Blind and deaf communities demand accessible screenings

The Action on Cinema Access campaign will continue after last Saturday’s national protest, until exhibitors offer more alternatives to the blind and deaf communities.

“What they’re offering is not really appropriate for the deaf and the blind communities,” Action on Cinema Access (ACA) spokesman Paul Madden told Encore.

On Saturday, members of the blind and deaf communities met outside a number of cinema complexes in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart, to protest against the lack of accessible film screenings and the exhibitors’ application for an exemption from the Disability Discrimination Act.

Cinema chains have applied to the Australian Human Rights Commission for a three-year exemption, in exchange for offering 0.025 percent of all screenings as accessible sessions.