Mr. Hunt,
Over one year ago today, you posted the following article:
http://blog.netflix.com/2009/06/closed-captions-and-subtitles.html
This article briefly details the issues that Netflix has encountered while working to add closed captioning to its media. The first paragraph states, “Captioning is in our development plans but is about a year away.” It has now been over thirteen months since that post. What is the update? Mr. Hunt, I want you to know that I am not a technologically-ignorant consumer who believes that all things technical can change or be created in the blink of an eye. I was part of the development team that built our company’s software systems, and I know that quality work takes time. But the backend technology is out there, and I believe that it tarnishes Netflix’s image when so many other companies are able to provide this service. Please understand that the anger and backlash ultimately comes from frustration and embarrassment. When a group of people want to get together and watch a Netflix movie, the hard-of-hearing or deaf friends are excluded because they cannot understand or hear the movie or show. Closed captioning is not a luxury; it is an absolute necessity for anyone wanting to enjoy modern media who does not have ‘normal’ hearing.
I had a Netflix account in the past but canceled it because of the lack of closed captioning. Recently, I purchased a blueray player with the option to use the Netflix Watch Instantly service, but I have not activated an account as it would be useless to me without the closed captioning. Though I have been discouraged and doubtful, I hope that I will receive a response from you that will show progress and hopefully a solution to this longstanding problem.
I appreciate your efforts, and hope that we’ll have a solution soon.
Best,
(me)
I am sad that I had to do this at all. Netflix is a huge corporation, and companies like YouTube and Google have already handled the issue. Why is Netflix blowing us off? I debated the idea of an ACLU-style lawsuit, but I don't think I have the energy, and I'd certainly have to work with a lawyer that knows those processes and the ADA in order to do it - I just don't know what to think. I'll bounce the idea off of a few people to see what they think, and who knows... maybe I'll do it.
UPDATE:
I got a response from Neil Hunt at Netflix. His email reads:
Our computer-based players (PC and Mac) have supported captions since late Q1:
As I indicated, getting the capability into devices has taken longer; there will be a Wii and a PS3 update this fall that will include similar capabilities for those platforms, X box probably November, although not confirmed, and our SDK that goes to OEMs that make BD players and TVs now includes this as a feature (that will probably take 3-9 months to reflect in new products).
Obtaining the caption data has proven harder. We have a few hundred titles, skewed towards TV shows, where the studio or network has been able to provide us with caption data. We cannot reliably use DVD caption data, since (a) it is in the form of graphical overlays, not text, and (b) it often doesn’t conform (in timing) to the specific cut we have – especially on TV shows, where the ad-black varies in length across different media. We are now working with the National Center for Media Accessibility to re-master captions where necessary, with a goal of 1,000 of the most popular content with captions by the end of this quarter, and growing from there.
N
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