Air Carrier Access Act Technical Assistance Manual (2005)

Accommodations for Passengers Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

If the safety briefings are presented to passengers on video screens, carriers must ensure that the video presentation is accessible to passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing. [Sec. 382.47(b)] More specifically, carriers must implement this requirement by using open captioning or an inset for a sign language interpreter as part of the video presentation. [Sec. 382.47(b)(1)] A carrier may use an equivalent non-video alternative to this requirement only if neither open captioning nor a sign language interpreter inset could be placed in the video presentation without so interfering with it as to render it ineffective or if it would not be large enough to be readable. [Sec. 382.47(b)(2)] Carriers must implement these requirements by substituting captioned video materials for uncaptioned video materials as the uncaptioned materials are replaced in the normal course of the carrier’s operations. [Sec. 382.47(b)(3)]