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II
116TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
S. 3473
To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve the accessibility of airline
information and entertainment programming provided by air carriers
on passenger flights, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 12, 2020
Mr. CASEY (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BROWN, Ms.
DUCKWORTH, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which
was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve the
accessibility of airline information and entertainment
programming provided by air carriers on passenger
flights, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Airline Information
4
and Entertainment Access Act’’.
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•S 3473 IS
SEC. 2. ACCESSIBILITY OF IN-FLIGHT SAFETY AND ENTER-
1
TAINMENT PROGRAMMING.
2
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 417 of
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title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after
4
section 41705 the following new section:
5
‘‘§ 41705a. Accessibility of in-flight airline informa-
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tion and entertainment programming
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‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—
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‘‘(1) PROGRAMMING.—On and after the date
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that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of
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the Airline Information and Entertainment Access
11
Act, in providing air transportation, an air carrier,
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including (subject to section 40105(b)) any foreign
13
air carrier, shall ensure that all visually displayed
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airline information and entertainment programming
15
available to passengers on a flight is accessible to
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persons with disabilities, including by providing (or
17
making available)—
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‘‘(A) open captioning and American Sign
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Language option for persons with disabilities
20
when such programming is available to pas-
21
sengers through shared video displays, such as
22
a monitor located in a passenger access aisle;
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‘‘(B) closed captioning and American Sign
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Language option for persons with disabilities
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when such programming is available to pas-
1
sengers through individual video displays;
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‘‘(C) video description for persons with dis-
3
abilities when such programming is available to
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passengers through individual video displays or
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shared video displays; and
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‘‘(D) any aural PA announcement in tex-
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tual format through individual video displays or
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shared video displays.
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‘‘(2) VIDEO DISPLAYS.—Not later than the ef-
10
fective date of the regulations prescribed under sub-
11
section (c)(2), in providing air transportation, an air
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carrier, including (subject to section 40105(b)) any
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foreign air carrier, shall ensure that all individual
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video displays of visually displayed airline informa-
15
tion and entertainment programming to passengers
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on a flight that are operated primarily by using
17
touchscreens or other contact-sensitive controls in-
18
clude a mechanism that allows persons with disabil-
19
ities to nonvisually operate the displays in accord-
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ance with the standards prescribed under subsection
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(c).
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‘‘(b) CIVIL ACTION.—
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‘‘(1) AGGRIEVED PERSONS.—
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person aggrieved
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by the violation by an air carrier of this section
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or a regulation prescribed under this section
3
may, during the 2-year period beginning on the
4
date of the violation, bring a civil action in an
5
appropriate district court of the United States.
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‘‘(B) AVAILABLE RELIEF.—If a court finds
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in favor of the plaintiff in a civil action brought
8
under subparagraph (A), the court may award
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to the plaintiff equitable and legal relief, includ-
10
ing compensatory and punitive damages, and
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shall, in addition to any such relief, award rea-
12
sonable attorney’s fees, reasonable expert fees,
13
and cost of the action to the plaintiff.
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‘‘(C) NO REQUIREMENT TO EXHAUST AD-
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MINISTRATIVE
REMEDIES.—Any person ag-
16
grieved by the violation by an air carrier of this
17
section or a regulation prescribed under this
18
section shall not be required to exhaust admin-
19
istrative remedies before bringing a civil action
20
under subparagraph (A).
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‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing
22
in this paragraph shall be construed to invali-
23
date or limit other Federal or State laws afford-
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ing to people with disabilities greater legal
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rights or protections than those granted by this
1
section.
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‘‘(2)
ENFORCEMENT
BY
ATTORNEY
GEN-
3
ERAL.—
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General
5
may bring a civil action on behalf of persons
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aggrieved by the violation by an air carrier of
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this section or a regulation prescribed under
8
this section in any appropriate district court of
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the United States.
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‘‘(B) AUTHORITY OF COURT.—In a civil
11
action under subparagraph (A), the court
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may—
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‘‘(i) grant any equitable relief that the
14
court considers to be appropriate;
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‘‘(ii) award such other relief as the
16
court considers to be appropriate, includ-
17
ing monetary damages to persons ag-
18
grieved by the violation by an air carrier of
19
this section or a regulation prescribed
20
under this section, when requested by the
21
Attorney General; and
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‘‘(iii) assess a civil penalty against the
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air carrier.
