Airline Safety Information and Entertainment Access Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1911 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 JUNE 8, 2023 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BROWN, and Ms. BALDWIN) 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 Safety Informa- 4 tion and Entertainment Access Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1911 IS SEC. 2. ACCESSIBILITY OF IN-FLIGHT SAFETY AND ENTER- 1 TAINMENT PROGRAMMING. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 417 of 3 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- 6 tion and entertainment programming 7 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.— 8 ‘‘(1) PROGRAMMING.—On and after the date 9 that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of 10 this section, in providing air transportation, an air 11 carrier, including (subject to section 40105(b)) any 12 foreign air carrier, shall ensure that all visually dis- 13 played airline information and entertainment pro- 14 gramming available to passengers on a flight is ac- 15 cessible to persons with disabilities, including by pro- 16 viding (or making available)— 17 ‘‘(A) open captioning and American Sign 18 Language option for persons with disabilities 19 when such programming is available to pas- 20 sengers through shared video displays, such as 21 a monitor located in a passenger access aisle; 22 ‘‘(B) closed captioning and American Sign 23 Language option for persons with disabilities 24 when such programming is available to pas- 25 sengers through individual video displays; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1911 IS ‘‘(C) audio description for persons with 1 disabilities when such programming is available 2 to passengers through individual video displays 3 or shared video displays; and 4 ‘‘(D) any aural PA announcement in tex- 5 tual format through individual video displays or 6 shared video displays. 7 ‘‘(2) VIDEO DISPLAYS, APPS FOR PERSONAL 8 ELECTRONIC DEVICES, AND WEB PORTALS AND 9 WEBSITES.—Not later than the effective date of the 10 regulations prescribed under subsection (c)(2), in 11 providing air transportation, an air carrier, including 12 (subject to section 40105(b)) any foreign air carrier, 13 shall ensure that— 14 ‘‘(A) all individual video displays of vis- 15 ually displayed airline information and enter- 16 tainment programming to passengers on a 17 flight that are operated primarily by using 18 touchscreens or other contact-sensitive controls 19 include a mechanism that allows persons with 20 disabilities to nonvisually operate such displays 21 in accordance with the standards prescribed 22 under subsection (c); 23 ‘‘(B) any apps for a personal electronic de- 24 vice, such as a phone or tablet, that are made 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1911 IS available by the air carrier to passengers on a 1 flight and that display visually displayed airline 2 information and entertainment programming 3 include a mechanism that allows persons with 4 disabilities to nonvisually operate such apps in 5 accordance with the standards prescribed under 6 subsection (c); and 7 ‘‘(C) any web portals or websites the air 8 carrier directs passengers to in order to access 9 or pay for inflight entertainment, including the 10 method for referring passengers to such web 11 portals and websites, include a mechanism that 12 allows persons with disabilities to nonvisually 13 operate such web portals and websites in ac- 14 cordance with the standards prescribed under 15 subsection (c). 16 ‘‘(b) CIVIL ACTION.— 17 ‘‘(1) AGGRIEVED PERSONS.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person aggrieved 19 by the violation by an air carrier of this section 20 or a regulation prescribed under this section 21 may, during the 2-year period beginning on the 22 date of the violation, bring a civil action in an 23 appropriate district court of the United States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1911 IS ‘‘(B) AVAILABLE RELIEF.—If a court finds 1 in favor of the plaintiff in a civil action brought 2 under subparagraph (A), the court may award 3 to the plaintiff equitable and legal relief, includ- 4 ing compensatory and punitive damages, and 5 shall, in addition to any such relief, award rea- 6 sonable attorney’s fees, reasonable expert fees, 7 and cost of the action to the plaintiff. 8 ‘‘(C) NO REQUIREMENT TO EXHAUST AD- 9 MINISTRATIVE REMEDIES.—Any person ag- 10 grieved by the violation by an air carrier of this 11 section or a regulation prescribed under this 12 section shall not be required to exhaust admin- 13 istrative remedies before bringing a civil action 14 under subparagraph (A). 15 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 16 in this paragraph shall be construed to invali- 17 date or limit other Federal or State laws afford- 18 ing to people with disabilities greater legal 19 rights or protections than those granted by this 20 section. 21 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GEN- 22 ERAL.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 24 may bring a civil action on behalf of persons 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1911 IS aggrieved by the violation by an air carrier of 1 this section or a regulation prescribed under 2 this section in any appropriate district court of 3 the United States. 4 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY OF COURT.—In a civil 5 action under subparagraph (A), the court 6 may— 7 ‘‘(i) grant any equitable relief that the 8 court considers to be appropriate; 9 ‘‘(ii) award such other relief as the 10 court considers to be appropriate, includ- 11 ing monetary damages to persons ag- 12 grieved by the violation by an air carrier of 13 this section or a regulation prescribed 14 under this section, when requested by the 15 Attorney General; and 16 ‘‘(iii) assess a civil penalty against the 17 air carrier. 