Movie Theatre Accessibility
May 10, 2019 Greg Thomson
Under the Customer Service Standards of the AODA, service providers must make their goods, services, and facilities accessible to customers with disabilities. In an earlier article, we outlined some features and services that theatres should offer. In this article, we focus on how movie theatres can make themselves welcoming to patrons of all abilities. All our recommendations for accessible theatres in general apply to movie theatre accessibility. In addition, there are other things movie theatres should do to ensure that all patrons can enjoy movies together.
Movie Theatre Accessibility
Allow Service Animals, Support Persons, and Assistive Devices
Movie theatres should have policies explaining how they will prevent or remove accessibility barriers. These policies should cover rules relating to patrons with assistive devices, service animals, and support persons. Moreover, theatres can choose to waive or reduce fees for support-person tickets. Theatres offering this service should advertise how much they will charge and whether they require proof of disability, such as an access2 card.
Assistive Listening Systems, Closed Captioning, Described Video, and Sensory Friendly Movies
Furthermore, theatres can offer more services to make performances fully accessible for moviegoers. For instance, theatres can have assistive listening systems available for patrons to borrow. [...]