first-year american sign language brief caption history

1947

deaf actor emerson romero developed the first captioning of a film by putting captions between picture frames. his stage name was tommy albert; involved in heyday of silent films

silent films

were accessible to ALL

1950s

talking films (16 mm) got subtitled (government subsidized)

1972

the french chef; only captioned tv available at the time

1980s

caption devices for tv became available for purchase at $200 (\~$720.38 modernly!)

1993

all new tv must have decoder chip in the tv (no need to purchase another device)

2010

broadcasters must provide captioning for tv (but that isnt applicable/realistic for emergencies)

2019

covid → interpreters on stage for updates and safety announcements