Coalition for Movie Captioning Applauds Increased Access in New Jersey

The Coalition for Movie Captioning (CMC) applauds the efforts of the State of New Jersey to make going to the movies an event that is accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.  Special thanks are extended to Peter C. Harvey, Attorney General, J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo, Director,
Division on Civil Rights, and Brian C. Shomo, Director, Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.  Their efforts and actions, taken under the authority of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, have resulted in agreements with several movie theater chains in New Jersey to increase showings of movies with captions.

CMC is a consortium of the major national organizations of deaf or hard of hearing people that addresses the theater access needs of 28 million deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened and deaf-blind consumers.  Deaf and hard of hearing children, teenagers, adults, and senior citizens want to see and enjoy the next blockbuster movie along with their families, friends, and neighbors in their local movie theaters.  CMC’s goal is for all first-run movies to be accessible to people with hearing loss.

Although individuals may differ in their personal preferences for methods of making soundtracks accessible through captioning, the members of the deaf and hard of hearing community are united in asserting that movies can and should be accessible now.  Technologies and formats now exist and are in use to make soundtracks accessible through captioning. 

CMC supports having a variety of captioning systems available to consumers and flexibility to include future systems as better long-term solutions develop and become available, thus offering advanced technology and providing flexibility for movie theaters while maximizing accessibility  options for movie theater patrons.  CMC encourages movie theaters to consult with and give primary consideration to the preference expressed by deaf and hard of hearing residents in the selection of the captioning system for their communities.

CMC further encourages movie theater companies and studios to develop plans to phase in increased accessibility through captioning over time until all first-run movies are accessible to people with hearing loss.

The charter members of CMC are the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the American Society for Deaf Children, the Association of Late-Deafened Adults, the Cochlear Implant Association, Inc., the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network, Deaf Seniors of America, the League for the Hard of Hearing, the National Association of the
Deaf, Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc., and Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc.