New Television Closed Captioning Law

Aug 12, 2021
Senate Bill 5027, concerning closed captioning on televisions in places of public accommodation, is now effective and impacts dentists with public television sets in their office.

Senate Bill 5027, concerning closed captioning on televisions in places of public accommodation, is now effective and impacts dentists with public television sets in their office.

What is the Law?

Senate Bill 5027 mandates that any person owning or managing a place of public accommodation must activate closed captioning on televisions in public areas. The Washington State Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), adopted in 1949, guarantees individuals have the right to full enjoyment of any place of public accommodation. Dentist offices are considered a place of public accommodation because they are facilities used by the public. Therefore, all public televisions in dentists’ waiting and exam rooms must activate closed captions. Televisions in private office spaces or breakrooms are not required to activate closed captions.

How Do I Comply?

To comply with this new law, any television in a place of public accommodation must activate closed captioned programming. Closed captioning display must be in white text color with a black background in a font size readable by individuals with vision impairments.

Exemptions/special considerations include:

  • Television sets that are incapable of displaying closed captions;
  • In areas with multiple televisions, exemptions are authorized for up to 50 percent of televisions in public areas where the televisions clearly do not have volume or are on mute;
  • If multiple televisions are displayed together for sale, at least one must have closed captioning activated; and
  • Closed captioning can be deactivated at the request of a person with vision impairments but must be re-activated after the individual leaves the premise.

This new law came into effect on July 25, 2021. Individuals who fail to meet this new requirement are subject to fines up to $75 for an initial violation and up to $150 for subsequent violations. Written notice must be provided to the individual who is found to be in violation of the law, and the individual must be given 30 days to demonstrate compliance. If compliance is demonstrated within 30 days, the violation and fine will be dismissed.

Questions?

Please send any questions to info@wsda.org.