Accessible cinema: Your Local Cinema .com

The UK now leads the world in access to film for people with hearing and visual impairments.

+ From zero to 275 cinemas with subtitle/description facilities - that's more than a third of UK cinemas.

+ From zero to 670 subtitled/described films available to date - most popular cinema releases are available.

+ From zero to 1,800 subtitled shows a month - and many more audio described shows - nationwide. 'Accessible' shows are now a regular feature in many cinemas.

In July 2000, after experiencing his first subtitled mainstream film (Chicken Run); Dean, a 9 year old deaf boy from London, England asked himself:

He decided never to visit the cinema again, unless the film was accessible to people like him. He decided to try and do something about it...

In the UK, most popular TV shows, videos and DVD releases were subtitled, so why not cinema? It's the best place to watch a new film. It just didn't make sense.

Surfing the internet for a solution, Dean came across a film industry news item about a new digital subtitle system in development - the DTS Cinema Subtitling System. It was a system for distributing films cost effectively to non-English speaking countries. It appeared that the system could also be used for people with a hearing or visual impairment.

Subtitles could be projected onto the cinema screen, appearing like TV or DVD subtitles. A separate 'audio described' narrative soundtrack could be broadcast through personal headphones, describing what's happening on screen - similar to listening to a sporting event on the radio, or an audio book with sound effects.

Dean felt that it could be the solution. Far better than the current system of rare, subtitled screenings, created by 'burning' the subtitles onto a few prints of a film, and passing them around selected cinemas. The new system would not need to interfere with 'normal' screenings. Maybe a small percentage of 'accessible' screenings could be set aside for people who would benefit from such a service? Even one percent of shows subtitled would be a huge improvement on the current situation!

Dean set about creating awareness of the system throughout the UK, as well as alerting the UK cinema industry to the lack of access to cinemas for people with hearing or visual impairments.

The UK cinema industry also began to express an interest in the system and set up an industry 'working group' - to find ways to provide better access to cinemas, for sensory impaired people.

In January 2001 Dean started an online petition. His aim was to convince the UK cinema industry that there was a considerable audience out there - people like him, who would happily visit cinemas if they were made more accessible. He also set out to publicise what he believed to be the solution - a digital subtitle system. Such a system would cost a cinema around £5,500, which was far less than a popular films' average weekend takings. At that price every major town in the UK could have one!

Dean's petition was very successful. Thanks mainly to 'word of mouth' and the wonders of email, thousands of names were collected (they are still rolling in daily). Mostly deaf or hard of hearing people, and their families & friends, who loved the idea of visiting and ENJOYING the cinema regularly, but currently felt excluded. For these people, a trip to the cinema meant not understanding what the film was about - missing the plot, not getting the jokes - a frustrating, rather than enjoyable experience.

Realising he was far from alone in his views, and concerned that many people were missing the few, rare subtitled shows due to a lack of publicity, he set up the subtitles @ your local cinema information service and website. With the help of a group of professionals - some deaf themselves, and some with deaf family members or friends - he campaigned for and publicised subtitled cinema screenings nationwide.

The aim was to ensure good audience figures, therefore proving to the cinema industry that there was a market for regular, subtitled mainstream films.

The website was kept up to date by collating information received directly from cinema head offices. Email notifications of locations, dates and times of subtitled shows were sent out weekly to the growing database of people interested in these shows. The major UK organisations that represent people with hearing or visual impairments began to share the information with their many members nationwide.

Around the end of 2001, the major UK film distributors started to provide subtitles and audio description for the DTS Subtitle/Audio Description system, which by now had been loaned to six UK cinemas, on a trial basis. Warner Bros. distributors led the way, and just after Christmas 2001, with the help of the RNIB, the first Harry Potter film was made available to people with hearing AND visual impairments.

In 2002 many thousands of deaf and hard of hearing children enjoyed hundreds of subtitled Harry Potter shows, in hundreds of cinemas nationwide. This was possible because the film was released in the 'older', burnt-in subtitle format that ALL cinemas could screen, as well as the new DTS format. Many partially sighted and blind children also enjoyed the film, via audio description in the six new DTS equipped 'accessible' cinemas.

Such audience figures were unheard of only a year before. Subtitled 'special screenings' were not usually popular. It became very clear that when given the opportunity, and NOTIFIED of accessible shows, sensory impaired people would VISIT and ENJOY the cinema.

