WA movie theaters now required to provide more open captioning
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Movie theaters across Washington are now required by law to increase their open captioning options for moviegoers. The law passed in the 2025 legislative session went into effect on Jan. 1.
The new law, passed 34-14 in the senate, says movie theaters doing at least five showings of a movie that is produced with open captioning content must provide captioned screenings to the audience.
Closed captioning refers to text being put overtop a screen afterward, while open captioning means the text is burned into the media itself in advance.
Requirements of the new motion picture law
- There now must be two open-captioned screenings within the first two weeks of the theater playing the movie. This applies if the theater operator has five or more locations.
- One of the screenings has to be between 5:59 p.m. and 10:01 p.m. between Monday and Thursday, until 11:01 p.m. on Friday, or between 10:59 a.m. and 11:01 p.m. on weekend days.
- If a theater company operates four or fewer locations, they must provide the closed captioning screening within eight days of a request. This applies only if the screening is produced with open captioning.
- Open captioned screenings must be shown alongside the regular advertisements a theater does for other screenings with the "OC" designation.
- Motion picture theaters receiving closed captioned available content must provide those to the public in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The John Waldo act does not apply to drive-in theaters.
MORE NEWS FROM FOX 13 SEATTLE
Major stretch of US 2 reopens in WA, lifting spirits for Skykomish businesses, residents
Police identify mother, son as 2 killed in Mercer Island murder-suicide investigation
New WA laws in 2026 include higher wages, luxury car tax, plastic bag fee hike
Seattle’s most anticipated new openings in 2026
WSDOT announces Revive I-5 work begins this January in Seattle
To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.
Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.