Gogo agrees to in-flight captions

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Wednesday, 3 February 2016 10:05am

In-flight entertainment provider Gogo Vision has struck an agreement with the US National Association of the Deaf to provide access via closed captions.

Young boy watching a tablet device in-flight

Gogo Vision is a personalised in-flight entertainment system that allows people to access movies and television programs using their own Wi-Fi-enabled devices. The programs are stored on an in-aircraft server and will cover US domestic flights (which includes some flights to Canada and Mexico).

The agreement has three key components: ensuring that the Gogo viewing technology can support closed captions, starting a process of including captions on its programs, and ensuring that all programs on Gogo are captioned by 30 June 2017.

The agreement will have significant impact given that there are 48 million Deaf and hearing impaired people in America according to the National Association of the Deaf. Furthermore, Gogo has agreements with Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, United and Virgin America, providing wide coverage in the airline industry.

American Airlines was subject to a social media campaign following complaints about its lack of captioned content, and there has been considerable advocacy and consumer action since the passage of initial access requirements for airlines in 2013 and the slow implementation of access to on-board entertainment.


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