At 6pm on Super Bowl Sunday, viewers across the country will settle onto their couches surrounded by chips and buffalo wings to watch Super Bowl LIII. Here at WGBH, Janet Mahoney will settle into her office chair to provide a vital service: real-time closed captioning so that the 37 million people who are hearing-impaired can also enjoy the game. Through WGBH’s Media Access Group (MAG), Mahoney and a fellow stenographer in Western Massachusetts will “live-write” the full broadcast remotely, working as part of a team of specialists from other networks tasked with making the game accessible. While the captions are critical for the hearing-impaired community, they will also be used by viewers watching the game in noisy public spaces, including bars, airports and gyms—and will potentially be seen by more than.....MORE
