The U.S. Department of the Interior, announced in a recent Civil Rights Directive that they will require that all audio-visual media used throughout its national park system and other programs must be open captioned rather than closed captioned. The Directive also noted that "This in no way negates [their] responsibility to provide assistive listening devices for program participants who are hard of hearing."

According to the Directive, open captioning is preferred because it "provides the most effective and efficient method of access... Even where close captioned media is available, it has been found that much staff time and effort is often taken to ensure that captioning is turned off and on in a timely manner for participants with disabilities ... switches may be easily broken or tampered with causing .. non- compliance."

For more information, please contact Carroll Andre, Chief, Public Civil Rights Division, Office of Civil Rights, US Dept of the Interior at: carroll_andre (at) ios.doi.gov.  To file an ADA or other civil rights complaint against the US Dept of the Interior, follow instructions on their website at: http://www.doi.gov/diversity/doc/5how.htm