville Community for the Deaf expects a large number of deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors coming to the area this weekend who will be using and enjoying local hotels, restaurants, bars, and retail venues.
In a message to area businesses released this week, Deloris Summers, President of the JCCD said the organization is available to assist local businesses if they have difficulty activating the closed captioned setting on their TVs.
Summers also encouraged local businesses to contact the JCCD with any questions they may have regarding the deaf and hard-of-hearing community and customer service solutions.
Summers said, “Let’s all work together to make Jacksonville the most deaf-friendly city in the State of Illinois.”