Illinois cinema chain ordered to become accessible

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Tuesday, 10 April 2012 14:45pm

One of the USA’s largest cinema companies, AMC Theaters, has reached a settlement with the Attorney General of Illinois which will see closed captioning and audio description provided in 460 cinema screens across the state. The case arose after concerns were raised by Illinois disability rights advocacy organisation Equip for Equality.

This comes after AMC Theatres’ formal announcement reported by Media Access Australia in January to commit to closed captioning across its complexes across the USA. The first state, California, will commence installation in mid-2012. Although not included in the announcement, audio description will also be installed nationally.

The settlement brings a more prescribed implementation program to Illinois, and includes the following clauses:

  • AMC will install Doremi CaptiView and Fidelio systems but have not ruled out other technologies should delays of more than six months occur in the rollout.
  • AMC agrees to provide appropriate training regarding the technologies an dthis must result in employees obtaining the necessary level of competency in order to operate the technologies and provide it to individuals.
  • The training will be reviewed periodically but not less than once a year for all theatre level employees.
  • AMC agrees to clearly include in its print, online and phone movie time system information about which movies are accessible.
  • AMC expect to complete closed caption and audio description installations in Illinois by April 2014.

You can read the press release about the settlement on Equip for Equality’s website.


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