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Seattle Councilmember calls for closed captioning required on all public TVs

A Seattle City Councilmember wants TVs in all Seattle public spaces -- including restaurants and sports bars -- to be required to show closed captioning whenever the TVs are on.

Businesses are already required by law to turn on closed captioning if someone asks for it to be turned on, but now proposed legislation "will shift the burden of effort from a person with disabilities to the business with a television capable of closed captioning," according to the summary for the bill proposed by Lisa Herbold of District 1 (West Seattle and South Park).

Expected costs would be between $25,000 and $50,000 for outreach and education efforts, and a city staff person may be also be needed to manage the enforcement workload.

The requirement would be enforced by the Seattle Office for Civil Rights, though it’s not clear how often enforcement actions would happen. The office would set those rules, including how someone can show compliance.

The bill would also benefit people with learning or sensory disabilities, people with autism, elderly and people learning English as a second language, according to the summary.

Exceptions would be made if a TV in a public area is technically incapable of showing closed captioning. A public area means “any part of a pubic accommodation that is open to the general pubic.

Portland, Ore., created the closed-captioning requirement in 2015San Francisco also has the requirement, as do some other U.S. cities.

The bill summary notes the law would come with an additional workload. Enforcement could be challenging.

In 2012, Seattle also banned plastic bags less than 2.25 ml thick and made from non-renewable sources, with some exceptions.

Through at least 2016, no Seattle businesses were ticketed for violating the plastic bag ban. There have not been widespread reports of enforcement changes.

In 2018, Seattle became the first major U.S. city to ban plastic straws and utensils. That has the potential for a $250 fine, but officials have said the education period before fines will continue until later in 2019.

It’s unclear if the Seattle Office for Civil Rights can do effective enforcement with their current workload.

Beginning in 2016, Seattle required all-gender restrooms and provided information on how people can report places that are not compliant. The Seattle Office for Civil Rights also enforces that ordinance, which is part of the Seattle Municipal Code.

“Given that this enforcement model is informed by SOCR’s experience with the all-gender restroom ordinance, it is possible that current staff may not be able to absorb the additional work needed to address the volume of places that need to be brought into compliance nor the degree to which each place may need technical assistance,” a memo to members of the Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts Committee read.

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