July 2000...

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, and to try and do something about it...

 

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 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 description' 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?

He 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 sensory impairments, like himself.

The UK cinema industry also began to express an interest in the system in 2000, and had already set up a 'working group' - to find ways to provide better access to cinemas, for sensory impaired people.

 

2001...

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 - the digital subtitle system. It would cost a multiplex cinema less than a popular films' average weekend takings. At that price almost 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 deaf organisations 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.

 

2002...

In 2002 many thousands of deaf and hard of hearing children enjoyed over 500 subtitled Harry Potter shows, in hundreds of cinemas nationwide. This was possible because the film was released in the 'older' subtitle format that ALL cinemas could screen, as well as the new 'digital' format. Many partially sighted and blind children also enjoyed the film, via audio description in the six new digitally 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 (out of 13 million entries), as well as being mentioned regularly, and referred to, by 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 industry report, recommended spending lottery funds to improve cinema access, and included equipping over 100 UK cinemas with digital subtitle and audio description facilities (there are approximately 750 cinemas in the UK. A digital subtitle/description system costs around £8,000).

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 have expressed thanks to all those who made contributions.

The UK Film Council hired the British Film Institute (BFI) to look into this 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 28 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

 

2003...

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.

By 2003, 28 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.

By September 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.

The UK Film Council decided to help fund the development of over 100 more accessible cinemas in the UK, using some of their £50 million lottery funds set aside for 'film related' good causes.

 

2004...

In 2004 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.

In the words of the UK Film Council:

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.

 

2005...

By the end of 2005 over 150 cinemas across the UK mainland, and ten cinemas in Northern Ireland had become accessible. Most were screening accessible shows regularly.

 

2006 and beyond...

Before the UK Film Council’s 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.

Thanks to UK film distributors, most popular cinema releases are now available with digital subtitle and audio description 'files'.

To date over 180 cinemas have 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.

Since last year, the amount of subtitled and audio described shows has increased by 37%. There are now around 1,000 subtitled, and 10,000 audio described shows around the UK every month. Not foreign language films, but mainstream films - Da Vinci Code, X-Men, King Kong, Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia etc.

Nowadays all major UK film distributors release most of their films with subtitles and audio description, and many smaller distributors are becoming "accessible" too. In the last few years UK film distributors have released over 400 films with these features.

And thanks to the UK Film Council, new digital projection equipment is currently being installed in over 200 UK cinemas in the UK. Over 100 cinemas in Ireland will be 'going digital' too. All of these digital systems have built-in subtitle 'readers'. As long as a digital film is supplied with subtitle 'files', it can be screened with subtitles. Audio description facilities can be configured too.

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.

You can find a full list of upcoming digitally-equipped cinemas here

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. In the last couple of years over 400 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 quantum 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 over 180 suitably equipped UK cinemas every 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 'web over phone' and 'talking website' service for our visually impaired users.

Accessible movie websites...

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

We also produce 'accessible' film websites for film studios and distributors. For example, 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 contains 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, 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.

Check this website often for updates...

Related media/press articles here

 

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