18 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS FOR OPER- 19 ATION OF INDIVIDUAL VIDEO DISPLAYS, APPS FOR PER- 20 SONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICES, AND WEB PORTALS AND 21 WEBSITES.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 23 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 24 Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1911 IS ance Board shall, in consultation with the Secretary, 1 prescribe standards in accordance with chapter 5 of 2 title 5 (commonly known as the ‘Administrative Pro- 3 cedure Act’) setting forth the minimum technical cri- 4 teria for individual video displays, apps for personal 5 devices, and web portals and websites described in 6 subsection (a)(2) to ensure that such video displays, 7 apps, and web portals and websites include a mecha- 8 nism that allows persons with disabilities to operate 9 the displays, apps, and web portals and websites 10 nonvisually. 11 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 12 after the Architectural and Transportation Barriers 13 Compliance Board issues standards under paragraph 14 (1), the Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as 15 are necessary to implement those standards and 16 shall publish those regulations in an accessible for- 17 mat. 18 ‘‘(3) REVIEW AND AMENDMENT.—The Archi- 19 tectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance 20 Board, in consultation with the Secretary, shall peri- 21 odically review and, as appropriate, amend the 22 standards prescribed under paragraph (1) in accord- 23 ance with chapter 5 of title 5. Not later than 180 24 days after the Architectural and Transportation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1911 IS Barriers Compliance Board issues amended stand- 1 ards under this paragraph, the Secretary shall make 2 such revisions to the regulations prescribed under 3 paragraph (2) as are necessary to implement the 4 amended standards. 5 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) AUDIO DESCRIPTION.—The term ‘audio 7 description’ means a method, process, or mechanism, 8 including a device, that— 9 ‘‘(A) allows an individual who is blind or 10 who has low vision to have access to the key 11 visual elements of visually displayed airline in- 12 formation and entertainment programming 13 (such as actions, settings, facial expressions, 14 costumes, and scene changes); and 15 ‘‘(B) allows that access through the provi- 16 sion of contemporaneous audio narrated de- 17 scriptions of those elements during the natural 18 pauses in the audio portion of the program- 19 ming, or during the audio portion if necessary. 20 ‘‘(2) CLOSED CAPTIONING.—The term ‘closed 21 captioning’ means a method, process, or mechanism, 22 which may include a device, that— 23 ‘‘(A) allows an individual who is deaf or 24 hard of hearing to have access to the content of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1911 IS visually displayed airline information and enter- 1 tainment programming; and 2 ‘‘(B) allows that access by displaying, 3 through an individual device or individually 4 used technology, all of the audio portion of the 5 programming (including displaying the dialogue 6 and any narration, as well as descriptions of on- 7 and off-screen sounds such as sound effects, 8 music, or lyrics for music, and information 9 identifying the character who is speaking) as 10 text that can be effectively viewed and con- 11 trolled by that individual while the individual si- 12 multaneously watches the programming. 13 ‘‘(3) PERSON WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 14 ‘person with a disability’ means any person who has 15 a disability as defined in section 3 of the Americans 16 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102). 17 ‘‘(4) OPEN CAPTIONING.—The term ‘open cap- 18 tioning’ means a method, process, or mechanism 19 that— 20 ‘‘(A) allows an individual who is deaf or 21 hard of hearing to have access to the content of 22 visually displayed airline information and enter- 23 tainment programming; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1911 IS ‘‘(B) allows that access by openly dis- 1 playing on the video display on which the pro- 2 gramming is displayed all of the audio portion 3 of the programming (including displaying the 4 dialogue and any narration, as well as descrip- 5 tions of on- and off-screen sounds such as 6 sound effects, music, or lyrics for music, and in- 7 formation identifying the character who is 8 speaking) as text that can be effectively viewed 9 by that individual and other passengers while 10 the individual and passengers simultaneously 11 watch the programming. 12 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 13 the Secretary of Transportation. 14 ‘‘(6) VISUALLY DISPLAYED AIRLINE INFORMA- 15 TION AND ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMING.—The 16 term ‘visually displayed airline information and en- 17 tertainment programming’ means pre-flight safety 18 briefing videos, live televised events, recorded pro- 19 gramming (including television programs), or motion 20 pictures that are available to passengers, for a fee 21 or without cost, on a flight in air transportation.’’. 22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap- 23 ter 417 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1911 IS inserting after the item relating to section 41705 the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘41705a. Accessibility of in-flight airline information and entertainment pro- gramming.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1911.IS S1911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS