Dacia here – from a Deaf person’s perspective movie theaters can be a very frustrating experience. When you’re actually trying to enjoy a movie many “accessible” devices can make it hard to do so.

In my area the most common captioning device is the CaptiView, and I definitely don’t love it. It’s a struggle to get it to fit correctly in the cup holder and adjusted to view at the right angle. Often, when I’m finally able to get it in the correct position to view it and the screen, it slowly starts to tip over or sag. There have been multiple times that the device simply stops working mid movie, the words start getting jumbled, or the timing is off. I end up having to leave the theater to find an employee to help reset the device, which then means i’ve missed a big chunk of a movie I was looking forward to watching. Also, it’s very difficult and tiring to scan the words and watch the movie since one is close and the other is far away. I end up missing parts of the movie while i’m trying to keep up with what is being said.

I haven’t tried Access Glasses but I have many Deaf friends that have. I often hear how annoying they are because they feel heavy on your face and can slide down your nose. Many people have expressed struggles with wearing Access Glasses with their regular glasses as well. I have heard that it also causes eye strain as well.

The best option by far is open captions. It’s much more enjoyable when watching a movie at the theaters to have the words directly on the screen without having to fumble around with a device, or struggle with viewing the captions up close while the movie is much further away. Unfortunately, open captions aren’t often provided. My local movie theater only offers one movie showing per week with open captioning, while many others don’t offer it at all.