28 CFR Part 36 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Movie Captioning and Video Description ANPRM

D. Captioning and Video Description Generally

Captioning makes movies shown in theaters accessible to individuals whose hearing is too limited to benefit from assistive listening devices, as well as to individuals with other hearing disabilities. Open captions are similar to subtitles in that the text of the dialog is visible to everyone in the theater. Unlike subtitles, open captions also describe other sounds and sound makers (e.g., sound effects, music, and the character who is speaking) in an on-screen text format. Open movie captions are sometimes referred to as "burned in" or "hardcoded" captions. However, new open captioning technology enables studios to superimpose captions without making a burned in copy or having to deliver a separate version of the movie. Open-captioned films are most often exhibited in movie theaters at certain limited showings.

Closed captioning displays the written text of the dialog and other sounds or sound makers only to those individuals who request it. It is the Department´s understanding that, at the time comments were received in response to the 2008 NPRM, there were various types of closed captioning systems either in use or in development, including the Rear Window system, hand-held displays similar to a PDA (personal digital assistant), eyeglasses fitted with a prism over one lens, and projected bitmap captions. It is also the Department´s understanding that, at present, the only system that has gained a foothold in the marketplace is the Rear Window system. Unlike open captions that are sometimes burned onto the film itself, Rear Window captions are generated via a technology that neither is physically attached to the film nor requires a separate copy of the film to be made. The Rear Window system works through a movie theater´s digital sound system. It uses a computer, a time code signal, and captioning software to project the captions, in reverse, on an LED display in the rear of the theater. A clear adjustable panel that is mounted on, or near an individual viewer´s seat reflects the captions correctly and superimposes them on that panel so that it appears to a Rear Window user that the captions are on or near the movie image. Because this technology enables a movie theater that has been equipped with a Rear Window system to exhibit any movie that a movie producer has captioned, at any showing, without displaying captions to every movie-goer in the theater, individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing may enjoy movies in the same theater as those who do not require captioning.

Video description is a technology that 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. Visual description fills in information about the visual content of a movie where there are no corresponding audio elements in the film. It requires the creation of a separate script written by specially trained writers who prepare a script for video description that is recorded on an audiotape or CD that is synchronized with the film as it is projected. The script is transmitted to the user through infra-red or FM transmission to wireless headsets.