"Last evening, I attended a viewing of the movie
"1917" at Southern Village. I would have missed more than 60% of the
movie if it had not been for the use of audio description." --
New AD movie fan in NC, February 2020
Audio description is finally available for almost all first-run movies, and more and more movie theaters
are being built or renovated with the necessary equipment to offer the description
track to patrons. In fact, the law now requires
them to upgrade to include description equipment. This page will point
you to more information about the process, the movies, and the theaters. Last updated: Dec '24.
The following "Final
Rule" was signed in December 2016 and became effective June 2, 2018.
"The Final Rule requires movie theaters [which have digital equipment]
to: (1) have and maintain the equipment necessary to provide closed
movie captioning and audio description at a movie patron's seat whenever
showing a digital movie produced, distributed, or otherwise made available
with these features; (2) provide notice to the public about the availability
of these features; and (3) ensure that theater staff is available to assist
patrons with the equipment before, during, and after the showing of a movie
with these features." However, theaters will have 18 months to comply,
and the minimum number of devices required for AD is less than 1 per screen.
Here is the statement of effective dates:
Public accommodations with movie theater auditoriums showing
digital movies on December 2, 2016 must comply with the rule's requirement
to provide closed movie captioning and audio description in such
auditoriums by June 2, 2018. If a public accommodation
converts a movie theater auditorium from an analog projection system
to a system that it allows it to show digital movies after December
2, 2016, the public accommodation must comply with the rule's requirement
to provide closed movie captioning and audio description in such
auditoriums by December 2, 2018, or within
6 months of that auditorium's complete installation of a digital
projection system, whichever is later.
'Seeing Movies': Technology Makes
Film Accessible To The Blind
The president of the ACB, Kim Charlson, was interviewed in February
2015 for a segment on Boston's WGBH television, the local PBS outlet.
She emphasized how valuable audio description has been for her in the
enjoyment and complete appreciation of movies. The Department
of Justice proposal requiring movie theaters to install description
and captioning equipment was addressed, too. You can view the
4 minute segment below (click it), or click here for an audio version.
You can also view a 4-minute promotional film for WGBH done with Kim to document their introduction of audio description to TV and movies and the value Kim received from this. Watch "The Activist".
Ten years or more ago, movie theaters began converting from film projectors
to digital, each with a server that processes and distributes the movie
data, including audio description tracks. Each month, more and more
movie theaters install one of these systems, making the audio description
available to people who need it. With digital, everything (movie,
multiple sound tracks, and captioning) are all delivered in something called
the Digital Cinema Package (DCP), which any company can
access through common standards, so the competition for equipment is increasing
and the cost of installation is decreasing. One DCP can server multiple
screens in a movie house. While the DCP is currently a physical product
(a hard-drive), eventually the data will be delivered to movie theaters
via satellite.
Sony Digital Cinema Overview (Photo Copyright Sony)
Headsets For AD in Movie Theaters
In movie theaters today, the dominant suppliers for digital equipment
are (or were -- the links are dead...):
Fidelio (was marketed by Doremi Labs, now owned by Dolby; a separate Doremi
product, CaptiView, is/was used for closed captioning)
Sony Digital Cinema Entertainment Access
Typically a theater chain uses one system or the other in all of its
cities. The Sony system uses special glasses and earpieces.
Here's what the Sony system (model Sony STW-C140GI, used
by Regal and others) looks like. When glasses are plugged in, it puts
the captioning on the glasses; when an earpiece is plugged in, the user
hears audio description. Theater management will set the controls
to operate for AD in the particular theater room you are in. You
only control volume.
And here is another option used by Cinemark and
others: The QSC IRH-281 2-channel IR earphones with AD in one ear and amplified
sound in the other, separately controlled. You can also view the 3-page Reference Document for the QSC-281. It is important to
note that you should adjust both earpieces individually, one for movie
volume and one for AD.
When using these headsets for AD in movie theaters, keep in mind that
previews rarely have audio description. Some theaters are putting
an AD track on a theater promotional video shown along with the
previews, so you can make sure you are receiving the AD track well and
at the right volume. Ask about this in the theater.
Keys to Success
To Get the Proper Equipment
Many people are frustrated by being given the wrong equipment
for AD at the cinema. Ask for an AUDIO DESCRIPTION
headset; but make sure it is for
audio description, not an Assisted Listening Device for people
who are hearing-impaired!
History: WGBH Media Access and DTS Access
Systems
Formerly, WGBH Media Access and DTS Access offered a DVS Theatrical Player
for description and captioning. The WGBH system offered closed captioning
via a separate system called Rear Window® Captioning (RWC), while
the DTS Access system offered open captioning on-screen via a special projector.
