Lawmakers, advocates and Delaware theaters announced an agreement Monday to offer captions directly on screen in theaters across the state as part of a year-long pilot program.

As part of the pilot program, theaters will offer regular screenings of new releases with open captions, according to a press release from the office of Rep. Ed Osienski, D-Newark, who has been pushing for the change alongside activists. The program officially started April 1.

“I’m proud of the work we put in to reach this agreement and improve the moviegoing experience for residents throughout Delaware. It’s not just the deaf and hard-of-hearing community that will benefit — many other residents will enjoy having open captions available,” said Mr. Osienski. He credited Daphne Werner, a language arts teacher at the Delaware School for the Deaf, for working with him on the issue.

Open captions bypass the need for closed caption devices that advocates for the deaf and hard of hearing have criticized limited in availability and as cumbersome at best and faulty at worst.

Theaters operated by AMC Theatres, Cinemark Theatres, Regal Cinemas and others will “clearly display which showtimes offer captioning” at each location’s box office as well on their respective websites.

“The exhibition industry remains committed to providing a positive experience to all moviegoers, and the pilot programs running in Delaware will offer additional options for those patrons who would like to see a movie with open captions,” said John Fithian, president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners.

NATO will meet with the parties after the pilot program ends April next year to “discuss the future” of the open captioning plans, according to a separate press release from the theater organization.