Local non-profit celebrates 10 years of inclusive access to the arts

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – Giving the gift of sight and sound while opening the doors to entertainment is exactly what Access Virginia has done for the last 10 years.

The non-profit was created by Lois Boyle when she recognized a need in our community.

I am a court reporter by profession, and part of what we do is provide captions for the hearing loss. I was captioning for this one lady, and she confided in me. She said, ‘You know, I’m going to lose my sight. I’m losing my sight.’ She had profound hearing loss. So her best form of communication was captions. She said, ‘Before I do, my one wish is to go see a Broadway show.’ She loved the arts. When she lost her hearing at 30, she had a degree in music and had her own piano studio and lost it all because of her hearing loss. I said, ‘Okay, I tell you what, go ask for it at Chrysler Hall. I will also come with you and explain what it is I can do and see what they say.’ Long story short, they said yes, and I captioned the Lion King for her. I said, ‘For the first time after 20 years, you’re going to love this show.’ I had seen it before, and she was so emotional at the end because she was able to participate. She had access to the arts, to the theater, and she said, ‘I feel like a little girl again.’ And while I was trying to do something nice for her, make her wish come true, it was about regaining a quality of life she had lost, and more people wanted to come. When she told others of her experience, about a year later, Chrysler called me and said would you do it on a regular basis? And I said yes. The other smaller theaters wanted it as well, but it could be cost prohibitive for them. So, I started Access Virginia, which is a nonprofit, thinking the community can help. So, we are able to provide it at the smaller local theaters because they can’t, even though it’s required by the ADA. One reason that they can say no is because they can’t afford to provide it.

Lois Boyle

10 years later, Access Virginia has a website full of options for theater visits, museum tours and artistic programs.

On the site, Access Virginia states its mission is to, “provide open captioning and audio description at live theatrical performances so that Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Blind, Visually Impaired persons can attend performances and experience the wonder of live entertainment at public facilities. Access Virginia will work to expand accommodation services to other public venues.”

Boyle explained to 10 On Your Side how the captioning equipment works.

“We get the script from the production company and we edit it,” Boyle said. “We preview the show and then we final edit it, uploaded into our software, and create the script for captioning, and we output it to an LED board that’s set to the side of the stage where persons with hearing loss can read what’s being said or sung. We include environmental sounds so they get a full appreciation of the show.”

Beth Stevens is an Access Virginia Board Member. She lost her vision in her late 20s, but said theater is her passion. So, 10 years ago, she turned to Access Virginia.

Using equipment, a trained volunteer was able to describe the set, what the actors were doing on stage, what they looked like and more. Stevens heard it all through her headset and no one in the crowd was any the wiser.

“It’s, you know, brought back the joy of theater, being able to get the full experience and actually bringing it to others because it’s easier to encourage my friends who also suffer vision loss to come out to, you know, let’s go to a play and dinner when they know they also can enjoy the theater as well,” said Stevens.

She says the community needs to understand the importance of Access Virginia and the impact it has on so many lives.

“We think about accessibility, and we we talk about it in areas such as, you know, accommodations when we go to visit the doctor and those kind of things, and that’s very important, but people forget about what happens when someone experiences hearing loss or vision loss,” Stevens said. “It really becomes social isolation when you no longer can get in the car and go out to lunch with your friends. That’s not an easy thing to do anymore. So, having something that is specialized in a social activity, entertainment activity, is really crucial because not only do they do theatrical performances, they also do, you know, art gallery tours, museum tours and really enjoying the cultural arts throughout the Hampton Roads.”

Stevens says Access Virginia can truly bring excitement back to the thousands of people living with hearing loss and vision impairment in our area.

“There are nearly 69,000 people in the community that suffer from some kind of hearing loss,” Stevens said. “There are one in eight adults over the age of 45 that have some kind of vision impairment, and sometimes people are afraid to identify that they need those services. There’s embarrassment involved, or they’ll shy away from wanting to go out with their friends because they can’t hear in those kinds of situations. We just want them to know the services out there. It is a free service. They just need to request it from the theater that Access Virginia is providing it and advocate for yourself, because the service is there and available.”

To celebrate their 10 year anniversary as a 501(c)3 non-profit, Access Virginia plans to host the “Access Virginia 10-Year Anniversary Gala ‘Keys to Sight & Sound.'”

The gala will be held Saturday, July 20 from 5-9 p.m. in the David Student Union Ballroom at Christopher Newport University in Newport News.

Boyle says the gala will include dinner and dancing.

While the event will honor those who have supported the organization through the years, the gala was also created to raise awareness for those suffering with vision loss.

“It’s going to be a sensory dinner,” Boyle said. “People are going to have to wear glasses with pasties on them that represent the spectrum of vision loss. So, let’s see what it’s like to have vision loss for just about 20 minutes.”

Boyle said you can also expect a number of other fun events at the gala.

“We’re going to have a live auction,” Boyle said. “We’re going to have silent auctions items. We’re going to have Don Roberts be our emcee, which we’re really excited about, and we are going to have a performance by the students. We have a program called Dramatically Able, with students who have vision loss, from blind to moderate to severe vision loss, and they will be performing. We will also have other entertainment. We’re going to have a VIP hour for our sponsors and those who bought VIP tickets.”

If you would like to buy tickets to the Access Virginia Gala, click here.

You can also donate to Access Virginia at any time by clicking here.