
Back to All News
Celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day With Expanded Languages, Screenings and a New Collection
Heather Dowdy
Director of Product Accessibility
Innovation
19 May 2022
Global
Listen to the audio version here
Growing up on the southside of Chicago, there was nothing like a night at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. From the building's ornate gold detailing, the velvet curtains that enveloped the stage, to being ushered to the front, my family and I felt like celebrities. I remember the details of this historic home for entertainment so fondly because it was where my family and I went for special American Sign Language (ASL) interpreted performances. As a Child of Deaf Adults (CODA), I had the privilege of seeing the world with a deep appreciation and understanding for the lived experiences of my parents and the Deaf community I was raised in. It inspired me to make every experience we had feel like a night at the Chicago Cadillac Palace Theatre.
How we access stories has changed a lot. Whether it's video conference calls, texting, or the flashing doorbell, nowadays technology can build bridges to access for many people living with disabilities. That's why today, to celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), I'm excited to announce that we're expanding our language availability of Audio Descriptions (AD) and Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH). Starting this month and into 2023, these features will be made available across more of our catalog and in more languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, and French. For decades, your access to entertainment was determined by where you lived and what language you spoke, meaning that until recently people who needed AD or SDH could only enjoy a story if it was made in their local language.
By increasing our SDH and AD language availability to over 20 languages, we hope to give all of our members the ability to see their lives reflected on screen, no matter where you're from, what language you speak, or what abilities you have. We are also introducing new badges for our shows and films that have AD and SDH on Web and iOS to make it easier to discover stories suited for your needs.
At Netflix, we're also telling more stories by and with people with disabilities in mainstream culture. That's why we've launched our first-ever collection, titled Celebrating Disability with Dimension, featuring over 50 shows and films with characters or stories about people living with disabilities. With over 1 billion people living with disabilities globally, the opportunity to tell more inclusive stories and bond within our communities over storytelling is tremendous. We will also be hosting Accessibility Screenings in select countries globally to bring our AD and SDH features to life outside of the living room and discuss ways to make entertainment more accessible.
I'm excited to continue this work to connect our members to these stories through technology, upcoming accessibility screenings, and our new collection. Let's make new memories together.
Learn more about Heather's journey and her role at Netflix by clicking play on the video above.
North America Stories
25/06/2022
Portland Timbers, Thorns FC Choose SNS for Shared Storage, Media Asset Managemen...
25/06/2022
Tips from Recruiters: How to Present Your Work and Interview Like a Pro
Brie Clayton June 23, 2022
0 Comments
Join Access VFX on the below ZOOM link:
...
25/06/2022
BC Live Productions Relies on AJA Gear to Get it Right the First Time
Brie Clayton June 23, 2022
0 Comments
From star-studded Hollywood film premieres ...
25/06/2022
Blackmagic Design Announces New Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2
Brie Clayton June 23, 2022
0 Comments
A next generation 6K digital film camera mo...
25/06/2022
Random Fixed Color Expression
Andy Ford June 24, 2022
0 Comments
This tutorial expands upon my previous tutorial on creating a random color expression....
25/06/2022
Sonnet Announces PCI Express 3.0 Adapter Card Featuring TwoNVMe SSD Slots, 16-La...
25/06/2022
Professional Tiffen Filters for DJI Mini 3 Pro Drone
Brie Clayton June 24, 2022
0 Comments
Tiffen s 3-Filter Neutral Density Kit for the DJI Mini 3 Pro...
25/06/2022
Discover the Power of Accelerated Computing | NVIDIA EGX Platform for Profession...
25/06/2022
Microscopic World Captured with Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K by Protist La...
25/06/2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. The NCTA has told the FCC that it will not oppose Standard General's deal for Tegna if the FCC adopts binding conditions to ensure that th...
25/06/2022
PORT MELBOURNE, Australia Blackmagic Design this week released a new public beta of DaVinci Resolve 18 with Blackmagic Cloud hosting and management support of c...
25/06/2022
SEOUL, South Korea Imaging technologies for mobile phones and devices made a notable advance this week with Samsung Electronics Co. unveiling its new 200MP ISOC...
25/06/2022
NEW YORK Kagan, the media research unit of S&P Global Market Intelligence, has issued a new report finding that the broadcast deal market for first quarter 2022...
25/06/2022
RESTON, Va. Comscore has announced that Horizon Media is testing Comscore's local TV measurement solution as a new form of currency for 2023 planning and bu...
25/06/2022
IRVINE, Calif. Vizio has announced that TikTok TV is now available on its smart TVs....
25/06/2022
Berklee, Love Renaissance, and Audiomack Present Music Business Summer Program The five-day interactive experience is designed to teach aspiring artists, execut...
