Final Regulatory Assessment and Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Final Rule - Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations - Movie Theaters; Movie Captioning and Audio Description

Because patrons will handle the captioning and audio description devices on a regular basis, the devices will require replacement more often than the hardware.  According to movie theaters, approximately 2.5 to 15 percent of devices need to be replaced each year due to mishandling, breakage, and patrons’ failure to return the devices.²⁵  Additionally, this estimate does not account for the fact that the individual devices eventually become unusable and need to be replaced over time.  As Department research indicates, individual devices have an average lifespan of four to seven years.

To account for the ongoing costs associated with the replacement of devices prior to the end of their lifespan and the replacement of these devices at the end of their lifespan, the primary analysis assumes that 20 percent of captioning and audio description devices acquired as a result of the rulemaking are replaced annually.  As previously discussed, the replacement costs incurred for devices purchased prior to the rulemaking cannot be directly attributed to this rulemaking.