Closed captioning required

Closed captioning required. A Community Living Facility licensed under this Act must make reasonable efforts to have activated at all times the closed captioning feature on a television in a common area provided for use by the general public or in a resident's room, or enable the closed captioning feature when requested to do so by a member of the general public or a resident, if the television includes a closed captioning feature. It is not a violation of this Section if the closed captioning feature is deactivated by a member of the Community Living Facility's staff after such feature is enabled in a common area or in a resident's room unless the deactivation of the closed captioning feature is knowing or intentional. It is not a violation of this Section if the closed captioning feature is deactivated by a member of the general public, a resident, or a member of the Community Living Facility's staff at the request of a resident of the Community Living Facility licensed under this Act. If a Community Living Facility licensed under this Act does not have a television in a common area that includes a closed captioning feature, then the Community Living Facility licensed under this Act must ensure that all televisions obtained for common areas after January 1, 2020 (the effective date of Public Act 101-116) include a closed captioning feature. This Section does not affect any other provision of law relating to disability discrimination or providing reasonable accommodations or diminish the rights of a person with a disability under any other law. Nothing in this Section shall apply to televisions that are privately owned by a resident or third party and not owned by the Community Living Facility. As used in this Section, "closed captioning" means a text display of spoken words presented on a television that allows a deaf or hard of hearing viewer to follow the dialogue and the action of a program simultaneously. (Source: P.A. 101-116, eff. 1-1-20; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21.)