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New Jersey Wants Better Accommodation of Disabled Theater Patrons

March 3, 2005
The state of New Jersey has targeted a multiplex theater chain that is says is excluding hearing and vision-impaired patrons. It wants the chain to use available technology to provide access for these consumers.

State Attorney General Peter C. Harvey and Division on Civil Rights Director J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo have targeted Regal Entertainment Group, one of the nation's largest multiplex theater companies, with an amended discrimination complaint.

According to Harvey, the amended complaint contains a new accusation that Regal has violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) by not installing the DVS Technical System, a system that delivers narration for the blind and visually-impaired enabling them to better follow the action of a movie.

DVS provides narrative descriptions through infrared listening systems, which the blind and visually impaired hear through audio headsets. Harvey said the descriptions heard by DVS users provide information about key visual aspects of films - for example, action settings and scene changes -- and therefore make the movie experience more meaningful for those with vision loss.

In addition to citing Regal for not installing DVS, the amended complaint reiterates an accusation from the state's original complaint, filed in 2004, that Tennessee-based Regal has violated the law by failing to install certain captioning systems - Open Caption Projection or Rear Window Captioning -- that would allow the deaf and hard of hearing to enjoy first-run movies.

"Every adult and child -- regardless of his or her ability or disability -- should be able to fully enjoy the experience of going to the theater and experiencing a first-run film," said Harvey. "Movies are not only fun, they provide an important shared reference point in American culture, and are often the common thread that brings people together."

For too long, this area of our popular culture has been virtually closed to the deaf and hard of hearing, the blind and the visually impaired, but we are committed to changing that," Hsrvey said.

In September 2004, the Attorney General's Office and the Division on Civil Rights reached voluntary settlement agreements with four major multiplex theater chains operating in New Jersey regarding the installation of new deaf captioning technology.

Under terms of the settlement agreements, American Multi-Cinema (AMC), Loews Cineplex Theaters, Clearview Cinemas and National Amusements agreed to either equip their theaters with new captioning technology or, in multiplexes where the technology was already installed, to expand the number of screens offering such captioning.

In each case, the four participating theater chains chose a form of closed captioning known as Rear Window Captioning, although the Attorney General's Office has made plain that it views either Rear Window Captioning or another approach, known as Open Caption Projection, as "reasonable" accommodations for the deaf and hard of hearing, and has no preference.

According to Harvey, the current estimated cost of installing Open Caption Projection equipment is about $12,500 per screen, while the estimated cost for Rear Window Captioning is about $10,000 per screen. The estimated cost of installing a DVS system is about $2,000.

Three of the four participating theater chains - AMC, Clearview, and National Amusements -- have also formally agreed to install DVS technology to accommodate the blind and visually impaired, said Division on Civil Rights Director Vespa-Papaleo.

Regal has declined to install DVS, and has also refused to install Rear Window Captioning or Open Caption Projection to accommodate the deaf, apparently preferring to utilize a form of deaf captioning known commonly as ordinary "open captioning."

Vespa-Papaleo said that the common type of open captioned films are unsatisfactorily limited in terms of providing the disabled "reasonable" accommodations. He said this common type of open captioning requires the captioning to be burned onto an individual reel of film, a process that is labor intensive and can take weeks, or even months, after the initial distribution of a movie.

Because of the time-consuming process involved, Vespa-Papaleo explained, the deaf and hard of hearing must wait for extended periods after the initial run of a movie to view open-captioned films. Even when an open-captioned feature is shown in theaters, the Director explained, the film is usually screened only at occasional showings, and not during prime-time movie-going hours (for example, Friday and Saturday evenings).

In addition, Vespa-Papaleo noted, there are typically a limited number of open-captioned film reels distributed throughout the nation. As a result, there may often be only one or two open-captioned copies of popular movies available per state.

"By contrast, a significant -- and growing -- number of first-run movies are being made which are compatible with Rear Window Captioning, Open Caption Projection and DVS technologies," said Vespa-Papaleo. "Having these systems in place enables theaters to genuinely accommodate those with hearing loss or vision loss by enabling them to enjoy first-run movies during prime-time movie-going hours, just as everyone else does. Now for many people, they can attend first-run movies during peak times with their families and friends."

"Our position is that Rear Window Captioning, Open Caption Projection and DVS are reasonable accommodations under the Law Against Discrimination," said Harvey. "We believe they do not impose an undue burden on theater owners, because they are not exceedingly costly, nor do they require fundamental physical alterations. To their credit, other major theater companies operating in New Jersey already have their deaf captioning and DVS systems up and running."

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