These systems have been phased out and replaced by digital products not
marketed by either company. WGBH Media Access used the term MoPix to cover
the creation of the tracks and the system which movie theaters purchased.
History: The Good Guys
There are some real "good guys" in the history of making audio description
tracks available, for example, AMC and Regal.Cinemark, the third largest theater chain in the United
States, engaged in a process called Structured Negotiations with its blind
patrons and the California Council of the Blind in 2012, and now has audio
description equipment in every first-run auditorium it operates in the country
(press
release). But other companies have often resisted offering description
and captioning, even when the equipment was readily available to them (through
the conversion to digital). In part, this resistance is what triggered
the Proposed Amendment to ADA
Affecting Movie Theater Accessibility in July 2014. This ended
up with the Justice Department signing a "Final
Rule" in December 2016 (effective June 2, 2018) affecting the ADA Title
III, as summarized at the top of this page.
Availability of proper equipment and staff training have been a huge
issue, and AMC reached a settlement in this regard in the spring of 2017.
In late 2017, the court ruled against Cinemark in a suit brought by a deaf-blind patron
who wanted a tactile interpreter.
How Many Films Are Described?
WGBH Media Access tells us that "All major studios now caption and describe
all wide released features and nearly all independent studios caption all
releases." Not all of that description makes it to DVD, however; but
some studios like Sony, Disney, and Universal have been providing it with
almost all of their releases since 2010, followed later by Fox, Lionsgate,
and Warner Bros. It's tough to get the smaller, independent studios
to fund description of either movies or DVDs. Currently a few major
studios (and some smaller ones) don't provide DVD description either;
see our table of movies studios. Write them!
Release to DVD and Blu-ray Disc
So what happens when a described movie ends its run and is released on
DVD and Blu-ray discs? Historically, very few described DVDs were
released, but that changed dramatically starting in late 2009. See
the growth table and learn how to order DVDs on our DVDs page. You will also find a huge number of
described movies on the streaming services we list at the top of each
page on this website. Check out our Master
AD List for your favorites.
Finding Movies with Audio Description
A number of site
visitors have recommended Fandango. The
iOS App works reportedly works well, or you can search the website by location
or movie name, and by signing up for a free account, you can save and navigate
to your favorite movie theaters. When you find a specific movie, navigate
to the phrase, "Select a movie time to buy tickets." If you down-arrow at this point, you are hoping to find the phrase,
"Accessible devices available." Clicking that link should produce
a pop-up box with either or both "Closed caption" and "DV" (which stands
for Descriptive Video). You, of course, are hoping to find DV listed
for the film in question! As a point of information, after each theater
name there is a link labeled Amenities. If they have audio description
headsets, "Accessibility devices available" is supposed to be listed there,
but has not proved to be reliable. If you want to do a search on the
page for described movies, you may wish to search for the phrase "accessibility."
See our Streaming page for the latest
updates to the streaming services in general
Apps Offering AD Tracks for Movies
The Spectrum Access: Enabled Media App was released in May 2020 by
Charter Communications, who owns the Spectrum brand. They
acquired the Actiview App developed by Alex Koren and greatly
expanded the library of titles. Each
title is the Audio Description track for a movie, the videos for
which are available elsewhere on streaming services or DVD.
The App syncs with the movie when it is started and offers a private
listening experience for the user. We list the Spectrum Access AD Titles via a
navigation link on this website and integrate availability in our Master AD List. The app is
available to everyone for free and does not require a Spectrum
subscription nor any logon requirements.
Do you speak Dutch? There is an app called Earcatch which offers a service similar to the Spectrum Access app. We are investigating whether or not they support English.
Do you speak German? A company called Greta & Starks offers a free IOS or Android app with
description tracks for over 400 movies in German.
MovieReading: MovieReading is a free app offering audio description tracks
and is available in some countries.
Do you speak Italian?MoveReading offers a limited number
of films in Italian. Note that there are a small number of English language film tracks available also, but
the website is only in Italian. Visit the MovieReading website in Italian.
We have been told that other countries also use MovieReading, but we do not have web addresses for them. Those countries include France, Denmark, and Baltic countries.
History - no longer available:
Actiview - acquired by Spectrum in late 2019 as
noted above.
Solo-Dx was a short-lived service in late 2013
which produced only one description track (Philomena) to be
accessed in-theater on a personal iPhone.
Parlamo worked on providing a similar service;
however, they appear to be out of business as of 2018.
The Disney Movies Anywhere App offered description
tracks for Pixar movies but was discontinued in 2018.
XL Cinema (India) - status unknown (in December 2024, it was reported as not working) Dec '24
International Movie and DVD Information
For audio described movies and DVDs outside the USA, see our International page.
Dec '24