As a result, some venues will not be able to offer enough devices. It’s important to note, however, that many theaters only have a limited number of these devices on hand. In these cases, audience members who require assistive technology can simply request a captioning device upon arrival at the venue. The answer to this depends on whether a theater provides its own captioning devices. How Do You Get Closed Captioning in a Theater? It all comes down to how much control an audience member has over their captioning options. Alternatively, captions an individual views on a manually controlled device would be a form of closed captioning. Closed captions, on the other hand, are those that users may enable or disable at will.įor this reason, on-screen captions above stage or to the side of the stage would technically be considered open captions. No one can enable or disable these captions based on their preferences. Open captions are visible to all audience members. It’s important to understand the different kinds of captioning in order to determine which captioning solutions might best suit a specific performance or venue. Other venues provide handheld captioning devices in-house or offer captioning tracks via an app on viewers’ smartphones. In some cases, captions will display on screens near the stage or on small monitors in specific sections of a theater. The visual representations of the spoken text allow audience members who are Deaf or hard of hearing to follow the plot of a play or musical.Ĭaptions can be incorporated into a performance in a few different ways depending on the venue or production’s specific needs. Here are some of the ways theater captioning technology is helping make live theater more accessible for all.Ī captioned performance uses real-time captions to represent spoken dialogue and other important audio elements during the show. Captioning technology has made it possible for attendees who are Deaf or hard of hearing to participate fully at any performance they may choose to attend. While many venues still offer ASL interpreters for select performances, they aren’t available for every show. These tools are helping people equitably engage with a performance. The incident led to several weeks of discourse about the need for more comprehensive education for performers and patrons about the kinds of accessibility technology they can expect to encounter during a live theatrical performance.ĭue to recent advances in assistive technology, performance venues have been able to expand their offerings for audience members who rely upon accommodations. The problem? It wasn’t a cell phone – it was a closed captioning device. Accessibility was in the spotlight in October of 2022 when an actor in the Broadway production of “Hadestown” stopped the show to reprimand an audience member for being on their cell phone not once, but twice.
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