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Cinema for the hearing impared :: ABC Victoria
Should regional Victorian cinemas cater for deaf and hearing impared residents?
Approximately one in every six Australians is deaf or hearing impaired.
In for regional Victoria, that’s tens of thousands of hearing impaired people, which at the moment don’t have access to the silver screen.
Deaf Access Victoria in conjunction with Media Access Australia has launched a campaign to encourage cinema operators to offer deaf friendly movie sessions.
Alex Varley, CEO of non-profit organisation Media Access Australia says there are only 10 cinemas in Australia equipped to service patrons that are deaf.
“Captions are already provided on all the TV channels to about 50% of the programming." Varley says. "Really the only thing that’s missing at the moment is the cinema.”
“The service offers subtitles or captions at the bottom of the screen for deaf or hearing impaired viewers. This is something they can already access through most DVD releases, but in regional areas, they are currently denied the experience of seeing a new release in the cinemas.”
Varley believes the service is within the financial limits of most medium sized cinemas. The units can be purchased for a one off payment of approximately $15,000 and then can be used with any film rented by the establishment.
“The way the scheme works in the 10 cinemas around the nation that do offer the service, they organise special caption screenings. There are approximately three a week, so it’s not many, but it’s enough to cater for the needs of the audience."
"Plus, they can be useful for the cinema operator because they’re often scheduled for times when they have low trade. It offers them an audience when they normally would have an empty cinema.”
And with an ageing population, the demand for this service may only increase in coming years.
"“As the population gets older, people that are older tend to get hearing impairments. It's important that people in their communities notify their cinemas if they need this service. Hopefully demand will force change and we can all enjoy the experience of seeing a movie on the big screen."
Should regional Victorian cinemas cater for deaf and hearing impared residents?
Approximately one in every six Australians is deaf or hearing impaired.
In for regional Victoria, that’s tens of thousands of hearing impaired people, which at the moment don’t have access to the silver screen.
Deaf Access Victoria in conjunction with Media Access Australia has launched a campaign to encourage cinema operators to offer deaf friendly movie sessions.
Alex Varley, CEO of non-profit organisation Media Access Australia says there are only 10 cinemas in Australia equipped to service patrons that are deaf.
“Captions are already provided on all the TV channels to about 50% of the programming." Varley says. "Really the only thing that’s missing at the moment is the cinema.”
“The service offers subtitles or captions at the bottom of the screen for deaf or hearing impaired viewers. This is something they can already access through most DVD releases, but in regional areas, they are currently denied the experience of seeing a new release in the cinemas.”
Varley believes the service is within the financial limits of most medium sized cinemas. The units can be purchased for a one off payment of approximately $15,000 and then can be used with any film rented by the establishment.
“The way the scheme works in the 10 cinemas around the nation that do offer the service, they organise special caption screenings. There are approximately three a week, so it’s not many, but it’s enough to cater for the needs of the audience."
"Plus, they can be useful for the cinema operator because they’re often scheduled for times when they have low trade. It offers them an audience when they normally would have an empty cinema.”
And with an ageing population, the demand for this service may only increase in coming years.
"“As the population gets older, people that are older tend to get hearing impairments. It's important that people in their communities notify their cinemas if they need this service. Hopefully demand will force change and we can all enjoy the experience of seeing a movie on the big screen."