Notice2025-20223
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection eComments Requested; Revisions of a Currently Approved Collection; Title-Requirement That Movie Theaters Provide Notice as to the Availability of Closed Movie Captioning and Audio Description for Digital Movies
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 18, 2025
Issuing agencies
Justice Department
Abstract
The Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section (DRS), Department of Justice will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 220 (Tuesday, November 18, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51792-51794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-20223]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
[OMB Number 1190-0019]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection
eComments Requested; Revisions of a Currently Approved Collection;
Title--Requirement That Movie Theaters Provide Notice as to the
Availability of Closed Movie Captioning and Audio Description for
Digital Movies
AGENCY: Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice.
ACTION: 30-Day notice.
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SUMMARY: The Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section (DRS),
Department of Justice will be submitting the following information
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995.
DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for 30 days until
December 18, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have comments especially on the
estimated public burden or associated
[[Page 51793]]
response time, suggestions, or need a copy of the proposed information
collection instrument with instructions or additional information,
please contact: Roberta Kirkendall, Special Litigation Counsel,
Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of
Justice, by mail at 4CON, 950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC,
20530; send an email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d5918786fb85879495a0a6b1babffbb2baa3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f0b4a2a3dea0a2b1b08583949f9ade979f86">[email protected]</span></a>; or call (800) 514-0301
(voice) or (800) 514-0383 (TTY) (the Division's Information Line).
Written comments and/or suggestions can also be sent to the Office of
Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Attention Department of Justice Desk Officer, Washington, DC 20503 or
sent to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b9f6f0ebf8e6caccdbd4d0cacad0d6d7caf9d6d4db97dcd6c997ded6cf"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9cd3d5ceddc3efe9fef1f5efeff5f3f2efdcf3f1feb2f9f3ecb2fbf3ea">[email protected]</span></a>. Include the title of this
proposed collection: ``Requirement that Movie Theaters Provide Notice
as to the Availability of Closed Movie Captioning and Audio Description
for Digital Movies,'' in the subject line of all written comments. You
may obtain copies of this notice in an alternative format by calling
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Information Line at (800)
514-0301 (voice) or (800) 514-0383 (TTY).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed information collection was
previously published in the Federal Register on July 25, 2025, 90 FR
35316, allowing a 60-day comment period. Written comments and
suggestions from the public and affected agencies concerning the
proposed collection of information are encouraged. Your comments should
address one or more of the following four points:
--Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have practical utility;
--Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
--Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be
collected; and/or
--Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.
Written comments and recommendations for this information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>.
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search
function and entering either the title of the information collection or
the OMB Control Number 1190-0019. This information collection request
may be viewed at <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov">www.reginfo.gov</a>. Follow the instructions to view
Department of Justice, information collections currently under review
by OMB.
DOJ seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for
three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than
three (3) years without renewal. The DOJ notes that information
collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive
a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.
Overview of This Information Collection
1. Type of Information Collection: Revisions of Currently Approved
Collection.
2. Title of the Form/Collection: Requirement that Movie Theaters
Provide Notice as to the Availability of Closed Movie Captioning and
Audio Description for Digital Movies.
3. Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the
Department of Justice sponsoring the collection: OMB #1190-0019/Roberta
Kirkendall.
4. Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as
well as a brief abstract:
Affected Public: Private Sector-for or not for profit institutions.
The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, Disability
Rights Section (DRS), is seeking to extend its information collection
arising from a regulatory provision that requires covered movie
theaters to disclose information to the public regarding the
availability of closed movie captioning and audio description for
movies exhibited in a digital format (digital movies) shown in their
auditoriums.
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), at 42
U.S.C. 12182, prohibits public accommodations from discriminating
against individuals with disabilities. The existing ADA title III
regulation, at 28 CFR 36.303(a)-(g), requires covered entities to
ensure effective communication with individuals with disabilities. The
title III regulation clarifies that movie theaters that provide
captioning or audio description for digital movies must ensure ``that
all notices of movie showings and times at the box office and other
ticketing locations, on websites and mobile apps, in newspapers, and
over the telephone, inform potential patrons of the movies or showings
that are available with captioning and audio description.'' 28 CFR
36.303(g)(8). This requirement does not apply to any third-party
providers of films, unless they are part of or subject to the control
of the public accommodation. Id. Movie theaters' disclosure of this
information will enable individuals with hearing and vision
disabilities to readily find out where and when they can have access to
digital movies with these features.
5. Obligation to Respond:
This information collection is required to comply with statutory
and regulatory obligations under title III. Under 42 U.S.C.
