Netflix is introducing a new method of presenting subtitles to its audience.
Research commissioned by UK deaf access charity, Stagetext, shows 54% of people use them to watch content on TV or online.
It also found that most of the people using subtitles for TV and online were under the age of 25. Of that age group, more than half cited ‘to help me concentrate’ as a reason for using subtitles.
Previously, subtitles on Netflix have included not only dialogue but also audio cues like [phone buzzing] or [dramatic music swells], as well as speaker names.
The streamer is now offering two subtitle options in English: English, which shows only the spoken dialogue, and English (CC), which includes both dialogue and audio cues like [door slams].
The scheme will be rolled out for other languages soon.
It’s already possible to customise subtitles by changing the size and font.
