Government Enforces New Cinema Accessibility Standards to Aid Disabled Viewers

The Central government, as per Supreme Court directives, has introduced guidelines for ensuring cinemas are accessible to people with hearing and visual impairments. Compliance includes features like captioning and audio description. These details were discussed in a workshop in Guwahati, highlighting phased implementation deadlines.

Under the Supreme Court's directives, the Central government has unveiled new guidelines aimed at making cinema universally accessible. These guidelines mandate features such as open or closed captioning and Indian Sign Language for the hearing impaired, as well as audio descriptions for the visually impaired.

Elaborating on these guidelines at a workshop in Guwahati, Rajib Lochan Borthakur, Regional Officer of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), called on the film industry to cooperate in achieving this goal. According to CBFC Advisory Panel member Sailendra Pandey, films in multiple languages must adopt these features by September 15, 2024.

Further timelines include all festival-participating films meeting accessibility standards by January 1, 2025, and all theatrical releases by September 15, 2026. The workshop, held at the PWD Convention Hall in Guwahati, was attended by notable film-makers, video editors, sound engineers, and film enthusiasts, along with top accessibility service providers like XL Cinema's CEO Dipti Prasad, who joined virtually from Mumbai.

(With inputs from agencies.)