Submitted by Pickford Film Center
Pickford Film Center is proud to announce new accommodations that will bring a richer cinematic experience to those of the deaf community, the hard of hearing and the visually impaired. These upgrades were made possible, in part, from the support from the Bellingham Central Lions Club, Harborview Lions Club and Fairhaven Lions Club.
For those who are Deaf, there are now two different captioning options at your disposal. The first are Closed Captioned Receivers, which are gooseneck boxes that can be placed in a seat’s cupholder and are adjustable for viewing purposes. The second option are Closed Caption Headset Receivers, which operate as glasses that project a caption box superimposed into the view of the wearer of the apparatus.
These headphones are unique in how they offer a better isolated soundtrack, and also offer a loop option for people that have telecoils in their hearing aids or cochlear implants. In addition, they offer the option of a visual narrative of films for those who are visually impaired. However, it should be kept in mind that even though we have updated our projectors so that they are compatible with our new additions, the usage of captioning devices and visual narrative devices are limited to the films that allow for these accommodations to be utilized. It is up to the studios or filmmakers’ to embed the films with closed captioning and descriptive audio functions, and not all titles are guaranteed to have those enhancements included.
Even so, we are very proud and excited about these new ways in which everyone can have a satisfying experience at the Pickford. Cassie Revell ,Assistant Operations Manager, expands on this when she says “I am very excited that the Pickford is able to bring this cutting-edge captioning technology to Bellingham! We hope that folks affected by hearing or vision loss will find themselves not only able, but also excited, to go to movies in the theatre again. We at the Pickford take great pride in being able to provide the best viewing experience for ALL of our patrons. A passion for film is now the only requirement for admission.”