12182(b)(2)(A)(iii), public accommodations must take steps to ensure
that individuals with disabilities are not denied services because of
the absence of auxiliary aids and services, unless doing so would
result in an undue burden or fundamental alteration. Pursuant to 42
U.S.C. 12186(b), the Attorney General is authorized to issue
regulations to carry out title III. The Department's implementing
regulation at 28 CFR 36.303(g)(8) requires covered movie theaters to
provide information to the public about the availability of closed
movie captioning and audio description for digital movies. This public
disclosure obligation is the basis for this Information Collection
Request (ICR).
6. Total Estimated Number of Respondents:
The Department's initial PRA request for this collection relied on
U.S. Census Bureau data from 2012 and estimated that there was a total
of 1,876 firms owning one or more movie theaters in the United States
that were potentially subject to this disclosure. See 81 FR 37643 (June
10, 2016). The most recent U.S. Census Bureau data, from 2022,
estimated that there was a total of 1,813 firms owning one or more
movie theaters. See U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 SUSB Annual Data Tables by
Establishment Industry, Data by Enterprise Employment Size, U.S., 6-
digit NAICS (512131). As the vast majority of U.S. movie theaters now
show digital movies, which typically allow for closed captioning and
audio description, to the extent that each of these movie theater firms
that shows digital movies provides notices of movie showings and times
to the public about those films, they must provide information
concerning the availability
[[Page 51794]]
of closed movie captioning and audio description in their
communications.
7. Estimated Time per Respondent: 8.7 hours per year.
The Department acknowledges that the amount of time it will take a
respondent to comply with this requirement may vary depending on the
number of digital movies that the respondent is showing at any given
time. Based on information gathered during the initial rulemaking
process, the Department estimates that respondents will take an average
of up to 10 minutes each week to update existing notices of digital
movie showings and times with closed captioning and audio description
information. Therefore, the Department estimates that each firm owning
one or more theaters offering digital movies with closed captioning or
audio description will spend approximately ((10 minutes/week x 52
weeks/year) / 60 minutes/hour) 8.7 hours each year to comply with this
requirement.
The Department anticipates that firms owning one or more movie
theaters will likely update their existing listings of digital movie
showings and times to include information concerning the availability
of closed movie captioning and audio description on a regular basis.
The Department's research suggests that this information would only
need to be updated whenever a new digital movie with these features is
added to the schedule. This will vary as some digital movies stay on
the schedule for longer periods of time than others, but the Department
estimates that respondent firms will update their listings to include
this information weekly. In the future, if all movies are distributed
with these accessibility features, specific notice on a movie-by-movie
basis may no longer be necessary and firms owning movie theaters may
only need to advise the public that they provide closed captioning and
audio description for all of their digital movies.
8. Frequency:
The Department anticipates that firms owning one or more movie
theaters will likely update their existing listings of digital movie
showings and times to include information concerning the availability
of closed movie captioning and audio description on a regular basis.
The Department's research suggests that this information would only
need to be updated whenever a new digital movie with these features is
added to the schedule. This will vary as some digital movies stay on
the schedule for longer periods of time than others, but the Department
estimates that respondent firms will update their listings to include
this information weekly. In the future, if all movies are distributed
with these accessibility features, specific notice on a movie-by-movie
basis may no longer be necessary and firms owning movie theaters may
only need to advise the public that they provide closed captioning and
audio description for all of their digital movies.
9. Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: The estimated public burden
associated with this collection is 15712.67 hours. The Department
estimates that respondents will take an average of 10 minutes each week
to update their existing listings of digital movie showings and times
with the required information about closed captions and audio
description. If each respondent spends 10 minutes each week to update
its notices of digital moving showings and times to include this
information, the average movie theater firm will spend 8.7 hours
annually ((10 minutes/week x 52 weeks/year) / 60 minutes/hour)
complying with this requirement. The Department expects that the annual
public burden hours for disclosing this information will total (1,813
respondents x 8.7 hours/year) 15,713 hours.
10. Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: Yearly costs to
industry are estimated to be $0, as updates to communications and
advertisements listing digital movie showings and times are normal
tasks performed by movie theater personnel and any additional work
related to this public disclosure requirement is minimal (e.g., adding
symbols to indicate the availability of closed movie captioning and
audio description next to a digital movie title).
If additional information is required, contact: Darwin Arceo,
Department Clearance Officer, Enterprise Portfolio Management Justice
Management Division, United States Department of Justice, Two
Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE, 4W-218 Washington, DC 20530.
Dated: November 14, 2025.
Darwin Arceo,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2025-20223 Filed 11-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-13-P
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