Netflix Working on Closed Captioning for Streaming

I get e-mails about the lack of closed captioning for Netflix streaming, and Netflix's Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt says that they're working on it:

Subtitles, Closed Captions, and Alternate Soundtracks: All these features are desired for future releases. Delivering closed-captions via the Silverlight player is probably closest, but it won't be 2008 either.

Comments

[Gir]

2008 ends in less than 6 weeks. Kind of a strange way to say it. I take him to mean subtitles and other streams won't happen anytime soon. I'm sure they already know everything that's coming in the next 6 months or so.

[dAVe]

I think CC is funny. Half the time when a TV program audio has foul language bleeped out, CC people will go ahead and transcribe it.

[DeafEbert]

If "Watch Now" can include subtitles for foreign films ("The Motorcycle Diaries", anyone?) what the hell stops them from subtitling (personally, I'd prefer SDH, but I'll take the "normal" kind) American films?

"We're working on it but..." sounds like a cop-out. And the "It's not gonna happen in 2008" when the year is up in about six weeks seems, oh what's the word?

[Uosdwis]

On a related note, CC has NEVER worked with programs transferred from both Tivo and ReplayTV boxes.

[Rob]

@DeafEbert: the only subtitles Watch Now has for foreign movies are the ones burned into the picture, in other words you can't turn them off even if you get the physical DVD.

The new generation of player (Silverlight) makes things like subtitles and closed captions possible, but it's still a lot of work.

[John Kimble]

The new Silverlight player does and will allow for the subtitles and CC. Silverlight will allow audio and video to be delivered seperately and allow for layered video (Subtitles) and being able to switch the audio streams means you will eventually can switch between native language, dubbed language and director/actor commentary. This will allow for a lot of good changes but the real issue is it is going to take awhile considering Silverlight has not launched yet and until it does the developers are not going to have time to develope the CC system, which will require an additional interface change and aquiring all subtitles for films and transferring them for silverlight as well as getting audio subtracts for the dialogue so although it seems like it shouldn't take that long unfortuantely it will be several months because the developers at Netflix have been hameering away for months getting Silverlight ready and its still not ready and they are working diligently to get everything up and running

[Mr. Nethead]

I am so looking forward to this. Nearly all online on-demand services have ignored the deaf and hard of hearing community up to now. NBC does cc for some of their shows online, but the captions are usually off by a few seconds, so it's annoying. :P

I'm not deaf, but I am hard of hearing. And while I've watched a few instant titles at Netflix, I hate that I miss the quiet dialog when I do.

This is good news though. It seems like Netflix is always looking out for the customer, and that's why they're one of my all-time favourite companies.

[mary]

Please add closed captioning. Being deaf is a handicap! More and more of the baby boomers cannot hear!

[R C]

I just joined NF via the trail account and am very disappointed that there is no option for captioning. This IS the 21st Century after all and deaf & HoH need this function in order to enjoy the service.
I'll cancel the subscription and wait until a service is available that can provide this considerate feature.

[generic valtrex]

amazing post about Netflix Working on Closed Captioning for Streaming thanks for sharing

[Invierta en proyectos]

I look forward to reading more on the topic in the future. Keep up the good work! This blog is going to be great resource. Love reading it...

[JY]

What about tieing in with windows? or have the same type of programs?. Why not have the option to choose CC when we click on the sound button to lower or raise the sound when we watch instantly? I noticed one movie had CC automatically on instant watch. It was "shrooms" and there was a button for "subtitles" to click on. Not all movies with subtitles in english or any subtitles have that button even when it claims to be subtitle accessable. I don't understand why?

[Careprost]

Hola,Ha hecho un trabajo muy bueno. Hay muchas personas en busca de eso ahora van a encontrar suficientes fuentes por tus consejos.espera para obtener más consejos acerca de que

[Jack Taylor]

Here it is, approaching the summer of 2011 and still no closed captioning. I find often that the audio on various titles has clarity problems and CC would definitely be of help.