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Husker fans with hearing loss pushing for captioning services in Memorial Stadium

Related Topics: deafness, Closed captioning

When the din of the crowd overwhelms the audio accompanying a feature on the sparkling video screen or the referee’s announcement drowns under a tsunami of boos from the red-clad faithful, it illustrates what each moment is like for those with hearing loss who love Husker football.

As the NU athletic department debuts new high-definition screens, wraparound displays and ribbon boards at Memorial Stadium this fall, some say the Huskers have fallen behind other collegiate programs and professional franchises in effectively communicating with fans.

Stadiums across the country, including the football homes of the Oregon Ducks and South Carolina Gamecocks, added captioning over recent years to transcribe public address announcements and audio features onto a visual medium.