Tomorrow the Department of Justice will publish four advance notices of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register to solicit comments. The one that has perhaps the most potential impact for the American deaf community is the one on Movie Captioning and Video Description. According to this notice, the DOJ is "considering whether to propose revising the title III regulations to require movie theater owners and operators to show movies with closed captions and video description in their theaters at least fifty percent of the time."
Interestingly, the notice also says the DOJ wants to hear comments on whether movie theaters should be encouraged to - not required - to show open captioned films. Perhaps the DOJ is aware that many in the deaf community prefer open captions at the movies?
Advocates for movie theater captioning should be aware that the movie theater industry is already fighting the idea of mandatory movie theater captioning on the grounds that digital cinema is supposed to solve the problem. However the DOJ gets it - it is not fair to make the deaf and hard of hearing community wait for "something better" because there is always something better in the pipeline. What about now?
There will also be a public hearing. That could create the interesting scenario of for example, deaf and hard of hearing advocates versus representatives from the National Association of Theater Owners.
Thanks for the heads up, Jamie. This is what we have been pursuing for many years. The bottom line issue really seems to be clearing the heads of “Hollywood” so that their natural connection to their corporate wallets will motivate them to act immediately to their gain and to society’s gain.
There has never been an intentional inclusion of deaf into the fun, magical, entertaining suspension of disbelief that is the one cultural activity of adults in the U.S. drawing more people than any other activity outside the home–going to the movies. For example, for the minimal number of captioned showings that do exist, after 20 years of ADA, there are zero captioned trailers on official movie websites; zero dollars spent on advertising to the deaf. Hearing, “Hollywood” audists have no sensitivity training about this and need contact from deaf and hard of hearing people about accommodating their desires and their needs into this great cultural activity.
It is not only about wanting to see a movie that may be in theaters 2 – 4 weeks. Going to the movies has almost become a “secular religious” activity where so much of our daily humor, discussion of literature, ideas, arts, history, politics, etc. use reference points from “the movies.” Just as colleges and universities have been called the marketplace of ideas, movie theaters and the coffee shops surrounding those theaters are more or less the common man’s marketplace of ideas. The deaf community has not had the chance to share in this on an equal basis.
Just as hearing people still have to look on in ignorance at the fast, skilled use of ASL gesture and facial expressions in communication among deaf people. Just as deaf people have had to become accommodating to slower non-visual verbal communications of the majority of people. Both deaf and hearing have to realize that this equal access to movies-in-theaters will be a new endeavor. These points of ignorance may be a starting point to share anew the experience of deaf and hearing communities going to the movies together.
We encourage deaf and their hearing friends, family, and supporters to take the time, to send their comments to the DOJ. This is a social, cultural, and civil rights issue.
As far as we can tell, Jamie, the ADA website has not yet posted instructions for submitting comments to this specific notice. When you find out, would you please post? We will put on our site as well.
Thank you again.
Just found it via the Federal Register website! http://frwebgate1.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=2HjO7U/0/1/0&WAISaction=retrieve
I fully support this rule. My son was born with a bilateral profound hearing loss and I have wished that the movie industry would have developed a system where people affected by hearing loss could wear special glasses that would reveal closed captioning to enable them to have a better understanding of the presentation and would not interfere with viewing for others (similar to 3-D glasses.) In fact, I think it should be mandatory for all movies/videos/presentations used in the educational system. Many deaf people do not advocate on their own behalf and thus miss critical information in situations were videos, movies, even powerpoints are use dto convey vital information. Also this will help english language learners and other individuals. I say DO IT ASAP!
Hi there!
My name is Brittney Heathwood. I am 19 years old and have been hearing impaired since birth. A little while ago, I went completely deaf for 2 months, and nobody knew why. During this time, I remember not being able to go to the movie theatres because subtitles were only available in select foreign films. I felt very separated and distanced from the rest of the world, and felt as though I didn’t belong. A couple months later my hearing came back and doctors were shocked, as that rarely happens. Even though I’m still hearing impaired and not able to hear fully, I gained a whole new appreciation for the hearing that I do have. Going completely deaf for those couple months really opened my eyes to what it’s like for some people – living in a world without sound. Due to this, I am totally committed to making a difference in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.
My current goal is to get a movie theatre to designate one movie, once per week that plays with subtitles. This will allow people who are unable to hear or hear clearly, to be free of the barriers that stop them from being able to experience a night out at the movies. Accommodations for this community in movie theatres NEED to be made. These accommodations include: Subtitles and/or Closed Captioning, as well as FM systems. It is my dream that one day, movie theatres specifically designed to accommodate the Deaf and Hard of Hearing will exist.
I’m e-mailing you in the hopes of getting more information about what can be done about this! How we can get something like this integrated into theatres in Canada, and to ask you what it is I can do to make this difference and get something like this started?
I’ve created a Facebook group called From Ear to Ear as well, and am getting lots of support! If you could help me out I would really appreciate it!
Thanks so much again,
Brittney Heathwood
Hi Jamie,
the link for info @2 above, is not working. Below is a copy of link and brief note on submitting comments to US Dept. of Justice on captions for movies-in-theaters. All due by end of January 2011.
thanks,
Greg
Tell your opinion about movie theater captioning and equal access for deaf, hard of hearing, blind, and low vision movie goers (and other topics including web site accessibility) at three hearings by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The DOJ topic is “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Movie Captioning and Video Description.”
The dates are:
Chicago – November 18
Washington DC – December 16
San Francisco – January 2011, date and time available soon
Sign language interpreters, real-time captioning, and assistive listening devices will be provided.
Now is your chance to tell the government that you want Equal Access for All!
For details, including locations and times, go to:
http://www.ada.gov/anprm2010/public_hearing_anprm_2010.htm