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Submission to

HREOC Inquiry

Captioned Movies

14 December 1999

Contents
													Page

1.	INTRODUCTORY REMARKS	1

2.	RESPONSIBILITY FOR CAPTIONING	1

3.	OPTIONS FOR CAPTIONING	2

4.	RELATED ISSUES	3

5.	ABOUT THE DEAFNESS FORUM	4

ATTACHMENT A

“Affiliates in Action” and “Rear Window ®: A Viable Option” –
reproduced from Hearing Loss November/December 1997,
a publication of SHHH America.	5
1.	
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

Entertainment must be available to Deaf and hearing impaired people, as well as to hearing people. For many people with a hearing impairment, the provision of an assistive listening system would be an appropriate and, probably, preferred way of making the sound content of movies available. However, in reality many hearing impaired persons need captions as well as assistive listening to enable them to properly follow the storyline of a movie.

For people who are Deaf; i.e. do not have the ability to hear sound even with supplementation, assistive listening systems do not provide them with access to movies. Captioning must be used to achieve that.

In addition to meeting the very real needs of people who are Deaf or have a hearing impairment (whether they are literate in English or Auslan), the screening of captioned movies would have added benefits:

•	raising public awareness about the need to care for hearing, and
•	assisting hearing people for whom English is not their first language.

The number of people who would benefit from the provision of captioned movies is high.  There are about four million Australians who are Deaf or have some hearing loss (ranging from mild to profound). Of those, 350,000 currently use 530,000 hearing aids. The Office of Hearing Services has 300,000 active consumers and issues 140-150,000 vouchers a year, 50% going to new clients. Many other people need hearing aids, but do not have them for a variety of good and bad reasons. A significant percentage of people without hearing aids find it useful to utilise captioning. An estimated 1,722,879 persons used television captioning in 1995.

2.	RESPONSIBILITY FOR CAPTIONING

Captioning could be seen as the responsibility of movie producers or distributors or cinema operators. Logic would suggest captioning should be undertaken at an early point in the chain, so that all copies of movies were captioned regardless of who was screening them. Indeed, the Deafness Forum understands that the copies of movies screened by cinemas are actually the property of the movie producer, and are only hired by the cinema. That would, presumably, mean cinemas would not have the right to add captions to a movie. However, it would remain necessary for cinemas to instal any necessary equipment enabling patrons to see captions on during screenings of captioned movies provided to them.
3.	
OPTIONS FOR CAPTIONING

Open captioning inevitably would lead to complaints from the hearing members of the cinema-going public, on the grounds that it was intrusive to their enjoyment of the movie. The counter argument to that is that open captioning provides inclusive access to Deaf and hearing impaired patrons with equal dignity. It would, of course, be possible to screen captioned prints of movies at some sessions and non-captioned prints at other sessions, allowing patrons to choose which session to attend. If such an approach were adopted, it would be important that captioned screenings were available at a comparable range of times, including at all times when admission prices are lower. It is a practical and viable option that already is in place in US cinemas. The Tripod organisation distributes open captioned movies to participating cinemas all over the USA. If Tripod already has open captioned movies available, and the technology is compatible, it should mean that Australian cinemas could also obtain them for screening here. At least one Deafness Forum member considers that the quality of captions is best when they are on the original print of a movie. The open captioning approach should definitely be adopted if closed captioning is not provided.

A variation of the use of open captioning is special open captioned screenings specifically for the deaf and hearing impaired communities. Some people particularly like these as they have the added bonus of the social atmosphere created when the deaf community gathers together. However, the provision of occasional special open captioned screenings of particular movies should not be seen as a substitute for providing regular access to movies by all people who are Deaf or hearing impaired.

Closed captioning should not lead to complaints from any reasonable hearing member of the cinema-going public. The issue here is the nature and quality of available technology. The article reproduced at Attachment A provides some views of SHHH (America) members about the Rear Window ® captioning system. The article refers to it as “an acceptable technology for closed captioning” that now “provides all of us with an opportunity to encourage wide application of closed captioning technology – either this or some other”.

One of the Forum’s members, with first-hand experience of the Rear Window ® captioning system, has made the following comments about it. “We went to watch a 3D version of ‘Honey, I shrunk the kids’ We notified the operator beforehand that there was a group of deaf people, so we were shunted to the rear area of the cinema and a single stand with strong clear (see through) plastic board (measuring approx. 10” by 4”) were placed in front of us, and we could adjust the stand so that the plastic board is just underneath our line of vision with the screen. When the filming commence, the captions started rolling from left to right (or vice versa – cannot remember in backward manner) and it was converted to reading from left to right. All we have to do is to flick our eyes down and up to take in captions and action on the screen. After few minutes, our eyes stopped moving up and down, we were able to relax and watch the screen and absorb captions at the same time.”

