Requires certain motion picture theaters to provide scheduled showings of motion pictures with open motion picture captioning

• Democratic28

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Nathalia Fernandez says this is needed

Currently, federal regulations require movie theaters to provide indi- vidual viewing devices that display dialogue in writing as closed captions, visible only to patrons with the viewing devices. While this provides deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans some access to cinema, these closed-captioning devices can be distracting for users. Of particular concern, movie theaters fail to properly maintain working devices, and users recount frequent battery outages and malfunctions. As a result of these difficulties, movie theaters are not fully accessible or comforta- ble environments for the deaf and hard of hearing community. To address these concerns, jurisdictions such as Hawaii and New York City now mandate a minimum of open caption motion picture showings. Similar legislation is pending in many other states and cities, including Mary- land, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington D.C. In contrast to closed captions, open captions provide text at the bottom of the screen that is visible to all viewers in the theater. While open captions particularly serve the deaf and hard-ofhearing community, they benefit many others, including English language learners. Younger. Americans in particular have expressed a preference for captioned media. A 2023 survey revealed that 63% of adults under 30 prefer watching captioned media (YouGov). In a testament to the popularity of open caption showings, some large movie theaters have begun to offer screenings without a legal mandate. AMC Theaters, for instance, offers certain open caption showings at 240 of its locations. This bill, however, would ensure deaf, hard-of-hearing, and multilingual New Yorkers can enjoy movie theaters, no matter where they live in the state.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.