28 CFR Part 36 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations - Movie Theaters; Movie Captioning and Audio Description Final Rule

A. Prior to 2010

On September 30, 2004, the Department published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking announcing its intention to update the 1991 title II and title III ADA regulations and to adopt revised ADA Accessibility Standards. 69 FR 58768 (Sept. 30, 2004) (2004 ANPRM). While the 2004 ANPRM did not mention movie captioning or audio description, several commenters suggested that the Department issue a rule regulating these features. Subsequently, when the Department issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in June 2008, 73 FR 34508 (June 17, 2008) (2008 NPRM), proposing comprehensive updates to the title III regulation relating to nondiscrimination on the basis of disability by public accommodations and commercial facilities, the Department announced that it was considering rulemaking that would require movie theaters to provide captioning and audio description for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing, or who are blind or have low vision. 73 FR at 34530-31.

The 2008 NPRM did not propose any specific regulatory language addressing captioning and audio description. Rather, the Department emphasized that movie theaters should be left with the discretion to select the appropriate technology should captioning and audio description be required for patrons with hearing and vision disabilities. Nonetheless, the Department inquired whether it should require movie theaters to exhibit all new movies with captioning and audio description at every showing or offer those features on a limited basis.

Most of the commenters on the 2008 NPRM who addressed the issue of captioning and audio description recommended that the Department issue regulations requiring movie theaters to provide both features at all showings unless doing so would result in an undue burden or a fundamental alteration. These commenters urged the Department to act promptly and not await completion of movie theaters' ongoing conversion to digital cinema because the technology for captioning and audio description had been available for approximately ten years and few movie theaters provided either feature to their patrons. Commenters affiliated with the movie industry opposed the Department requiring movie theaters to offer captioning or audio description and claimed that the cost of the necessary equipment would constitute an undue burden. They also maintained that if the Department decided to issue a rule, the effective date should be delayed until movie theaters completed their conversion to digital cinema. See Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Movie Captioning and Video Description, 75 FR 43467 (July 26, 2010), for a more detailed discussion of comments on the 2008 NPRM.