It certainly seems that, when it is available throughout a cinema, the Rear Window ® captioning system operates better, from the viewer’s perspective, in some seats than in others. If that were the case, then it would be important that patrons needing captions were able to occupy the seats where the system worked best. There is a potential practical difficulty arising from the fact that a group attending a screening together may well include some who need captions and others who do not. There also would be a dignity question if patrons using the captioning system were relegated to inferior seats.

If the Rear Window ® captioning system is the only real option currently available, the Deafness Forum would support its introduction on the grounds that it clearly is a viable option. If a better option is expected to become available in the imminent future, it may be preferable to wait rather than see cinemas incur expense (presumably significant) on a less satisfactory system. The problem with such an approach is that waiting for the next better technology can mean a purchase is never made, because there always is another even better technology on the way. The decision as to what closed caption projection system was installed should be a decision for the cinema operators. The issue here is whether cinema operators should be required to instal some closed caption projection system. The Deafness Forum would certainly favour such a requirement being imposed.

4.	RELATED ISSUES

Movies are screened in places other than cinemas. For example, videos of movies are screened in passenger aircraft and coaches during journeys of longer duration. On aircraft the screened movies are new releases, often still screening at cinemas. On coaches they are generally not new releases. Passengers who need captions to view movies pay the same fares as do other passengers, so are discriminated against if they are not able to access the screened movies in such situations. Open captioning is probably the only current option available in these situations, and should be provided.

Movies also are screened in hotel and motel rooms. Again, customers who need captioning pay the same room charges as do other guests. If the movies are provided as part of the room tariff, then the movies available for viewing should be provided with captioning. If guests pay an additional amount to view a movie, those who need captioning would still be discriminated against if a lack of captioning denied them the choice available to others.

Another point that needs to be made here, even though not directly relevant, is that the high volumes from sound systems in today’s modern movie theatres, particularly in respect of certain movies, is such as to present a very real danger to patrons. The danger is that their hearing may be damaged, temporarily or permanently, by exposure to a too high decibel level. It would be tragic if, at the same time as arrangements were made to enable Deaf and hearing impaired people to access movies, the hearing of other patrons was being damaged (thus creating more people who needed assistance to hear movie soundtracks!).

While not directly relevant to the issue of captioned movies, it is interesting to note that captioning can be provided on request in certain situations. The member of the Deafness Forum, quoted above regarding his experience of the Rear Window ® captioning system, has experienced audio-visual displays that can be captioned “at request” by pressing a button on the arm of the viewing chair or on a rail against which you leant to view the audio-visual.

5.	ABOUT THE DEAFNESS FORUM

Deafness Forum is the peak body for deafness in Australia. Established in early 1993, the Deafness Forum now represents all interests and viewpoints of the Deaf and hearing impaired communities of Australia. The representational base of the Deafness Forum is divided into five Sections:

a)	Hearing Impaired Section - persons with a hearing loss who communicate predominantly orally,

b)	Deaf Section - i.e. the Deaf Community - those persons who consider themselves to be members of that community by virtue of its language (sign language known as Auslan) and culture,

c)	Parents section - parents or legal guardians of persons who are Deaf or hearing impaired,

d)	Service Providers section - service providers to the Deaf and/or hearing impaired communities, and

e)	Ear Disorders Section - persons with a chronic ear disorder (such as Tinnitus, Meniere’s Disease or Acoustic Neuroma).

The Deafness Forum exists to improve the quality of life for Australian people who are Deaf or hearing impaired, and those with chronic ear disorders, through lobbying government, making input into policy and legislation, generating public awareness of hearing related issues, providing a forum for information sharing and creation of better understanding between all the diverse areas of deafness.

ATTACHMENT A

From Hearing Loss November/December 1997
A publication of SHHH America

Affiliates in Action

"A" Is for Accessibility in Tennessee 

"When six-year-old Joey Shumaker of Chattanooga, Tennessee, arrived at the IMAX theater, he didn't know what to expect. He was greeted by the staff and escorted to his seat. He was given an unusual looking plastic device resembling a small windshield on a long, bendable arm and was told to put the device in the cup holder of his chair. He settled in his seat and waited Suddenly ... words appeared! Joey could read along with the film and understand what was happening, which was amazing because Joey was born with a hearing loss." [From Riverwatch, a magazine of the Tennessee.]

Joey's experience at the IMAX Theater of Tennessee's famed Aquarium was a thrill for members of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo (TN) Chapter who provided input as a focus group to try the Rear Window ® Captioning and fine-tune a large assortment of assistive listening devices that will accommodate every special communication need. The article, "A is for Accessibility,' written by Donna Deweese, membership coordinator at the Aquarium explains the need and use of the devices, 

"This equipment opens the door to the IMAX experience for guests who might otherwise have met only with frustration," said Carson Malone, IMAX Theater manager, in the feature article. "It's a wonderful service which helps make the theater accessible to everyone." Rear Window ® captioning was developed by Boston inventor, Rufus Butler Seder, as part of the Motion Picture Access Project.

