Disability services for the runs (Deaf)

[Mollie Roque]

Hello,
First timer here. Running with my friend who is Deaf. I am wondering what kind of services are provided for Deaf runners (I know she could have signed up for someone to run with her, but I am able to run with her to interpret course announcements, so we didn't sign up for that) anything else we should know?

 

[rteetz]

I’m not really sure what else Disney offers specifically. However be prepared for some dark areas before the sun rises. Disney does a good job with lighting but some areas still are dark early on.

Also some areas get pretty narrow and tight on course. Depending on how far back in the corrals you are they will be pretty crowded in those areas too.

Either way I’ve seen plenty of deaf/visibility impaired and other special need runners on course. I think you two will have a great time!

 

[Bree]

All the pre race announcements and host jibber jabber that starts at 5am has someone signing. There should be giant tv screens to view it from if you can’t see the stage. I’ve seen people running with guides and they both wore bright colored T-shirts with wording on the back like “visually impaired runner”.

 

[PrincessV]

It's not a service, but an idea to consider... I ran for a while in an rD race behind a woman who had a sign on her back that read, "Deaf Runner - please tap shoulder to indicate passing" Seemed like a great idea, as so many folks call out "On your left!" or "Passing!" to warn runners ahead of them.

 

[Mollie Roque]

So after experiencing the runs this was my thought:
the 10k, I ran with my deaf friend. There was no interpreter on the stage before corrals where they had music playing and they had interviews with people prior to telling us to go to corrals. I had to interpret that for my friend. When we were in corrals, we could see the screen, but every time it went to interviews or an advertisement, or separate video, there were no captions or interpreter. This was frustrating.

For the half- I ran this alone, but with accessibility on my mind, I paid attention. Where I was for Corrals (F), I had no view of the screen. I could see the brightness of the screen way down the parking lot, but Could not see anything on it. When I got closer to the start line, I could see that there was an interpreter in a box on the screen. This meant that everything was interpreted (Ads, videos, interviews, etc) but you would have to be super close to be able to see it. While it was not imperative to me to see it for this race, it was still frustrating because I am sure there were others who would want access. My friend plans on writing to runDisney to see if changes can be made in the future. We both had a blast, but accessibility needs to be improved, for sure!