Towards the end of last year I went to the casino for the very first time which was the Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack facility.  As I attempted to play the games independently, I found there was nothing fully accessible for blind patrons who as an individual who is legally blind I felt this was an invasion of my right as a patron.  After this experience I was curious to see how other facilities similar to Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack dealt with accessibility for the blind with their gaming machines.

Recently I visited both Batavia Downs Gaming and Buffalo Raceway & Fairgrounds Gaming.  Both facilities have the exact same type of video gaming systems featured at Finger Lakes.  While at Batavia Downs Gaming, I walked around with a friend to see what was available and after discovering no game was designed for me to play without any assistance I went to the Player’s Club desk to ask for further assistance.  I asked the woman at the desk what was available for me, a legally blind individual to play independently and she was unsure.  She contacted via phone the Floor Supervisor who came down and I explained my request for a second time.  He stated he was currently busy working on something else, but would be with me in a few minutes which turned into several minutes.  When he returned to assist me with my initial request, he walked around showing me many machines, but none with raised buttons I could physically feel with Braille labeling and audio descriptive output reading details on the screen.  I explained at least 3 times what kind of gaming set up I was looking for and finally he said the machines with the slot for earphones would only play the music which my response was that is useless to me.  Sensing this was the most help I would receive from this Floor Supervisor; I thanked him for his time and left the facility.

After leaving Batavia Downs, I went to the Buffalo Raceway & Fairgrounds Gaming located in Hamburg, New York.  As I entered the facility I noticed the isles were very close making it impossible for someone using a wheelchair to navigate successfully.  This observation was made while I walked around the facility looking for a legally blind friendly gaming machine.  After seeing none in the building, I again proceeded to the Player’s Club desk to ask for assistance.  When I finally got to the window, I stated I was legally blind and wished to play the games independently inquiring what was available for me to access.  The Player Club Desk Attendant’s immediate response was “we have a player’s club card you can sign up for online.”  My immediate response was “that’s not what I asked” and after explaining my request again she then called the Floor Supervisor.  This individual for whatever reason could not comprehend I was legally blind and could not see the screen he kept pointing at when he walked away expecting me to follow him.  When we were at the machine he asked several times if I could see the information on the screen.  After asking for a fifth time does this facility have a machine with raised buttons and an audio output that reads the information on the screen.  His exact response was “we have nothing here like that.”  When I heard that response I thanked him for his time and left disappointed with both facilities.

This Summer will mark the 24th anniversary of the passage of the American’s with Disabilities Act and after visiting all these casinos I do not understand why the designers of the facilities/gaming devices never took blind accessibility into account.  Failure to make these machines accessible is like stating openly you are not allowed to use those due to your disability.  Independent enjoyment of the games at anyone of these facilities is the patron’s right therefore this right has been violated.