The captioning system provides mirror-reversed captions on a large electronic text screen in the rear of the theater. Special software reads caption flies, feeds them to a computer and synchronizes them to the film. Patrons use a transparent plastic panel to reflect the captions and position them so that they appear superimposed over the movie image. 

"Sometimes it takes an act of courage for people to ask for what they need," said Bea Lyons, chapter member and SHHH National trustee. "And, most don't even know what they need. Hopefully, the IMAX Theater can become a place where people discover their options and feel comfortable out in public again. People will leave with a positive feeling and want to come back, which makes all the difference in the world."

IMAX Theater Accessibility Devices 

Chapter members also met with the staff to provide feedback on the equipment and to present a wish list of attachments for connections with the FM system. The IMAX theater staff purchased all the items they recommended!

Rear Window ®: A Viable Option

In recent months, SHHH staff and members tested a new closed-captioning technology, Rear Window ®, which was developed by the WGBH National Center for Accessible Media in Boston. The captioning system displays reversed captions on a light-emitting diode (LED) text display, which is mounted in the rear of a theater. Transparent acrylic panels, which attach to the seat in a theater, reflect the captions for users. The panels are portable so that they can be used anywhere in a theater, although some locations definitely work better than others (i.e. extreme front and back and far sides do not work as well as the center of the theater).

Most of us who tried it, felt that Rear Window ® was the best thus far in a series of different closed-captioning technologies that have been developed in the past five years which include seat-back display, virtual vision (using a visor-like display), and decoding eyeglasses. SHHH staff and several dozens of our members In the Washington, D.C., area participated in testing of this closed-captioning technology at the large-format IMAX theater at the National Air and Space Museum. And, still others have used Rear Window ® captioning at IMAX theaters in New Orleans and at the Tennessee Aquarium. Most recently, Rear Window ® was introduced at the regular format General Cinema Theatre in Sherman Oaks, California, allowing moviegoers with hearing loss to view first-run films (that have been captioned on the studio tape) with closed captions at regular show times.

Think of it - people who need captions can now go to the movies with their friends and family without waiting for special showings or, more commonly, for the film to come out on video! Titanic and The Jackal are among the films that were recently shown with closed captions. 

Preferences

SHHH members who used the Rear Window ® technology noted that although they preferred the convenience of open captioning (with captions on the screen), they realized that open captioning was unlikely to be something that they could expect to see at every show at movie theaters and elsewhere. While many SHHH members have attended special showings with open captioning, these are special events that one must plan for - not a spur-of-the-moment trip to the movies on a rainy Sunday afternoon. 

People acknowledged the strong opposition from the movie industry and the general public to open captioning at every movie showing. Hence, our SHHH members who have tried it felt that the Rear Window ® option was acceptable and that they would certainly attend movies that had closed-captioning technology like this, if it were available. Many SHHH members who participated in the testing at the Air and Space museum also noted as a benefit the fact that the technology doesn't interfere with others' enjoyment of the show.

When I used Rear Window ® captioning at Walt Disney World, I found that it worked well at all of the four attractions that I viewed, but It was easiest to use at those in which the show was projected on a standard format screen, akin to that used in most movie theaters. It was harder to use with shows that had a 360-degree screen or attractions where there was lots of activity off the main screen (i.e., characters jumping out at you in 3D!). In such instances, it's up to the user to decide how much he or she wants to remain "glued to the captions" rather than taking in more of the visual effects. 

Advocating for Captioning

Although SHHH does not endorse products or services, the availability of an acceptable technology for closed captioning now provides all of us with an opportunity to encourage wide application of closed-captioning technology - either this or some other. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not require open captioning. However, Title III of the ADA and the Department of Justice Title III regulations do require "auxiliary aids and services" unless providing them would "fundamentally alter" the nature of the goods or be an "undue burden." Since other patrons in a theater are not impacted by the use of closed-captioning technology and the cost of installation is not great, it would appear that this would qualify as an eligible service and could be required without a change In the ADA legislation. 

Although many people prefer open captioning, most also recognize that to achieve this would require a change In the ADA statute, which Is not realistic. Indeed, opening up the ADA to debate at this point in time is deemed to be risky and SHHH would not participate in such an effort. 

Here is the list of attachments that may be checked out upon request at the IMAX ticket window:
•	Captioning Reflector: sits in the cup holder of the chair and adjusts to pick up the narrative text being shown on the back wall of the theater.
•	FM Assistive Listening Device: Hand-held receiver amplifies narration of the film. Interfacing is accomplished through any of the following:
•	Mini Earbuds which fit in the outer part of the ear.
•	Headphones which can be used over the top of hearing aids.
•	Neckloop Telecoil Couplers which also can be used with a hearing aid telecoil.
•	Cochlear Implant Patch Cord is a wire which patches the sound directly into a cochlear implant’s speech processor’s input jack, forming a closed loop.
•	Audio Description service: an FM device which provides a scene-by-scene description of the film for people with vision loss.