By now the 'Your Local Cinema .com' information service had become very popular throughout the UK - reaching and holding the top spot on Google, as well as being mentioned regularly, and referred to, in the 'disability' press, the film trade press, and on many top websites.

Known nationwide as 'The one stop shop for UK subtitled cinema' it was still a completely voluntary service, with no funding whatsoever. Campaigning, and building audiences continued and Dean, the founder of the service, became a 'Deaf Child International' role model, in honour of his work in this field.

Also in 2002, after consultation with organisations representing people with sensory impairments, including the RNID, NDCS, RNIB and Dean's service, the Cinema Exhibitor's Association (the UK cinema industry's trade body), put forward a proposal to the UK Film Council, who oversee around £50 million of lottery funds a year.

The exciting proposal, and subsequent BFI industry report, recommended spending a portion of lottery funds to improve cinema access, and included equipping over 100 UK cinemas with digital subtitle and audio description facilities (there are approximately 700 cinemas in the UK. A digital subtitle/description system costs around £5,500).

The UK Film Council invited people to respond (pdf file link) to the proposal and the details were publicised nationwide by the your local cinema .com information service.

Thousands of individuals responded - over 1,200 letters and emails, a petition with over 1,000 names and another 1,400 signature petition from ONE school with only TWELVE deaf pupils - children, parents and teachers who wanted those 12 individuals to be included in the social activity of cinema going.

The UK Film Council expressed thanks to all those who made contributions and hired the British Film Institute (BFI) to look into the matter. After months of consultation the BFI recommended that action be taken - digital subtitle and description facilities should be installed in many cinemas across the UK.

The cinema industry pushed ahead. Digital subtitle/description facilities began to be installed in more UK cinemas. Film distributors and subtitle/description production companies continued to produce many films that utilised these features. By the end of 2002, 37 mainstream 'accessible' films had been released in the UK, and 18 cinemas had the 'access' facilities necessary to screen them.

But it was clear that many more accessible cinemas were needed to screen the prolific output of films by UK distributors, and to satisfy public demand.

Soon, at the rate it's going, the amount of accessible films available will be far too many for the small amount of accessible cinemas to handle

For a number of years, many people in the cinema and film distribution industries, and organisations representing people with sensory impairments had been working to ensure that disabled access problems were, wherever possible, eliminated from the cinema industry before October 2004, when the introduction of new laws would make it more difficult for UK companies to appear to discriminate against disabled people.

In 2003-2004, the UK Film Council launched its Cinema Access Programme, offering £350,000 to cinemas to enable them to purchase subtitle & audio description equipment.

It also set aside funds to assist distributors in the production of subtitled prints for use by cinemas.

By the end of 2003, 26 cinemas had become 'accessible' and were screening subtitled and audio described films regularly to a very appreciative public. Many organisations representing people with sensory impairments continued to create awareness of accessible cinema.

In 2003 UK film distributors had produced over 100 films with digital subtitles. Most with audio description too.

The UK Film Council were aware that there was now overwhelming demand for accessible cinema. The people that relied on subtitles for films on TV, DVD and video were beginning to experience the excitement of accessible cinema. It was almost expected that many more UK cinemas would soon cater for their needs...

In 2004 the UK Film Council decided to help fund the development of 78 more accessible cinemas in the UK, using some of their £50 million lottery funds set aside for 'film related' good causes.

They worked with the UK Film Council and the cinema industry worked together to create a network of 130 accessible cinemas - cinemas with subtitle and audio description facilities. Most of these cinemas now screen subtitled and audio described shows regularly.

At a time when cinema going in the UK is at a 30 year high, these proposals are intended to help ensure that in the future the 15 per cent of people in the UK who experience hearing or visual impairments are able to enjoy going to the cinema as well as the rest of the population

Also in 2004, subtitled and audio described movie trailers were made available for the first time on the internet.

And also in 2004, the your local cinema .com information service was sponsored by the UK film and cinema industries! Click here for sponsors info.

By the end of 2005 over 160 cinemas across the UK mainland, and ten cinemas in Northern Ireland had become accessible. Most were screening accessible shows regularly.

