In 2016, following a series of lawsuits for discrimination against movie theaters, the Department of Justice issued a final rule on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as it applies to the hospitality of disabled customers in movie theaters. Previous lawsuits against cinemas refer to Title III of the ADA, which requires places of public accommodation, such as cinemas, to provide reasonable accommodation and equal access for people with disabilities.
The lack of closed captions for deaf customers - or audio description for blind customers - would violate the ADA.Since Attorney General Loretta Lynch signed the final rule on November 21, 2016, the ADA has Croatia Phone Numbers List provided clear parameters for theaters to accommodate customers with disabilities. How ADA Affects Video Accessibility Requirements What's the final rule? The final rule dictates three main requirements for American theaters. They must:
have and maintain the equipment necessary to provide closed captioning and audio description in the place of a viewer when showing a digital film produced, distributed or otherwise made available with such functionality; inform the public of the availability of these features; and ensure that theater staff are available to assist customers with equipment before, during and after showing a movie with these features. With these requirements clearly and explicitly spelled out in the rule, theaters across the country should take steps to ensure that they are ADA compliant, or else risk a strong case for an accessibility lawsuit.ExclusionsADA Brief: How ADA Affects Video AccessibilityDownload the Brief:
How ADA Affects Video Accessibility The rule applies to all American theaters, defined as "a facility, other than a drive-in theater, that is owned, leased by, leased to or operated by a public establishment and that contains one or more auditoriums that are primarily used for the purpose of showing films to the public for remuneration. The exclusions include: Drive-in cinemas Cinemas that only show analogue films And as always with ADA regulations, businesses must comply "unless compliance results in an excessive burden or fundamental change. "Learn more about "excessive demand" and ADA lawsuits What adjustments are needed? Theaters must provide closed captioning displays to customers who are deaf or hard of hearing.
These devices can be hand held or clip onto the seat backs so that the captions are only visible to the customer who needs them. For blind customers, cinemas must provide an audio description track. Audio description tells about the visual content of a movie where there are no corresponding audio elements. This involves a separate script which is recorded and synchronized with the film as it is shown. The oral delivery of the script is transmitted to the user by infrared or FM transmission to wireless headsets. Theaters are required to have a number of assistive technology devices depending on the number of auditoriums showing digital films.
The table below shows these requirements. Requirements for assistive technology devices for theaters # of auditoriums Minimum number of captioning devices Minimum number of audio description devices 1 4 12-7 6 1-48-15 6 4-816+ 12 8+Note that the rule does not require theaters to offer open captioned screenings (where captions are shown on the big screen for everyone to see).However, Hawaii has passed state law that requires at least some movie screenings to display open captions, making them accessible to deaf and hard of hearing customers without assistive technology.
The lack of closed captions for deaf customers - or audio description for blind customers - would violate the ADA.Since Attorney General Loretta Lynch signed the final rule on November 21, 2016, the ADA has Croatia Phone Numbers List provided clear parameters for theaters to accommodate customers with disabilities. How ADA Affects Video Accessibility Requirements What's the final rule? The final rule dictates three main requirements for American theaters. They must:
have and maintain the equipment necessary to provide closed captioning and audio description in the place of a viewer when showing a digital film produced, distributed or otherwise made available with such functionality; inform the public of the availability of these features; and ensure that theater staff are available to assist customers with equipment before, during and after showing a movie with these features. With these requirements clearly and explicitly spelled out in the rule, theaters across the country should take steps to ensure that they are ADA compliant, or else risk a strong case for an accessibility lawsuit.ExclusionsADA Brief: How ADA Affects Video AccessibilityDownload the Brief:
How ADA Affects Video Accessibility The rule applies to all American theaters, defined as "a facility, other than a drive-in theater, that is owned, leased by, leased to or operated by a public establishment and that contains one or more auditoriums that are primarily used for the purpose of showing films to the public for remuneration. The exclusions include: Drive-in cinemas Cinemas that only show analogue films And as always with ADA regulations, businesses must comply "unless compliance results in an excessive burden or fundamental change. "Learn more about "excessive demand" and ADA lawsuits What adjustments are needed? Theaters must provide closed captioning displays to customers who are deaf or hard of hearing.
These devices can be hand held or clip onto the seat backs so that the captions are only visible to the customer who needs them. For blind customers, cinemas must provide an audio description track. Audio description tells about the visual content of a movie where there are no corresponding audio elements. This involves a separate script which is recorded and synchronized with the film as it is shown. The oral delivery of the script is transmitted to the user by infrared or FM transmission to wireless headsets. Theaters are required to have a number of assistive technology devices depending on the number of auditoriums showing digital films.
The table below shows these requirements. Requirements for assistive technology devices for theaters # of auditoriums Minimum number of captioning devices Minimum number of audio description devices 1 4 12-7 6 1-48-15 6 4-816+ 12 8+Note that the rule does not require theaters to offer open captioned screenings (where captions are shown on the big screen for everyone to see).However, Hawaii has passed state law that requires at least some movie screenings to display open captions, making them accessible to deaf and hard of hearing customers without assistive technology.