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‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS FOR OPER-
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ATION OF INDIVIDUAL VIDEO DISPLAYS.—
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months
3
after the date of the enactment of the Airline Infor-
4
mation and Entertainment Access Act, the Architec-
5
tural and Transportation Barriers Compliance
6
Board shall, in consultation with the Secretary of
7
Transportation, prescribe standards in accordance
8
with chapter 5 of title 5 (commonly known as the
9
‘Administrative Procedure Act’) setting forth the
10
minimum technical criteria for individual video dis-
11
plays described in subsection (a)(2) to ensure that
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such video displays include a mechanism that allows
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persons with disabilities to operate the displays non-
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visually.
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‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days
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after the Architectural and Transportation Barriers
17
Compliance Board issues standards under paragraph
18
(1), the Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as
19
are necessary to implement those standards and
20
shall publish those regulations in an accessible for-
21
mat.
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‘‘(3) REVIEW
AND
AMENDMENT.—The Archi-
23
tectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance
24
Board, in consultation with the Secretary, shall peri-
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odically review and, as appropriate, amend the
1
standards prescribed under paragraph (1) in accord-
2
ance with chapter 5 of title 5. Not later than 180
3
days after the Architectural and Transportation
4
Barriers Compliance Board issues amended stand-
5
ards under this paragraph, the Secretary shall make
6
such revisions to the regulations prescribed under
7
paragraph (2) as are necessary to implement the
8
amended standards.
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‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
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‘‘(1) CLOSED CAPTIONING.—The term ‘closed
11
captioning’ means a method, process, or mechanism,
12
which may include a device, that—
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‘‘(A) allows an individual who is deaf or
14
hard of hearing to have access to the content of
15
visually displayed airline information and enter-
16
tainment programming; and
17
‘‘(B) allows that access by displaying,
18
through an individual device or individually
19
used technology, all of the audio portion of the
20
programming (including displaying the dialogue
21
and any narration, as well as descriptions of on-
22
and off-screen sounds such as sound effects,
23
music, or lyrics for music, and information
24
identifying the character who is speaking) as
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•S 3473 IS
text that can be effectively viewed and con-
1
trolled by that individual while the individual si-
2
multaneously watches the programming.
3
‘‘(2) PERSON WITH A DISABILITY.—The term
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‘person with a disability’ means any person who has
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a disability as defined in section 3 of the Americans
6
with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102), in-
7
cluding a person with a sensory disability.
8
‘‘(3) OPEN CAPTIONING.—The term ‘open cap-
9
tioning’ means a method, process, or mechanism
10
that—
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‘‘(A) allows an individual who is deaf or
12
hard of hearing to have access to the content of
13
visually displayed airline information and enter-
14
tainment programming; and
15
‘‘(B) allows that access by openly dis-
16
playing on the video display on which the pro-
17
gramming is displayed all of the audio portion
18
of the programming (including displaying the
19
dialogue and any narration, as well as descrip-
20
tions of on- and off-screen sounds such as
21
sound effects, music, or lyrics for music, and in-
22
formation identifying the character who is
23
speaking) as text that can be effectively viewed
24
by that individual and other passengers while
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•S 3473 IS
the individual and passengers simultaneously
1
watch the programming.
2
‘‘(4) VIDEO DESCRIPTION.—The term ‘video de-
3
scription’ means a method, process, or mechanism,
4
including a device, that—
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‘‘(A) allows an individual who is blind or
6
visually impaired to have access to the key vis-
7
ual elements of visually displayed airline infor-
8
mation and entertainment programming (such
9
as actions, settings, facial expressions, cos-
10
tumes, and scene changes); and
11
‘‘(B) allows that access through the provi-
12
sion of contemporaneous audio narrated de-
13
scriptions of those elements during the natural
14
pauses in the audio portion of the program-
15
ming, or during the audio portion if necessary.
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‘‘(5) VISUALLY DISPLAYED AIRLINE INFORMA-
17
TION
AND
ENTERTAINMENT
PROGRAMMING.—The
18
term ‘visually displayed airline information and en-
19
tertaining programming’ means pre-flight safety
20
briefing videos, live televised events, recorded pro-
21
gramming (including television programs), or motion
22
pictures that are available to passengers, for a fee
23
or without cost, on a flight in air transportation.’’.
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap-
1
ter 417 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by
2
inserting after the item relating to section 41705 the fol-
3
lowing:
4
‘‘41705a. Accessibility of in-flight airline information and entertainment pro-
gramming.’’.
Æ
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