In 2006 UK Film Council allocated £800,000 to its Cinema Exhibition Fund for Small Capital Projects to assist those cinema operators to undertake and/or complete capital projects, particularly where the works are considered essential to the cinema’s continued existence or of benefit to audiences that may currently be excluded (for example, by improving access for disabled cinemagoers).

By the end of 2006 around 220 cinemas had become accessible. In that year Your Local Cinema .com was nominated for three awards, and won one of them:

	Radar Disability Access Awards 2006. *Winner*
	Daily Mail Enterprising Young Brits 2006 *Finalist*
	National Lottery Awards 2006 *Finalist*

Following the fantastic progress of 'accessible' cinema in England, and the UK Film Councils' successful funding schemes, film agencies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland introduced similar funding schemes.

Scottish Screen - the national screen agency for Scotland - invited cinemas to apply for funding from their £100,000 Cinema Access Programme. It was a success and in 2007 the amount of 'subtitled' cinemas in Scotland doubled - from 15 to 30.

And thanks to Arts Council of Wales funding, in 2007 the amount of 'subtitled' cinemas in Wales MORE than doubled - from 7 to 17. Read all about it here.

By now many popular events and film festivals included subtitled and described shows in their schedules. The 2006 ‘National Schools Film Week’ had 260 subtitled and described shows. Almost every cinema with 'access' facilities took part in the event. This was only possible because so many cinemas and films are now 'accessible'.

FREE screenings include Pixar's Ratatouille, Casino Royale, Chronicles of Narnia, Shrek the Third, and many more. Read all about it here.

Almost a hundred cinemas applied to the fund. In 2008 £500,000 worth of funds will be distributed.

Facilities for cinema-goers with hearing and visual impairments have improved over recent years but are still too patchy, that’s why we are hoping to fund a number of cinemas to improve their access

"Not content with kickstarting and part-funding 'accessible' cinema in the UK, the UK Film Council is to input another £500,000 in grants, to assist independent cinemas to upgrade equipment and infrastructure so that ALL audiences can have access to the cinema-going experience.

Cinemas across the UK will be able to apply for Lottery funding to update their buildings, improve facilities and boost access for disabled audiences, including those with hearing or visual impairments. The £500,000 'Capital and Access Fund for Cinemas' has been set up to ensure high standards of cinema facilities around the country, improve the cinema-going experience for the public.

Independent cinemas - ie those in a circuit of fewer than nine cinemas - have until 30 November 2007 (date now passed) to apply for funding of up to 50% of the cost of the project, subject to a maximum award of £50,000.

The UKFC said 'Improving access to the cinema experience for audiences with sensory impairments is a core objective of the Capital and Access Fund. There are nearly 9 million people in the UK with some kind of hearing loss and around 2 million who are blind or partially sighted. The UK Film Council believes that provision could be much better. It is anticipated, therefore, that a significant number of awards under the scheme will be towards ‘Cinema Access Equipment’ i.e. soft subtitling and audio description kit".

This Capital and Access Fund for Cinemas builds on previous funding – the Small Capital Fund where more than £700,000 was allocated to independent cinemas for capital projects – and the Cinema Access Programme when £350,000 was made available for subtitling and audio-description equipment.

Peter Buckingham, Head of Distribution and Exhibition at the UK Film council said: "We hope this funding will help small, local cinemas to remain at the heart of their communities offering all audiences access to fresh and exciting films in a comfortable environment".

Cinemas are expected to match any funds awarded. In effect this makes it a MILLION POUND FUND. Much of which could (and should) be spent on 'access equipment'. Details of the Capital & Access Fund can be found here.

"The UK Film Council wants to ensure that people have access to good quality cinema facilities and wishes to encourage cinema operators intending to undertake capital works to improve provision. However, the UK Film Council recognises that some operators may sometimes struggle to meet the costs of essential building, refurbishments and other capital projects that can be necessary for the cinema’s continued running or to facilitate wider audience access.

In 2003/2004, the UK Film Council launched its Cinema Access Programme by offering £350,000 to harness the value of new technology by assisting cinema to purchase equipment that would allow the projection of soft-subtitles onto physical prints and to beam an audio-described track in order that cinema-goers with hearing and sight impairments might be able to more fully enjoy the cinema-going experience.

