[blindkid] DV in Theaters and on DVD

Richard Holloway rholloway at gopbc.org
Thu Dec 27 18:19:07 UTC 2012


If any of you are like our family, we have extra time to pass for the next week or so with the Winter School Break.

I was just discussing described movie options with another parent. If you're not aware, there is a lot of change going on. Many new options. You may have had trouble getting to things on broadcast or cable TV. That still seems the hardest, but I think it is actually slowly improving.

DVD's are more reliable and easier to access. We found 10 new family friendly titles to add to our collection for Christmas. Some are new releases and some are re-releases which have DVS  now (while earlier releases did not have that feature). New releases include "Brave", "Diary of a Whimpy Kid-- Dog Days", and Ice Age Continental Drift". In the re-release category, I was delighter to see that the newer release of "Finding Nemo" is now described. Likewise, there is a new 4-pack of the Shrek movies from Dreamworks with all 4 Movies listed as Described. Here is the strange thing about the Shreks-- the outer package is NOT labeled for DVS content, but the 4 discs inside each show to have Audio Description on the back of each case. Previous single copies of the discs seemed to be npn-described except for the fourth film-- "Shrek Forever After". (For the sake of complete disclosure we have not watched all these yet, but they are all properly labeled, except for the outer box of the Shrek set. I cannot guarantee you'll get what I got, but I suspect if you get "Shrek The Whole Story", you'll end up with all for Shrek Movies Described. 

Also, if you like to go to the movies at theaters, check out captionfish.com for local DV movies. Regal Cinemas (including UA or United Artists, which Regal apparently owns) has added a LOT of theaters with DV running on many, if not all screenings of most (if not all) films.

A couple of months ago, I was aware of two local (Regal) Cinemas running most films with DV. Now I count 5 in the area. I was just discussing this with another parent in the northeast in the New Jersey / Pennsylvania area. There must me 20 or more theaters with literally a hundred or more screens showing every film with DV available within about a 50 mile radius. Quite a change! (I just saw it on captionfish.) All you have to do is ask for the headset and they'll provide it for free. If you want to be certain they're all setup call ahead, but we now go to our local theater regularly (a Regal) and get our headset so my daughter can enjoy a film along with her entire family. It is never an issue. I think the new Hobbit Film (available in DV) may be too long for her to sit through, but "Monster's Inc." looks like a strong candidate here in the next day or so!

Here is the captionfish link:

http://www.captionfish.com/

Remember to select your area then look under the filter for "descriptive video".  I do not know how accessible the site is and it may require sighted assistance. Please be aware that the site seems to be primarily targeted for hearing impaired listings and they have added descriptive video as well. I would hate to cause a problem with excessive complaints and have the DV listing go away, if you follow-- just my two cents worth. If anyone has time to check and finds the site accessible, I'd love to know how well it may work with JAWS, etc. Right now my kids are far too animated to spent much time checking, LOL...

Happy Holidays!



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