Boston Disability Board Pursues Open Captioning Rules for City Movie Theaters

BOSTON — April 19, 2023 — Boston's Disability Commission Advisory Board moved toward formal action on open captioning at city movie theaters and pledged follow-up on Boston Public Schools transportation failures affecting students with disabilities. At the April 19 meeting, board treasurer Carl Richardson detailed chronic failures with existing closed-captioning devices at theaters — broken equipment, untrained staff, and devices given to the wrong patrons — and said a simple software switch could enable open captions visible to all audience members on the main screen. Commissioner Kristen McCosh, the city's ADA Title II coordinator, said her office could send compliance reminder letters to Boston's two current AMC theaters, with two more venues expected to open at North Station and the Seaport. A statewide closed-captioning bill has been filed in both chambers — Senate by Senator Michael Barrett and House by Representative Denise Garlick — but neither version has received a hearing date. Two BPS parents, Suleika Soto and a parent identified as Maria, gave public testimony describing children with disabilities who have repeatedly missed school due to bus breakdowns and monitor shortages, with one parent describing a medically complex child who requires tube feeding and has been stranded as late as 6 p.m. when buses failed.