At the same time it provided funds to support the development and ongoing service of a website to provide the maximum possible information on access-friendly screenings at cinemas all over the UK (this website, yourlocalcinema.com) and set aside funds to assist distributors in the production of the subtitled prints for use by cinemas.

UKFC made 78 awards to all types of cinemas for equipment and the success of this strategy is evidenced by the fact that today over 260 UK cinemas now have this equipment and it is installed in most new cinemas as a matter of routine. Furthermore, yourlocalcinema.com has gone from strength to strength, is supported by all sides of the industry and is the first port of call for cinema-goers with sensory impairments seeking information on where and when they can see the film of their choice.

In 2006 UK Film Council allocated £800,000 to its Cinema Exhibition Fund for Small Capital Projects to assist those cinema operators to undertake and/or complete capital projects, particularly where the works are considered essential to the cinema’s continued existence or of benefit to audiences that may currently be excluded (for example, by improving access for disabled cinemagoers).

However, much more remains to be achieved. Both of these initiatives were considerably oversubscribed and the UK Film Council is keenly aware that small, independent cinemas can struggle to find the funds to equip themselves.

In the publication ‘Film In The Digital Age’, UK Film Council detailed the next three years spending priorities. £1m per annum was allocated to a partnership fund to include amongst other areas Cinema Access and Small Capital for cinemas. Therefore building on these initiatives, UK Film Council is now making available up to £500,000 through this Capital and Access Fund For Cinemas to assist independent cinemas to upgrade equipment and infrastructure so that all audiences can continue to have access to the cinema-going experience.

Years 2 and 3 have not been allocated a total sum of money as yet and will depend upon the level of demand demonstrated by this first call and the priorities that the other areas of the fund may need to fulfil."

Thanks to the UK Film Council, new digital projection equipment is currently being installed in over 200 UK cinemas in the UK. This ‘Digital Screen Network’ (DSN) could increase the number of ‘accessible’ sites further. UKFC requirements specify that all DSN systems include built-in subtitle and audio description facilities. To date only a handful of films have been released and screened on the DSN with subtitles and audio description, but once distributors start including subtitle/description 'files' on their digital film files, accessible screenings will become more commonplace.

It is hoped that the 'access' features of these digital projectors will be utilised, to enable hearing and visually impaired people to enjoy digital cinema, but there's no guarantee that it will happen. We urge organisations, groups and individuals to create total awareness of this 'access' issue, to ensure it is addressed as soon as possible. Please contact digitally-equipped cinemas in your area and request that they utilise the built in 'access' features of digital projectors.

Note: Cinemas with subtitle & audio description facilities are added to our locations database as soon as they begin to schedule accessible shows. Locations database here.

All this adds up to a quiet revolution in the world of sensory impaired people, which many organisations and companies have worked alongside one another to achieve.

Before the UK Film Council’s 2003 Cinema Access Programme, the vast majority of deaf or hard of hearing people simply didn’t go to the cinema at all, preferring to await the the video or DVD release of a film (which is usually subtitled). That’s all changed now.

Blind and partially sighted people seldom visited the cinema either. If they did, a friend or partner may have explained what was happening on the screen, often to the annoyance of other members of the audience. That’s all changed now too.

Back in 2000 the cinema industry welcomed the idea of 'accessible' cinema, but to begin with take up was very slow. Like the 'digital' debate today, some exhibitors & distributors believed each other should bear the costs.

In 2003/4 the UK Film Council stepped in, took the lead, and offered to fund 50% of the cost of cinema equipment, and sometimes 100% of the production costs of the subtitles/description.

Funding schemes such as the £350,000 Cinema Access Programme, the £60,000 Print Provision Fund and the £800,000 Capital Fund for Cinemas have pushed 'accessible' cinema forward and made it the success it is today.

UK film industry funding of the ‘yourlocalcinema.com' information service ensured that the service - which was on the verge of closure - survived, and continued to support UK established film industry initiatives. The service continues to inform people with sensory impairments of developments, and encourages them to try this new 'accessible' cinema experience.

The growing number of 'accessible' cinema sites, and attendees to accessible shows, encourages distributors to produce more titles with subtitles/description. More titles encourage cinemas to utilise their systems better, scheduling shows at more convenient times, resulting in better attendance, and so on.

The latest UKFC fund - the £500,000 'Capital and Access Fund For Cinemas' could also be used to further increase the number of accessible cinema sites. It is hoped that many cinemas will take up the offer of help with funding subtitle & audio description ‘access’ equipment and facilities.

