Bronx student pushing to pass bill for better accessibility in movie theaters
A Bronx high school student is pushing to pass a bill that would require closed captions in movie theaters across the state.
Sarah Lin, a senior at Bronx High School of Science, is working outside of school to create better accessibility in movie theaters for people within the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
"Growing up with a mom who has severe progressive hearing loss, I've seen firsthand how inaccessible movie theaters can be," Lin said. "I'm fighting for the Open Captioning Accessibility Act to be passed in New York, which would mean that movie theaters across in New York state would be required to have some showings per week that have open captions for all their audience members."
Lin is working with the Hearing Loss Association of America's New York Chapter to pass the act before the New York legislative session ends this month.
Closed captioning more reliable than other options
In past years, some theaters provided devices to help the moviegoing experience for those who have difficulty hearing, however some of those devices have been said to be faulty.
Having closed captioning feels like the most reliable option to some people, including Katherine Bouton, the president of the Hearing Loss Association of America NYC Chapter.
"Most movies, especially in, you know, big theaters have a lot of background noise and a lot of ambient noise and music, and that makes it almost impossible to hear the actual dialogue. With the open captions, you're able to read the dialogue, you can still hear, you know, whatever's going on in the background," Bouton said.
Lin hopes the act will not only pass in the state of New York, but be mandated nationally.
"New York is such an influential state. So getting this passed statewide would mean probably that other states would follow through. So the next steps is for everyone to reach out to their local assemblyman and senators and write to them, call them, email them and tell them that please vote in favor of the Open Captioning Disability Act," Lin said.
You can find out more information about the act and sign a petition by .
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