[Blindtlk] News Release: Settlement Provides Unprecedented Accessfor People with Disabilities to Go to the Movies in Illinois

[Bryan Schulz]

hi,

so will only IL locations be converted?

Bryan Schulz

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Steven Johnson 
  To: Blind Talk Mailing List 
  Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 10:42 PM
  Subject: [Blindtlk] News Release: Settlement Provides Unprecedented Accessfor People with Disabilities to Go to the Movies in Illinois


  For Immediate Release                                               Media
  Contact: Maura Possley

  April 4, 2012
  312-814-3118

   
  mpossley at atg.state.il.us

  Follow OAG on:                                                             

  @ILAttyGeneral                                                             

  youtube.com/ILATTORNEYGENERAL

  huffingtonpost.com/lisa-madigan

   

  MADIGAN ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT WITH AMC THEATRES

   

  Settlement Provides Unprecedented Access for People with Disabilities to Go
  to the Movies

   

  Chicago - Attorney General Lisa Madigan today announced a landmark
  settlement with Illinois' largest movie theater operator that will provide
  unprecedented access for people with hearing and vision disabilities.

   

  Madigan said the settlement with AMC Theatres, based in Kansas City, Mo.,
  will provide personal captioning services and audio-description technology
  for movie-goers with hearing and vision disabilities at all of its theaters
  and its 460 movie screens.

   

  "This technology will allow people with disabilities to enjoy a movie right
  alongside their friends and families unlike ever before," Madigan said. 

   

  Madigan was joined today at AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois St., by AMC
  representatives and disability rights supporters to detail the settlement.
  By 2014, AMC movie theaters will be equipped with captioning services and
  audio-description devices. The technology will be available to movie-goers
  at nearly any movie at an AMC theater and at all of a film's listed
  showings. 

   

  The Attorney General's settlement is a significant development for people
  living with disabilities in Illinois. Prior to the agreement, Madigan said,
  only 21 out of 246 movie theaters in Illinois offered closed-captioning
  services and only 10 offered audio-description services. The settlement
  arose out of concerns brought to the Attorney General's Office in 2010 by
  Equip for Equality, the federally funded advocacy agency for people with
  disabilities in Illinois. At the time, only a small fraction of movie
  theaters offered the technology for only a limited number of movies and
  usually at showings set at off hours. 

   

  "AMC is committed to providing the best possible moviegoing experience for
  all of our guests, which includes the conversion to digital presentation,"
  said Noel MacDonald, vice president of Operations at AMC Theatres. "For the
  past several years we've worked with suppliers to develop digital assistive
  technologies that can be implemented on a broad scale. We're excited that
  this technology allows everyone to join us at an AMC theatre. "

   

  "Our clients are thrilled with the comprehensive agreement reached by the
  Illinois Attorney General and AMC," said Amy Peterson, senior attorney for
  Equip for Equality. "Under the agreement, people who are deaf, hard of
  hearing, and blind will now be able to fully enjoy going to the movies, like
  all other citizens of Illinois."

   

  This case was handled by Madigan's Disability Rights Bureau Chief Nicki
  Bazer. Madigan's Disability Rights Bureau enforces state and federal laws
  that protect the rights of people with disabilities to equal access to
  places of public accommodation, housing, and local government programs and
  services.

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