6 ms·

Netflix begins audio description for visually impaired

81 points by ValentineC 12y ago

matt-attack 12y ago
For those who aren't aware, Hollywood studios have been doing this for 5 years or so on their theatrical releases. Every title that goes out contains a track for both hearing impaired (boosted dialog, reduced sound effects) and visually impaired (a complete narration of what's on screen). Additionally, there's an on-screen caption track for theaters that wish to schedule entire screenings for the hard-of-hearing as well as an off-screen caption track that can be sent to hand-held or worn devices.
- noir_lord 12y ago
  > boosted dialog, reduced sound effects As a normally hearing person this would actually be useful on some films, I struggle to follow dialog when there is so much background noise on-screen and in the cinema.
jareds 12y ago
I doubt they will do it but I'd like to see Netflix add descriptive audio to older shows. I know a lot of American shows that get aired in the UK have narration for visually impaired people, it would be nice if Netflix would make this narration an option for stuff besides there original series.
bgruber 12y ago
a non-press-release version of this story, from the washington post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2015/04/14/netflix-makes-a-blind-superhero-accessible-to-blind-viewers/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2015/04/14/ne... this is the result of a multi-year fight by disability advocates, most notably Robert Kingett from the accessible Netflix project (https://netflixproject.wordpress.com/ https://netflixproject.wordpress.com/). What finally put them over the edge was the release of Daredevil, which made for a story the popular press finally bit: blind people can't enjoy a show about a blind superhero. honestly, the fact that netflix remedied the situation so quickly once the PR situation got bad enough does not improve their reputation on this issue in my eyes. For a long time, I thought that maybe there was some great technical complication I just didn't understand that made this much harder than it seemed from the outside. Apparently that wasn't the case. Also, as Kingett has said, "now comes the easy part." Adding description tracks on Netflix for all of the movies and TV shows for which they have been available all along.
- jamesbrownuhh 12y ago
  It's not quite as easy as it sounds - but Netflix are at least doing something, and starting with their original productions is a logical place to go, because they have complete control of the master copies and can commission an Audio Description soundtrack to run in sync with that. Adding AD to third-party content is trickier, because for the most part it's not Netflix's content to audio describe in the first place. If the distributor has AD assets available, it's then a complex process of aligning those assets to the pre-existing copy of the asset which Netflix is using. That's not always just "drop and go" because the versions won't necessarily align, or even contain the same visual material (e.g. Cut versions, syndication edits, director's cuts, special editions, etc.) At the same time, "just use the description from TV" is not that straightforward either - here in the UK, the audio description is almost always produced by the television channel showing the programme, and NOT the programme maker/distributor themselves. Accessing that content now becomes more complicated, both proceedurally and contracturally. It's not trivial - but at the same time it's not impossible. And for all the stick they get, Netflix actually leads the way in accessible content - there are vast numbers of video on demand services which simply do not even support access technologies in the first place. (It's a bit better in the US, where the FCC lays down rules about availability of captions on online video, admittedly.) But especially here in the UK, almost no VOD services support even basic subtitles, let alone multiple audio tracks. In contrast, Netflix is a breath of fresh air - they actively seek out and obtain subtitles/captions, and now AD, from the third party producers that they licence content from. They deserve praise for their attitude in this area, in my view - they put some of the largest media companies in the world to shame. That might sound excessive, but I've lost track of the number of major, major media companies whose reps pass on the company line that accessible VOD is "not possible at the moment", when the reality is that it's perfectly possible, they just choose not to do it or to make it any kind of priority. With that kind of competition, Netflix is an easy number one in the field. They know their stuff and they're doing what it takes - I've got nothing but respect for them.
  - bgruber 12y ago
    Agreed that starting with their own content makes sense. As for the difficulty of adding existing AD assets, I'm unclear as to why this is any more difficult than adding more language tracks, something Netflix has been doing for years. As for procedural and contractual issues, advocates in the past have gone so far as to get the owners of the assets to agree to license to Netflix free of charge, to no avail. It's sad that in the UK, VOD services are even further behind on accessibility. I do hope that Netflix is actively seeking out AD, but given their track record so far, I'll believe it when I see it. Most of all though, I wanted to respond to one particular thing you said: "And for all the stick they get, Netflix actually leads the way in accessible content" The lesson I've taken from this is that they don't get nearly enough, or perhaps the right kind of, stick. Advocates (and legislators in some countries) have been after Netflix on this issue for years, but what finally seems to have gotten Netflix to take action was when the mainstream media started picking up on the story. That action was swift and completely addressed the story that the media told. I therefore think it important to keep the story going in an attempt to ensure that Netflix keeps working on this problem.
mmvvaa 12y ago
This is very cool. I recently helped a couple of visually impaired people pick a movie through a stack of DVDs they had at home, using the http://www.bemyeyes.org http://www.bemyeyes.org app. I didn't know how they watched the movies, so they explain me that some come with some sort of aid that describes de scenes. Some kind of story telling, along the audio. I was fascinated. However, they complain that there is not a lot of content that has this aid. I'm glad Netflix is bringing their content to this audience.
kelukelugames 12y ago
Now if we can get Kindle to support dyslexic friendly fonts.
- dublinben 12y ago
  The Kobo series of ereaders support both Dyslexie and OpenDyslexic out of the box. If you care about accessibility, don't buy a Kindle.
Aarvay 12y ago
Timely blogpost around the release of Daredevil ! ;-)

