Closed caption and audio described cinema questionnaire
Contents Summary report ...... 4 Responses ...... 4 Geographic breakdown by state or territory ...... 4 Responses by cinema ...... 5 Responses around closed captioning ...... 5 Responses by movie ...... 5 Other findings ...... 6 Responses around audio description ...... 7 Responses by movie ...... 7 Other findings ...... 7
Level 3 t 02 9212 6242 616-620 Harris St f 02 9212 6289 abn 75 002 259 154 Ultimo NSW 2007 [email protected] mediaaccess.org.au 2
In May 2012 Media Access Australia published a questionnaire to collect feedback around technical issues patrons have had using closed captions or audio description at the movies. The goals of the questionnaire were:
To pinpoint technical issues and who we need to report the information to; and To improve patrons’ movie experiences.
We asked patrons the following questions:
1. What device they were using (audio description or closed captions) 2. The name of the movie they watched 3. The cinema they visited 4. The auditorium number they were in 5. The time the movie started 6. Did the access feature commence at the start of the feature 7. Did the access feature drop out at any point 8. If it did, what happened and did this happen more than once. 9. Did captions flash on and off the screen too quickly to read, and did this happen more than once. 10. Were you attending with another person who experienced a similar or different issue, and if different, what was that issue.
The questionnaire was open to the end of 2012 and patrons had no limit to the amount of times they could use the form.
This resulting report has been provided to all members of the Accessible Cinema Advisory Group via the Department of Families and Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, post- production houses within the cinema industry and caption service providers.
Summary report
Responses There were 51 complete responses to the questionnaire.
41 were about closed captions. (80.4%) 10 were about audio description. (19.6%).
Devices used by respondents
Audio description - 19.60%
Closed captions - 80.40%
Geographic breakdown by state or territory State Number of responses Australian Capital Territory 2 Northern Territory 0 South Australia 3 Victoria 21 New South Wales 16 Queensland 8 Tasmania 0 Western Australia 1
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Responses by cinema Cinema Responses Event Cinemas George St 3 Event Myer Centre 3 Hoyts Belconnen 2 Hoyts Chadstone 3 Hoyts Garden City 2 Village Crown 2 Village Knox 3 Event Marion 2 Event Top Ryde 3 Hoyts Broadway 2 Hoyts Forest Hill 6 Hoyts Woden 2 Village Jam Factory 4 Village Southland 2
The following cinemas recorded one response each: Event Cairns City, Casuarina, Maroochydore, Chermside, Glendale, and Robina; Hoyts Chatswood Westfield and Melbourne Central; Reading Charlestown and Waurn Ponds; and two unnamed Village locations.
Responses around closed captioning
Responses by movie Four responses were around The Avengers, all showing at different cinemas. One respondent required assistance to get the captions started, three respondents reported the captions flashing on and off too quickly to read at times throughout the movie.
Four responses were around The Three Stooges, all showing at different cinemas. All respondents required assistance to get the captions to display, one respondent reported the captions stopping completely and requiring further assistance to start them again.
Two responses were around Ice Age 4. Both respondents required assistance getting the captions to start. One respondent was a patron at Hoyts Chadstone where the captions dropped out repeatedly during the movie. The other patron viewed the movie at Reading Waurn Ponds and the movie played seamlessly once the captions began.
Two responses were around Taken 2. One respondent commented that the captions did not start with the movie but soon after the movie began. Both respondents reported repeated dropouts through the movie. The respondents viewed the movie at BCC Casuarina (cinema 7) and Village Jam Factory.
The remaining responses were all about individual movies.
No true patterns were identified around technical issues at one particular cinema or for one particular movie.
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Other findings When asked if the captions commenced at the beginning of the movie (not including advertisements prior to the movie feature), only 45% responded ‘Yes’.
When did the captions begin?
No, but it began shortly after - Yes - 45% 27.50%
No, I required assistance - 27.50%
There was an equal division of 27.5% each for the two remaining responses of ‘No, but it began shortly after’ and ‘No, I required assistance’. Amongst these remaining respondents who either required assistance to get the captions started or reported that the captions commenced soon after the movie began:
Of those requiring assistance, two each were visiting Hoyts Forest Hill and Hoyts Chadstone, and the remainder were individual cinemas. Of those reporting that the captions began soon after, three were at Event Cinemas Myer Centre and two were at Village Southland. The remainder were at individual cinemas.
When asked if the captions dropped out once the movie began, 56% of responses were ‘Yes’. The responses varied relatively equally when asked what happened with the drop outs, between: 1. It was one or two words at the end of a sentence 2. The captions stopped completely but soon started again 3. The captions stopped and I required assistance to get them started again. There was no real correlation between any response and a particular movie, i.e. all responses for options 2 and 3 were for different movies, and option 1 was reported against The Avengers twice.
22 people (or 53.7%) reported captions flashing on and off the screen too quickly to read. No singular movie recorded a large number of complaints, the largest being: Three responses for Red Dog. Two responses for Taken 2.
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Two responses for The Avengers. 22 people reported that the person they attended the movie with experienced the same or different issues with their closed caption units. 12 people (31.7%) reported the same issues. 10 people (22%) reported issues such as: . “Same issues but at different points during the movie. Other issue was that captions were out of time with each other.” . The unit was bumped and it froze. . “CC handle sometimes swivelled around and did not stand still in cup holder”. . “Captions did not work at all”. . “Words didn’t come up”. The remaining respondents attended with someone who either didn’t use closed captions (26.8%) or had no issue with their closed caption unit (19.5%).
Issues reported by other patrons
No other person Yes, but separate using closed issues - 22% captions - 26.8%
Yes, but no issues - 19.5% Yes, the same issues - 31.7%
Responses around audio description
Responses by movie Two responses were around The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, both showing at Marion Megaplex in cinema 21. Both respondents reported the audio dropping out 1-5 times during the movie. All other responses were around singular movies. Other findings The only significant finding, similar to the finding above, was the number of drop outs in the audio description, with eight of the ten respondents reporting this. All reports were for singular movies and were predominantly at individual cinemas, so do not strongly indicate a problem in a particular cinema. Even so, those cinemas were:
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Hoyts Woden Plaza (cinema 5) Hoyts Chatswood Westfield Hoyts Forest Hill (cinema 5) BCC Cairns City (cinema 1) Village Knox (cinema 1) Village Jam Factory (cinema 3) Event Marion Megaplex (cinema 21) x 2
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