II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 555 

To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to require captioning 

and video description at certain movie theaters. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 13, 2013 

Mr. HARKIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to 

require captioning and video description at certain movie 

theaters. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Captioning and Image 

5 Narration to Enhance Movie Accessibility Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘CINEMA Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. MOVIE THEATER ACCESSIBILITY. 

8 Section 302(b) of the Americans with Disabilities Act 

9 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12182(b)) is amended— 

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1 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para2 graph (4); and 

3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(3) MOVIE THEATER ACCESSIBILITY.— 

6 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(i) CLOSED CAPTIONING.—The term 

8 ‘closed captioning’ means a method, proc9 ess, or mechanism, which may include a 

10 device, that— 

11 ‘‘(I) allows an individual who is 

12 deaf or hard of hearing to have access 

13 to the content of a motion picture; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(II) allows that access by dis16 playing, through an individual device 

17 or individually used technology, all of 

18 the audio portion of the motion pic19 ture (including displaying the dialogue 

20 and any narration, as well as descrip21 tions of on- and off-screen sounds 

22 such as sound effects, music, or lyrics 

23 for music, and information identifying 

24 the character who is speaking) as text 

25 that can be effectively viewed and conmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 trolled by that individual while the in2 dividual simultaneously watches the 

3 motion picture. 

4 ‘‘(ii) COVERED ENTITY.—The term 

5 ‘covered entity’ means an entity— 

6 ‘‘(I) that operates a complex of 2 

7 or more movie theaters, screening 

8 rooms, or similar venues, at a single 

9 location, that are used for the exhi10 bition of copyrighted motion pictures, 

11 if such exhibition is open to the pub12 lic; and 

13 ‘‘(II) whose operations affect 

14 commerce. 

15 ‘‘(iii) OPEN CAPTIONING.—The term 

16 ‘open captioning’ means a method, process, 

17 or mechanism that— 

18 ‘‘(I) allows an individual who is 

19 deaf or hard of hearing to have access 

20 to the content of a motion picture; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(II) allows that access by openly 

23 displaying on the movie screen in24 volved all of the audio portion of the 

25 motion picture (including displaying 

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1 the dialogue and any narration, as 

2 well as descriptions of on- and off3 screen sounds such as sound effects, 

4 music, or lyrics for music, and infor5 mation identifying the character who 

6 is speaking) as text that can be effec7 tively viewed by that individual and 

8 other members of the audience while 

9 the individual and members simulta10 neously watch the motion picture. 

11 ‘‘(iv) VIDEO DESCRIPTION.—The term 

12 ‘video description’ means a method, proc13 ess, or mechanism, including a device, 

14 that— 

15 ‘‘(I) allows an individual who is 

16 blind or visually impaired to have ac17 cess to the key visual elements of a 

18 motion picture (such as actions, set19 tings, facial expressions, costumes, 

20 and scene changes); and 

21 ‘‘(II) allows that access through 

22 the provision of contemporaneous 

23 audio narrated descriptions of those 

24 elements during the natural pauses in 

25 the audio portion of the motion picmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 ture, or during the audio portion if 

2 necessary. 

3 ‘‘(B) ACCESSIBILITY.—It shall be discrimi4 natory for any person who owns, leases (or 

5 leases to), or operates a covered entity to fail to 

6 ensure that all motion pictures shown at the 

7 complex involved are accessible to individuals 

8 with disabilities, including— 

9 ‘‘(i) providing, or making available, 

10 open captioning for individuals with dis11 abilities, including individuals who are deaf 

12 or hard of hearing; 

13 ‘‘(ii) providing, or making available, 

14 closed captioning for individuals with dis15 abilities, including individuals who are deaf 

16 or hard of hearing; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) providing, or making available, 

18 video description for individuals with dis19 abilities, including individuals who are 

20 blind or visually impaired. 

21 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

22 in this Act shall be construed to limit or pro23 hibit an individual with a disability from uti24 lizing technology in connection with a personal 

25 device in a manner that may provide the indimstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 vidual with access to closed captioning, open 

2 captioning, or video description that is equiva3 lent to or greater than the corresponding access 

4 required under subparagraph (B).’’. 

5 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

6 Section 308(a)(2) of the Americans with Disabilities 

7 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12188(a)(2)) is amended by strik8 ing ‘‘and section 303(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘, 302(b)(3), and 

9 303(a)’’. 

10 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 This Act takes effect 1 year after the date of enact12 ment of this Act. 

Æ 

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