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Famous Players has taken a very important first step toward making moviegoing an all-inclusive experience. Five of its Ontario cinemas, including an auditorium in the SilverCity (Yonge-Eglinton) complex, are now equipped with the Rear Window captioning system and DVS descriptive narration, which allow people who are deaf, hearing-impaired, blind and visually impaired to enjoy films.
Rear Window captioning allows those who can’t hear to read otherwise invisible subtitles by means of a special reflector placed in the seat’s cup holder. For those who can’t see, DVS narration transmits through a headset a description of the onscreen action when there’s no dialogue being spoken. They’re both marvellous technologies, and long overdue in Canada. Thirty headsets and reflectors are reserved for the SilverCity cinema, which is currently showing Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, and there are plans to expand to more theatres over the next few years. Kudos to Famous Players.