24/06/2022
Join us at SMD to collaborate on ways to accelerate our nation's missile warning and defense capabilities. During SMD, L3Harris will connect with missile de...
24/06/2022
WASHINGTON A House subcommittee this week approved President Biden's $40 million increase in funding for public broadcasting for FY2023. The vote from the H...
24/06/2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. The NCTA has told the FCC that it will not oppose Standard General's deal for Tegna if the FCC adopts binding conditions to ensure that th...
24/06/2022
Dr. David Bogen Named Berklee's Provost and Executive Vice President for Aca...
24/06/2022
Station owner Graham Media has joined the opposition to Standard General's acquisition of Tegna, filing a petition against the deal with the Federal Communi...
24/06/2022
The Federal Communications Commission is seeking public and stakeholder input on how TV stations' transition to the ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV standard is going an...
24/06/2022
CBS has shared the fall premiere dates for its programs. There are four new series and 18 returning ones....
24/06/2022
NBCUniversal's Universal Studio Group named Jordan Moblo executive VP, creat...
24/06/2022
Pete Hegseth, Fox & Friends Weekend host, debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times...
24/06/2022
Disney Branded Television said it hired Tehmina Jaffer as executive VP, business affairs....
24/06/2022
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. Tiffen has announced its 3-Filter Neutral Density Kit for the DJI Mini 3 Pro. The lightweight filters allow users to manage the camera aperture ...
24/06/2022
PORT MELBOURNE, Australia Blackmagic Design today introduced its next-generation of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2 with adjustable touchscreen, a lar...
24/06/2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. Common Cause and UCC Media Justice have filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking the agency to deny the propose...
24/06/2022
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. A new survey from The NPD Group has found that consumers are more worried about the cost of streaming services than they were last fall, w...
24/06/2022
BALTIMORE, M.D. Sinclair launched its long-awaited direct-to-consumer Bally Sports+ streaming service on June 23 with a soft launch in five markets at $19.99 a ...
24/06/2022
Avid President/CEO Jeff Rosica has confirmed that the company will exhibit at the IBC Show at the RAI in Amsterdam, Sept. 10-13. The announcement marks a change...
24/06/2022
Jazz Legend Gary Burton Reflects on Seven Decades in Music and Education The jazz fusion pioneer, LGBTQ advocate, and Berklee superstar is celebrating the 40...
24/06/2022
Americas Got Talent Judges Wowed by Berklee Students Audition Kieran Rhodess vulnerable performance of his song Disengage earned him multiple standing ovation...
24/06/2022
Twitter's board of directors is unanimous in its support for Elon Musks bid to take over the company. Its members have unanimously voted to accept the deal ...
24/06/2022
The FCC is gearing up to find another way to determine a TV stations local market for must-carry and other purposes. The move comes after decades of using Niels...
24/06/2022
Some powerful unions are teaming up to try and block investment firm Standard General's purchase of Tegna, with the financial help of Apollo Global Manageme...
24/06/2022
Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of June 13-19, highlighting the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio's In...
24/06/2022
The Boston Athletic Association on Wednesday said that starting in 2023 ESPN will become the exclusive national television outlet for the Boston Marathon with W...
24/06/2022
Advanced advertising company OpenAP said it formed a strategic partnership with data cloud company Snowflake to create a clean room facility in which TV netwo...
24/06/2022
Popular short-form social video app TikTok is coming to Vizio smart TVs....
24/06/2022
Media agency Horizon Media said it is working with Comscore on a test to see if Comscore local TV measurement data can be used as currency while planning and bu...
24/06/2022
Low-price, family-friendly streaming service Frndly TV said it is enhancing its user experience by making it easier for subscribers to use....
24/06/2022
Ad-supported video-on-demand streaming service Crackle is launching a new app on Roku devices designed to make browsing for programming more intuitive....
24/06/2022
As part of the company's continuing effort to add value to its subscription offerings, Maxon is pleased to announce the addition of 50+ 4K premium tiled tex...
24/06/2022
Clear-Com , a global leader in voice communications systems, was a first-time sponsor of the popular annual AVIXA Women's Council Breakfast at the InfoComm ...
24/06/2022
The Museum of Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean has built its reputa...
24/06/2022
KILOVIEW is expanding its family of Network Device Interfacem(NDI)-compliant sol...
24/06/2022
Cobalt Iron Inc., a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced that for the second year in a row it has been named one of CIOs 1...
24/06/2022
You may not know of Todd Mozer, but it's likely you have experienced his company: It has enabled voice and vision AI for billions of consumer electronics de...