[drwellnesscoach]

Hello, I asked for accommodations for a national convention and they refused saying they would refund my money. I asked to be placed in a room where the program is live streamed as I have auditory and visual sensitivity (TBI) after my MVA Feb 9, 2014. Is this legal to refuse according to the ADA? Any ideas?

[EsthersDoll]

A live stream of the event is probably considered an unreasonable request/accommodation because there is a lot involved in making that sort of thing happen.

First of all, a separate room would probably cost them more to rent than your fees to attend.

Second, they would have to get cameras and mics set up, and if they wanted to do it right (at a high production quality) then they would have to get several cameras and mics and mixers and lots of other gear. Just a rental of such things could reach tens of thousands of dollars... there would have to be testing and more crew to operate it.

And lastly, streaming technology is still cutting edge in some respects... they would have to make sure that the place where the convention is taking place has the proper IT infrastructure to be able to support streaming an event live. We are talking about having the right switches, cables, bandwidth, the whole nine yards.

Is there a reason why this convention is so important that you attend it now and not just wait until next year?

What kind of convention is this?

When is this convention? Streaming an event live takes a long time and energy to plan in order to do it correctly.

Can you get a DVD of the convention afterwards?

Take the refund gracefully.

[Mark in Idaho]

Unfortunately, ADA has not really been pushed into such accommodations for events like conventions. Schools are just starting to have such programs but even they usually rely on lecture note takers to relay the information to the ADA qualified student.

As EsthersDoll said, Will there be a DVD after ? Or, maybe a transcript.

[drwellnesscoach]

Thank you for the info, that helps.

Actually, they are already livestreaming it to other participants in the country. All I would need is a room, and I have already paid for airfare, hotel, etc. I could postpone a year, but who knows if my condition will actually be significantly better by then.



QUOTE=Mark in Idaho;1095503]Unfortunately, ADA has not really been pushed into such accommodations for events like conventions. Schools are just starting to have such programs but even they usually rely on lecture note takers to relay the information to the ADA qualified student.

As EsthersDoll said, Will there be a DVD after ? Or, maybe a transcript.[/QUOTE]

[Mark in Idaho]

Can you watch the live stream on your computer ?

[EsthersDoll]

Originally Posted by drwellnesscoach

Thank you for the info, that helps.

Actually, they are already livestreaming it to other participants in the country. All I would need is a room, and I have already paid for airfare, hotel, etc. I could postpone a year, but who knows if my condition will actually be significantly better by then.



QUOTE=Mark in Idaho;1095503]Unfortunately, ADA has not really been pushed into such accommodations for events like conventions. Schools are just starting to have such programs but even they usually rely on lecture note takers to relay the information to the ADA qualified student.

As EsthersDoll said, Will there be a DVD after ? Or, maybe a transcript.

[/QUOTE]

I know it's not fun to not be able to do the things you want to do. My personal life and career were on both hold for four years and I still have a lot of trouble... just do the best you can to figure out what you can do.