03:44 AM ET 04/21/00

Deaf Sue Movie Giants Over Captions

By KALPANA SRINIVASAN=
Associated Press Writer=
WASHINGTON (AP) _ When Aaron Fudenske wants to see a movie on
the big screen, he almost always catches a foreign film with
subtitles or a high action picture.
For Fudenske, who has been deaf since birth, that's the only way
to ensure he'll follow what's going on.
``It's very frustrating not to equally enjoy movies'' with
others, said Fudenske, a program analyst at the Transportation
Department.
Seeking to make movie theaters more accessible, Fudenske and two
other deaf individuals on Thursday filed suit against Loews
Cineplex Entertainment Corp. and AMC Entertainment, contending the
companies violated federal disabilities law by failing to provide
captioning.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia, argues that theaters are a place of ``public
accommodation'' as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act
and therefore should ensure that deaf people are not denied service
due to their disability.
``We simply cannot enjoy movies without the proper
accessibility,'' said another plaintiff, Washington lawyer John
Stanton.
The companies named in the lawsuit say they already offer some
showings of movies using a system called ``open captioning.'' That
system is similar to movie subtitles without the black background
box. It also uses italics in the corner or icons to describe sounds
and events that a deaf person might miss.
But plaintiffs' lawyer Wayne Cohen said the problem is the
infrequency with which such captioned films are shown in a given
week or month.
``They'll do an occasional viewing from time to time to try to
sugarcoat the issue,'' Cohen said.
The suit wants the theaters to implement captioning at all
screenings within 180 days. There is no monetary request.
Cohen said the theaters can make movies more accessible to deaf
individuals through a number of means without exorbitant costs or
inconvenience to their hearing audiences.
One system, called ``rear window'' captioning, involves
providing deaf attendees with a plexiglass screen they can stick
into the cup holder or seat in front of them. The screen would show
captions for that individual viewer.
Another system involves scrolling captions on the backs of seats
and a third would call for a separate viewing screen altogether
within the theater.
Cohen estimated that adding such technologies would cost about
$8,000 to $15,000 per theater.
But Marc Pascucci, a spokesman for Loews Cineplex, said that the
rear window captioning system is cost-prohibitive to install and
could become obsolete very soon. In the last two years, the company
has been doing special engagements of films with open captions.
``We are making efforts to reach out to the hearing impaired
community,'' he said.
AMC spokeswoman Brenda Nolte said the company has been providing
open captions in some of its theaters for nearly three years and
plans to expand the program.
``It has been well-received,'' AMC spokeswoman Brenda Nolte
said. ``This was the system that we have been advised is the
preference of the hearing impaired community.''

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We also have what amounts to "Descriptive Video Service", a second assistive listening channel that describes action on screen. Audio is sourced from Rear Window DTS. Also works very well. But, again, only software was Star Wars.

As noted in posts, equipment is quite expensive. And, if the studios don't produce software, what good is the equipment?