Netflix now boasts that 30 percent of its streaming content now has subtitles, and that the figure will be nearer 80% by the end of the year.
Unfortunately online video as a whole is still inaccessible to many hearing-impaired people. Which is a situation that really needs dealing with.
Online Video Accessibility
For those who are hearing-impaired, online video isn’t yet such a viable alternative to traditional broadcast television, mainly because the majority of online video doesn’t come with subtitles and is therefore completely closed to any hearing-impaired person who isn’t brilliant at lip reading.
This is something that few of us who don’t have problems hearing even consider. In the same way that most of us don’t consider the inaccessibility of the Web to anyone with a disability.
Luckily there are efforts and campaigns to increase the accessibility of the Web and online video. And Netflix is finally righting a situation it has been in, and failed to improve, since it launched its ‘Watch Instantly’ streaming service.
Netflix Increasing Subtitled Content
Netflix subscribers have long been asking for subtitles to be added to its streaming content, and the company has been trying to remedy the situation and deliver that for over a year with only limited success.
However, last week Netflix announced it had hit the 30 percent mark and that more titles were gaining the option of subtitles every week. Netflix aims to have 80 of all content available with subtitles by the end of 2011.
Netflix has added a dedicated page which lists all the new titles to have gained subtitles recently, and this content is available not just on PC but also on other devices such as the PS3, the Wii, Google TV, and the Boxee Box.
Conclusions
This is another step in the right direction not just for Netflix but the online video sector as a whole. Catering to as many people as possible, including those in the minority who are sometimes left behind, will ensure online video has the best chance at being the future direction of content consumption.
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