In 2001, Your Local Cinema .com, and other groups in the field of disability envisaged a future where many major UK towns had an 'accessible' cinema, where people with hearing or visual impairments and their families could enjoy the cinema experience together.

We didn't expect almost every major cinema and film to be accessible. That would have been aiming far too high. But thanks to the vision of the UK film industry and groups in the field of disability, backed up with the film industry's hard cash, it's now a reality.

Nowadays all major UK film distributors release most of their films with subtitles and audio description, and many smaller distributors are becoming "accessible" too.

Since 2001 over 600 films have been issued with subtitles and audio description, usually simultaneously with the main release. At any one time, most (sometimes all), mainstream cinema releases are available with subtitles and audio description – a huge leap forward from the supply of just a few years ago. New disks containing 'access files' for the next batch of releases are dispatched to suitably equipped UK cinemas every week.

To date more than 270 cinemas are equipped with digital 'readers' to synchronize these files with the film reel, enabling subtitles to be overlaid on the cinema screen, and a separate, narrated soundtrack (audio description) to be broadcast through wireless headphones.

The amount of subtitled and audio described shows nationwide is constantly increasing. There are now more than 1,800 subtitled, and thousands more audio described shows around the UK every month. Not foreign language films, but mainstream films - Beowulf, American Gangster, Stardust etc.

Major films such as Ratatouille, Bond and Harry Potter have each had around 500 subtitled shows nationwide.

Many popular events and film festivals now include subtitled and described shows in their schedules. The 2007 ‘National Schools Film Week’ event had 250 subtitled and audio described shows. Almost every cinema with 'access' facilities took part in the event which enabled hundreds of hearing and visually impaired schoolchildren to enjoy the latest films with their schoolmates. Events like this are only possible because so many cinemas and films are now 'accessible'.

Thanks to the foresight and planning of the UK film industry and groups representing people with hearing and visual impairments, it's not unrealistic to imagine that in a few years time, almost every cinema in the UK will have facilities to screen most releases with subtitles and audio description

And of course let's not forget DVD releases. Because so many films are routinely audio described for cinema release, the audio description is quite often included on the DVD release enabling visually impaired people to enjoy films on DVD. To date over 200 titles have an audio description soundtrack and the number increases week on week.

This website - yourlocalcinema.com - serves as a one stop shop both for the cinema industry and for public audiences interested in accessible screenings UK-wide, which are listed clearly each week. We have an email newsletter, circulated on Thursdays, to notify thousands of people of accessible shows in their area; our database of people interested in accessible cinema continues to increase. If you would like to receive our bulletins, or if you run a cinema and would like to have your accessible shows publicised, please email us at subtitles@yourlocalcinema.com.

But we have developed into much more than a comprehensive listings service. We now have a UK based telephone call centre for general enquiries. Hearing impaired people can contact us by email, text message or fax, and we provide a 'talking website' service for our visually impaired users.

Our service also includes more and more subtitled movie trailers and audio described movie trailers and clips, where text or a voice-over helps to explain what’s occurring on screen.

We offer a free service to cinemas: We directly inform thousands of interested parties nationwide of their subtitled or audio described screenings - for free.

We offer free service to distributors: We can create their internet trailers and accessible mini-websites - for free.

For example, the movie Ray – the widely acclaimed story of Ray Charles, who refused to let his blindness deter him – was naturally of particular interest to blind and partially sighted people. So we teamed up with its UK distributor to produce a version of the official Ray website that was appreciably more accessible than a standard movie website. With a link directly from the official UK Ray website, it contained all the same content but in a far clearer format, easier for visually impaired people to navigate. More importantly, it works with screen reader software – popular ‘speaking’ software that helps visually impaired people to ‘read’ websites.

The accessible 'Ray' website (visit the website and click the 'text only' button) also includes an audio described trailer, and when the film was on release in cinemas, all audio described shows were clearly listed, utilising our 'web over phone' and 'talking website' technologies. We plan to produce many more 'accessible' movie websites.

We are very thankful that our service continues to be sponsored by the cinema industry, film distributors, film technology companies, the UK Film Council and the major organisations representing people with hearing or visual impairments. You can read about our sponsors and visit their websites here.