81 points by ValentineC 12y ago

For those who aren't aware, Hollywood studios have been doing this for 5 years or so on their theatrical releases. Every title that goes out contains a track for both hearing impaired (boosted dialog, reduced sound effects) and visually impaired (a complete narration of what's on screen). Additionally, there's an on-screen caption track for theaters that wish to schedule entire screenings for the hard-of-hearing as well as an off-screen caption track that can be sent to hand-held or worn devices.

noir_lord 12y ago
> boosted dialog, reduced sound effects As a normally hearing person this would actually be useful on some films, I struggle to follow dialog when there is so much background noise on-screen and in the cinema.

jareds 12y ago

I doubt they will do it but I'd like to see Netflix add descriptive audio to older shows. I know a lot of American shows that get aired in the UK have narration for visually impaired people, it would be nice if Netflix would make this narration an option for stuff besides there original series.

bgruber 12y ago

a non-press-release version of this story, from the washington post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2015/04/14/netflix-makes-a-blind-superhero-accessible-to-blind-viewers/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2015/04/14/ne... this is the result of a multi-year fight by disability advocates, most notably Robert Kingett from the accessible Netflix project (https://netflixproject.wordpress.com/ https://netflixproject.wordpress.com/). What finally put them over the edge was the release of Daredevil, which made for a story the popular press finally bit: blind people can't enjoy a show about a blind superhero. honestly, the fact that netflix remedied the situation so quickly once the PR situation got bad enough does not improve their reputation on this issue in my eyes. For a long time, I thought that maybe there was some great technical complication I just didn't understand that made this much harder than it seemed from the outside. Apparently that wasn't the case. Also, as Kingett has said, "now comes the easy part." Adding description tracks on Netflix for all of the movies and TV shows for which they have been available all along.

jamesbrownuhh 12y ago
It's not quite as easy as it sounds - but Netflix are at least doing something, and starting with their original productions is a logical place to go, because they have complete control of the master copies and can commission an Audio Description soundtrack to run in sync with that. Adding AD to third-party content is trickier, because for the most part it's not Netflix's content to audio describe in the first place. If the distributor has AD assets available, it's then a complex process of aligning those assets to the pre-existing copy of the asset which Netflix is using. That's not always just "drop and go" because the versions won't necessarily align, or even contain the same visual material (e.g. Cut versions, syndication edits, director's cuts, special editions, etc.) At the same time, "just use the description from TV" is not that straightforward either - here in the UK, the audio description is almost always produced by the television channel showing the programme, and NOT the programme maker/distributor themselves. Accessing that content now becomes more complicated, both proceedurally and contracturally. It's not trivial - but at the same time it's not impossible. And for all the stick they get, Netflix actually leads the way in accessible content - there are vast numbers of video on demand services which simply do not even support access technologies in the first place. (It's a bit better in the US, where the FCC lays down rules about availability of captions on online video, admittedly.) But especially here in the UK, almost no VOD services support even basic subtitles, let alone multiple audio tracks. In contrast, Netflix is a breath of fresh air - they actively seek out and obtain subtitles/captions, and now AD, from the third party producers that they licence content from. They deserve praise for their attitude in this area, in my view - they put some of the largest media companies in the world to shame. That might sound excessive, but I've lost track of the number of major, major media companies whose reps pass on the company line that accessible VOD is "not possible at the moment", when the reality is that it's perfectly possible, they just choose not to do it or to make it any kind of priority. With that kind of competition, Netflix is an easy number one in the field. They know their stuff and they're doing what it takes - I've got nothing but respect for them.
- bgruber 12y ago
  Agreed that starting with their own content makes sense. As for the difficulty of adding existing AD assets, I'm unclear as to why this is any more difficult than adding more language tracks, something Netflix has been doing for years. As for procedural and contractual issues, advocates in the past have gone so far as to get the owners of the assets to agree to license to Netflix free of charge, to no avail. It's sad that in the UK, VOD services are even further behind on accessibility. I do hope that Netflix is actively seeking out AD, but given their track record so far, I'll believe it when I see it. Most of all though, I wanted to respond to one particular thing you said: "And for all the stick they get, Netflix actually leads the way in accessible content" The lesson I've taken from this is that they don't get nearly enough, or perhaps the right kind of, stick. Advocates (and legislators in some countries) have been after Netflix on this issue for years, but what finally seems to have gotten Netflix to take action was when the mainstream media started picking up on the story. That action was swift and completely addressed the story that the media told. I therefore think it important to keep the story going in an attempt to ensure that Netflix keeps working on this problem.

mmvvaa 12y ago

This is very cool. I recently helped a couple of visually impaired people pick a movie through a stack of DVDs they had at home, using the http://www.bemyeyes.org http://www.bemyeyes.org app. I didn't know how they watched the movies, so they explain me that some come with some sort of aid that describes de scenes. Some kind of story telling, along the audio. I was fascinated. However, they complain that there is not a lot of content that has this aid. I'm glad Netflix is bringing their content to this audience.

kelukelugames 12y ago

Now if we can get Kindle to support dyslexic friendly fonts.

dublinben 12y ago
The Kobo series of ereaders support both Dyslexie and OpenDyslexic out of the box. If you care about accessibility, don't buy a Kindle.

Aarvay 12y ago

Timely blogpost around the release of Daredevil ! ;-)