[Nfbc-info] Fw: [il-talk] justice department on movie theaters

Sat Jul 26 11:59:59 UTC 2014

This additional information was just sent to me. I thought you might be 
interested in reading this.

Rob Kaiser, President National Federation of the Blind Orange County Chapter
cell#(847)989-0768
email;
rcubfank at sbcglobal.net
-----Original Message----- 
From: Kelly Pierce
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2014 4:55 AM
To: Rob Kaiser ; NFB of Illinois Mailing List
Subject: Re: [il-talk] justice department on movie theaters

rob,

Thanks for this info.  I was not aware of this latest development.
fortunately, state elected officials and the blind community have not
waited around for Washington to get its act together on this issue.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madagan acted upon complaints filed by
ACB members to force America Multicinema Inc, now known as AMC
theaters, to install the equipment that provides captions and audio
description.  A legal settlement has been reached with cinemark.
Regal also offers audio description. When Lisa Madagan announced her
settlement a few years ago, Illinois became the place with the largest
instillation of this equipment in the world. Now, other states and
other theaters can get in line.

Kelly

On 7/25/14, Rob Kaiser via il-talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello all: As this might not be of interest to all of you, I still thought
> most if not all of you would be interested in this article.
>
>
> Rob Kaiser, President National Federation of the Blind Orange County 
> Chapter
>
> cell#(847)989-0768
> email;
> rcubfank at sbcglobal.net
>
>
>
>
> WASHINGTON - The Justice Department announced today that Attorney General
> Eric Holder has signed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the
> Title III regulation for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to
> require movie theaters to provide closed movie captioning and audio
> description in order to give persons with hearing and vision disabilities
> access to movies.
>
> "This proposed rule will allow all Americans, including those with
> disabilities, to fully participate in the moviegoing experience.  With 
> this
> proposal, the Justice Department is taking an important step to ensure
> consistent access for people with vision and hearing disabilities," said.
> Attorney General Eric Holder.  "Twenty-four years after its passage, the
> Americans with Disabilities Act remains a critical tool for extending the
> promise of opportunity and inclusion for everyone in this country."
>
> Closed movie captioning refers to captions that are delivered to the
> patron's seat and are visible only to that patron.  Audio description
> enables individuals who are blind or have low vision to enjoy movies by
> providing a spoken narration of key visual elements of a movie, such as
> actions, settings, facial expressions, costumes and scene changes.  Audio
> description is transmitted to a user's wireless headset.  The department 
> is
> proposing to provide a consistent nationwide standard for movie theaters 
> to
> exhibit movies that are available with closed movie captioning and audio
> description for all showings.  The department is also proposing to require
> theaters to provide a specific number of closed captioning and audio
> description devices.  Theaters need not comply with the proposed rule if
> doing so would cause an undue burden or fundamental alteration.  The
> department is not proposing to require movie theaters to add captions or
> audio description to movies that are not already produced and distributed
> with these features.
>
> The department is proposing a six-month compliance date for movie 
> theaters'
> digital movie screens and is seeking public comment on whether it should
> adopt a four-year compliance date for movie theaters' analog movie screens
> or should defer rulemaking on analog screens until a later date.
>
> "As we celebrate the 24th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities
> Act
> on Saturday, we are reminded that people with disabilities still do not
> have
> full access to all aspects of American cultural life," said Jocelyn
> Samuels,
> Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.  "Although some movie
> theaters are making strides towards meeting their ADA obligations, there 
> is
> a good deal of inconsistency among theaters across the United States. 
> This
> proposed rule is intended to ensure that, regardless of where a person 
> with
> a hearing or vision disability lives, that person will be able to attend
> movies with their friends and family and fully enjoy this important social
> and cultural activity."
>
> On July 26, 2010, the department published an Advance Notice of
> Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) asking how requirements for movie captions and
> audio description should be implemented.  The ANPRM sought public comment
> regarding the type of accessibility requirements for captioning and video
> [audio] description the department should consider, particularly in light
> of
> the industry's conversion to digital cinema technology.  The department
> received more than a thousand comments in response to the ANPRM and these
> comments were taken into consideration when developing the proposed rule.
>
> The department intends to publish the proposed rule in the Federal 
> Register
> in the near future, and public comments on the NPRM will be due 60 days
> from
> the date the rule is published.
>
> The NPRM is available for review on  <http://www.ada.gov/> the ADA 
> website.
>
> Those interested in finding out more about the ADA may call the
> department's
> toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TTY 800-514-0383) or visit
> the ADA website.
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