Article in 'The Times' newspaper
by Jack Malvern -
Arts Reporter for The Times

September 28th 2004

Subtitled films for deaf viewers have risen from none in 2000 to more than 100 a year as cinemas comply with the Disability Discrimination Act, the final part of which takes effect on Friday.

But the Disability Rights Commission said cinemas were the worst offenders, when it came to physical barriers such as steps.

Article in full:

SUBTITLED (captioned) films for deaf audiences have increased in the last four years from zero to more than 100 films a year as cinemas get in line with the Disability Discrimination Act.

Seven out of ten of newly released blockbuster films are available with captions and more than 200 subtitled films have been released since 2000.

Cinema chains have rushed to import caption and audio description technology from America to comply with the Act, the final part of which comes into force on Friday. The act already forces businesses to make "reasonable adjustments" to practices such as providing captions for films, but the introduction of the final section, which addresses physical barriers, is expected to stimulate high profile test cases.

Nearly 130 of Britain's 670 cinemas support caption technology, which was first used in Britain in 2000 for 'Chicken Run', an animated film featuring the voices of Mel Gibson and Jane Horrocks.

Derek Brandon, editor of yourlocalcinema.com, the online film guide for disabled people, said that the rate of progress was staggering. "Next year the UK Film Council plan to equip 150 more cinemas with digital projectors, bringing the number of cinemas with subtitles capability up to almost 300," he said. "Almost every major film release is available with captions."

But a spokesman for the Disability Rights Commission said that cinemas were the worst offenders when it came to physical barriers such as steps, doorways and lighting. "They have an awful lot of ground to cover," he said. "We sent 'mystery shoppers' to the big cinema chains. They couldn't get in. They couldn't get out. Staff were inattentive and unhelpful.

More media reports on the subject:
http://www.yourlocalcinema.com/press.html