The Old Dog Barks

Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Movie Captioning and Video Description

The Department of Justice’s Consideration of Regulations Requiring Closed Captioning and Video Description for Movies Shown at Movie Theaters

Since the enactment of the ADA twenty years ago, technologies have been developed to include closed captions and video description in movies being shown at movie theaters. Movie studios have responded by producing and distributing movies with captioning and video description. However, these features are not generally made available at movie theaters. In 2008, the Department of Justice’s published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comment on whether it should issue regulations requiring captioning and video description. The Department received many comments supporting such regulations. Also, recently a federal appellate court endorsed the position of the Department and determined that the ADA requires movie theaters to show movies with closed captioning and video description unless the theaters can show that it would be a fundamental alteration or undue burden to do so. In light of these developments, this advance notice presents for public review and comment a series of questions seeking additional and updated comments and suggestions regarding what a future rule on this issue should address.

Summary: The Department is providing advance notice that it 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. The purpose of the notice is to discuss how best to frame such a requirement and to determine the costs and benefits of any such requirement.

You might look at this as I had to in order to understand what was meant by “Video and Audio Description”. — “Audio description refers to an additional narration track for blind and visually impaired consumers of visual media (including television and film, dance, opera, and visual art). It consists of a narrator talking through the presentation, describing what is happening on the screen during the natural pauses in the audio, and sometimes during dialogue if deemed necessary.”

When I think of the blind being forced to sit behind posts and in otherwise visually obscured seats at sporting events, or in the first several rows at movie theaters and elsewhere, I am almost convinced such rules as these with the force of law are necessary. Then I wake up.