ALBANY, N.Y. – Did you catch the new movie that everyone’s talking about at school and at work?
If you’re visually or hearing impaired, you probably couldn’t.
That will change under a new deal with eight national theater chains aimed at making it easier for visually and hearing-impaired people to enjoy movies in 140 theaters in New York state, according to New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
“Movies are an important part of popular culture,” Spitzer said. “Every adult and child should be able to enjoy a film with family and friends, especially during the holiday season.”
The agreement includes “rear window captioning,” in which hearing disabled customers would use an acrylic panel to read captioning projected in reverse to the back of the theater. Thirty-eight theaters also will provide on-screen captioning of some movies and headsets that offer descriptive narration of films.
Currently, just two theaters in western New York, one in central New York, one in Albany and five in metro New York City offer captioned or narrated movies.
Spitzer said the companies are showing “extraordinary cooperation.” They are AMC Entertainment, Carmike Cinemas, Clearview Cinemas, Dipson Theatres, Loews Entertainment Cineplex, National Amusements, Regal Entertainment Group and Zurich Cinemas.
Representatives for Loews, AMC and Regal Entertainment Group, three of the largest chains, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Under the agreement, theaters will provide listening devices that are more compatible with hearing aids. Most headsets currently made available for disabled customers only amplify a movie’s soundtrack.
The American Foundation for the Blind said the measures outlined in the deal will help bring more customers into theaters.
The foundation “hopes all theaters will soon offer more options to their patrons, giving people with vision loss the same access to the social and cultural experiences that movies provide,” said Carl Agusto, the foundation’s president.
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