Minneapolis cinema first in nation to offer open captions for all showtimes
Alex: In Minneapolis, Minnesota, an independent movie theater, St. Anthony Main Theatre, is offering open captions for all of its screenings. It is the first cinema in the U.S. to provide this level of accessibility for deaf movie-goers.
How did this happen? A deaf person from Minneapolis named Keenan Gao worked to advocate for this change with the help of the Minnesota Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing.
Keenan said a few years ago, she went to the cinema and discovered there were no ADA accommodations for deaf movie goers.
Keenan Gao: So, most movie theaters offer three captioning options: the cup-holder device, captioning glasses, and sometimes open captions. That particular cinema, St. Anthony Main Theatre, the first time I went, did not offer any of the three options. I informed them that they needed to set up captions. They said they could set it up, but there were many delays that went on for three years. So I ended up filing a discrimination charge with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, who helped me set up meetings and negotiations.
Alex: Keenan said the cinema was concerned about costs associated with captioning devices and about turning off hearing customers.
Keenan: I’ve been negotiating with the movie theater since June 2021. In discussions with the owner, he said it would cost $40,000 to purchase captioning devices. They’re a small theatre. I told them that open captioning is free and that the deaf community prefers it because captioning devices may have different problems. For example, the cup-holder device might not align properly and feel uncomfortable. Sometimes the captions are wrong. The batteries might run low or die. It’s not accessible. All sorts of problems. My point is that the owner got it but his gut feeling was that hearing people wouldn’t like it.
Alex: Keenan had a response for the concerns with hearing audiences by pulling out two studies that showed that hearing people do use and benefit from captions.
The first is a 2019 study from Netflix that showed more than 80% of subscribers used subtitles or closed captions at least once a month. The second is a 2006 study in the U.K. that showed 18% of the population there used closed captions and that 80% of this subgroup was hearing people. Keenan said both of the studies bolstered her case that hearing people do regularly use captions.
Keenan said she benefited from a 2016 ADA settlement agreement between a deaf man, Kenneth DeHaan, and a movie theater in Pittsburgh to provide open captioning as long as a request is submitted before noon on the day of the requested screening. That provided Keenan with a legal framework for movie theater captioning.
The negotiations resulted in a settlement approved by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights to resolve the discrimination charge by providing open captions for all showtimes. The settlement was signed by Keenan, the movie theatre owner John Rimarcik, and the Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing executive director Darlene Zangara. A part of the settlement is to establish an advisory board to gather feedback and make recommendations on open captioning.
Keenan said at first, the theatre had some challenges with the open captioning process because it was tough to find the encrypted key for each movie to show the open captions. The cinema had to reach out to film distributors and studios to get the key. But once the cinema and others were able to figure out the process to get the key, turning on the captions was easy.
The theater reopened from the pandemic shutdowns in July and it took about a month to work out the issues. The captions became available for all films in August. Here are images from Keenan of a screen that explains the open captions and an image of a film with the open captions.
[Full-screen Images showing an announcement from the cinema about the open captions and an image showing a film with captions on it]
I asked Keenan about whether she’s seen any kind of negative reaction from the hearing public.
Keenan: Some hearing people were oppressive. They told the owner they didn’t like the captions because they felt distracted. The words were too big. They wanted the captions to be turned off. They even asked different people to post negative reviews.
[Full-screen images]
Google Review from Nancy Harms:
“This was our favorite theater until they added the open captioning which is extremely distracting. Headsets or designated showings for those needing that support would allow everyone to enjoy their experience. We will patronize other theaters. When I called to share our feedback, he seemed unconcerned about our experience & losing faithful supporters & customers.”
Google Review from Lex Tron:
“As others have stated, apparently the theater is now including closed captioning on all of their films. While I am all about accessibility, I personally cannot mentally enjoy reading dialogue while hearing dialogue in the same language, thus this doesn’t work for me when I’m paying money to go see a film.”
Alex: So, you can see that it’s a tough process to get the idea for open captions into the hearing community, but Keenan said she isn’t discouraged.
Keenan: But I think this group is loud but small. Because when I went to the theatre, I asked employees to share their thoughts about open captions. They told me that most people liked it and preferred the open captions. When I watched the movies and asked others about how they felt about the captions, they told me they liked it. They said when they used the TV, they turned on the captions. They also use captions on Netflix. And I think that it shows open captioning is the best.
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Alex: I reached out to St. Anthony Main Theatre and asked what was a key factor to make them realize they should provide open captioning all the time. Rimarcik (the owner) said he was heart-broken when he realized that a large segment of the population was cut out of the movie-going experience and he decided to do something because it was within his power to do so. Rimarick said he’s lost some of his hearing because he’s gotten older so he appreciates the open captions too and his wife appreciates it even more because he no longer asks her, “What did they say” throughout the show.
I asked what the response has been from his customers. Rimarck said the initial results have been mixed and that there is certainly “audience education that needs to take place.” He said there are some bugs that need to be worked out, such as issues with open captioning with movies that already contain subtitles.
I reached out to the Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing to ask about the significance of the settlement. Their executive director Zangara said it is an “amazing step forward in communication access” because it is the first time to their knowledge that a movie theater has agreed to provide captions, or subtitles, for all movie showings. Zangara said it was also significant that there is an advisory committee because they can look into how to go further in making movies accessible and equitable, such as how to improve DeafBlind access and create opportunities for deaf employees. Zangara expressed concern that hearing people were leaving negative reviews online and said it is clear more education is needed.
So, this is the story of how America has its first cinema that provides open captioning all the time. Congratulations to Keenan and the MCDDHH on advocating for this change and setting an example for others.
Keenan: I hope my work helps others to open their eyes and understand that open captioning is free, a good experience, and is popular. That it helps others to find an opportunity to advocate for their movie theaters.
Alex: If you are in the Minneapolis area, you can visit the theatre. St. Anthony Main Theatre is located on SE Main St. and is about 20 minutes west of the Metro Deaf School and about an hour north of the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf.