What's happening
This bill requires public establishments in New York to enable closed captioning on televisions in public areas upon request.
Why it matters
Expands accessibility for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. by ensuring they can access televised information and entertainment in public places when they request closed captioning.
Reduces barriers to understanding important televised content. (such as news, emergency alerts, or community updates) for non-native English speakers, seniors, and others who benefit from captions in noisy environments.
Places a reasonable compliance burden on businesses. , requiring captions only upon request and providing exceptions for TVs that cannot display captions or for duplicate channels, balancing accessibility with operational feasibility.
Reflects a growing trend toward inclusivity in public accommodations. , signaling to patrons that businesses are attentive to diverse communication needs and legal rights.
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Who cares
Customers seeking closed captioning
They could request captions on televisions in areas open to the general public during an establishment’s posted business hours, subject to the bill’s exceptions.
Operators of public accommodations, resorts and amusement venues
They would have to enable captions upon request on public-area televisions unless an exception applies.
Establishments with older televisions or duplicate broadcasts
The bill would exempt establishments whose public-area televisions cannot provide captions and require captions on only one television when two show the same channel.
Headline styles
Require Captions on Public TVs
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 39
3 Co-sponsors
History
- Signed chap.295
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading cal.388
- Substituted for A2076
- Referred to governmental operations
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 56–4
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.719
Show 2 earlier actions
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to codes
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Require Closed Captioning on Request
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Kenneth Zebrowski
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1650
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 15, 2019
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to requiring places of public accommodation, resort or amusement that operate televisions during regular hours of operation to provide closed captioning on certain televisions upon request
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section 79-o to read as follows:
§ 79-o. Closed captioning in places of public accommodation, resort or amusement. 1. A place of public accommodation, resort or amusement, as defined in subdivision nine of section two hundred ninety-two of the executive law, shall upon request be required to have closed captioning enabled on all televisions that are located in the public area of such establishment during regular hours of business. The regular hours of business of the place of public accommodation, resort or amusement shall be the hours of operation as posted in such establishment.
2. The provisions of this section shall not apply if:
(a) no televisions in the public area of the place of public accommodation, resort or amusement are capable of providing closed captioning; or
(b) in the event that two televisions in the public area of the place of public accommodation, resort or amusement have the same channel being broadcast, only one of the televisions shall be subject to this section.
3. As used in this section:
(a) "closed captioning" shall mean a feature on a television that when activated will visually display a transcription of the audio portion of video programming; and
(b) "public area" shall mean the section of a place of public accommodation, resort or amusement that is open to the general public.
§ 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01560-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to requiring places of public accommodation, resort or amusement that operate televisions during regular hours of operation to provide closed captioning on certain televisions upon request
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill will require, upon request, places of public accommodation to enable closed captioning on televisions in public areas to assist persons who are hard of hearing.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: Amends the civil rights law by adding a new section 79-o as it relates to requiring closed captioning, upon request, in places of public accommodation during the hours of operation. It provides for exemptions if the televisions in the public area are not capable of closed captioning or if two televisions are broadcasting the same chan- nel than only one television is subject to the requirement.
Section 2: Effective date.
Justification
Closed captioning is a television feature that displays visual tran- scription of the audio of the program. It is also a useful assistive technology for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. In places of public accommodations, person who are deaf or hard of hearing are unable to determine what is being broadcasted because there is no closed captioning. In times of emergencies such as Superstorm Sandy, it is even more important to ensure that televisions are equipped to communicate to everyone. This would require establishments to have closed captioning enabled during regular hours of operation.
Prior legislative history
2013-2014-A.8268: Referred to governmental operations
2016: S.5348-A: Referred to Codes/A.2035-B Passed Assembly
SENATE
01/26/17 - Referred Codes
03/01/17 - Delivered to Senate
03/01/17 - Referred to Codes
01/03/18 - Referred to Codes
01/30/18 - Delivered to Senate
01/30/18 - Referred to Codes
ASSEMBLY
01/12/17 - Referred to Governmental Operations
02/14/17 - Reported
02/23/17 - Advanced to third reading cal. 68 03/01/17 - Passed Assembly
01/03/18 - Returned to Assembly
01/03/18 - Ordered to third reading cal. 119
01/30/18 - Passed Assembly
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.