On January 24, 2025 a bill for open captions (on-screen subtitles) in movie theaters was introduced in the Washington state senate! (WA SB5486). Introduced by Washington state Senator Tina Orwall and co-sponsored by Washington Senators Manka Dhingra, T'wina Nobles, and Yasmin Trudeau.
Way to go, Washington state!
What can YOU do?
You can help, whether or not you live in Washington state. If you live in Washington State, call/email your Washington State senator and ask him/her to support this bill. If you don’t know who your Washington State senator is, use the links below to find your Senator. If you have family or friends in Washington State, tell them about this bill and ask them to reach out to their Washington state Senators to ask them to support this bill!
Don't know who your Washington state Senator is? Here's how to find Your Washington state Senator:
https://leg.wa.gov/about-the-legislature/senate/
Go mid-way down the page to “Senate members and staff” and there is a search box to enter your address to find your Senator.
Testify in Person or Writing at Public Hearing on February 4, 2025
For the public hearing, February 4 at 8:00 am in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice:
- Go to https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Senate?selectedCommittee=17548&selectedMeeting=32624
- Make sure the open caption bill is selected under “Select agenda item.”
- Under “Select type of testimony” select your choice and follow instructions.
One more thing you can do!
If you know people in Washington state, send them the link to the Caption Action 3 petition: change.org/ocmoviesnow. We need more people from Washington state signing this petition! We also need more from New York, because New York also has a bill! Signatures show legislators that there is support for open captions.
What does this bill do?
The bill applies to movie theaters differently based on the number of screens a theater has.
Theaters with six or more screens:
Within the first two weeks of a movie’s release, there must be two or more open caption screenings. At least one of the screenings must be during peak weekend hours.
Peak times means: between 5:59 pm and 11:01 pm on Friday or between 10:59 am and 11:01 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
After the second week, at least one open caption screening must be in peak hours. From Monday to Thursday, peak hours means between 5:59 p.m. and 10:01 p.m. On Fridays it means between 5:59 p.m. and 11:01 p.m. For Saturdays and Sundays, it means between 10:59 a.m. and 11:01 p.m.
Theaters with five or less screens:
If someone requests a movie screening with open captions, the theater must do so within 72 hours of the open captions being requested.
The requested open caption offerings must be “consistent” with the requirements for theaters with six or more screens. In other words, the same peak hours. So someone in a small town with only a small theater would have the chance to see an open captioned screening during peak times.
Also, theaters can not "double-book," meaning schedule open caption screenings such that they are overlapping with each other. For example, there can't be a 5:00 pm OC screening of one movie and a 5:15 pm OC screening of another movie. If they overlap, they won't count towards the minimum requirement. The exception is if it is simply not possible to avoid overlapping.
Of course, theaters are free to offer more than the minimum required.
Violation of the law would mean a fine of up to $100 for each violation. If the theater corrects the violation within 30 days, it may not have to pay the fine. If there are further violations, the fine for each violation can go up to $500.
Bill pages:
On Legiscan: https://legiscan.com/WA/bill/SB5486/2025
On Washington State Legislature: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5486&Year=2025
Who benefits?
Who in Washington state could benefit from this bill for open captions in Washington State movie theaters?
- Deaf/hard of hearing
- Autism (Neurodivergent)
- Auditory Processing Disorder
- Attention Deficit Disorder
- Aphasia
- Dyslexia
- Kids learning to read
- Adults learning English as a second language
- Noise sensitive
- Many people just like or prefer captions