Welcome to the CEA Card website

The UK Cinema Association (UKCA) and its members want to make visiting the cinema an inclusive and enjoyable experience for all. We fully appreciate that some disabled people face barriers at the cinema as a result of the effect of their disability. We are working hard to identify and remove these barriers.

Some disabled people need to be accompanied by someone else to enjoy the cinema experience. To make being accompanied as easy as possible the UKCA operates the CEA Card scheme.

The scheme allows a Cardholder to be accompanied by someone, free of charge, when they purchase a ticket to visit a participating cinema with that person.

The CEA Card scheme is intended to benefit everyone who might face barriers that require someone’s assistance when visiting the cinema, such as barriers that result from sight or hearing loss, having limited mobility or being neurodivergent. These are just examples – disability and its effects are very wide-ranging. The focus of the CEA Card Scheme is on removing, or at least minimising, some of the adverse effect of disabilities by providing for someone to accompany a disabled person.

Whilst the CEA Card is one of the ways cinemas can provide support to disabled people who face barriers when visiting the cinema, it is not mandatory, and cinemas still need to provide reasonable adjustments to address any effects of disability that create barriers for disabled people – whether or not they have a Card.

The CEA Card Scheme has straightforward eligibility criteria and there are three ways to apply. Further guidance on the scheme is readily available if you contact us. Our aim is to make the Card application process as straightforward and inclusive as possible.

The development and operation of the CEA Card Scheme is overseen by UKCA’s Disability Working Group, whose members include cinema operators and film distributors, as well as a number of national disability charities.

If you have any questions about the Card and how it works, please read the frequently asked questions or contact us.