Reaching international markets: What went well Indeed, it was perceived as patronising and offensive to have assumed that viewers in Spain would need their Mexican Spanish subtitles to be localised to Iberian Spanish. When subtitling their awards contender, the Mexican film ‘Roma’, last year, Netflix was criticised for ill-advised Castilian subtitling. Netflix is struggling to compete in the Indian market by offering cheaper subscriptions and tailor-made content for their customers.įor long-term American exclusive Hulu, television fans are still eagerly awaiting the day the streaming service premieres in the UK.Īs well as making mistakes in their English language subtitles, Netflix has also been under fire for badly thought-out subtitle translations. It seems that every streaming service has a ‘breakthrough market’ that they’re trying to gain a stronger foothold in. Deaf viewers may feel it is hypocritical of Netflix to take pride in its representation of the deaf and hard of hearing community in its shows while not consistently providing quality subtitles for them. They have created prominent deaf characters in original titles such as ‘Tales of the City’, ‘The Dragon Prince’ and ‘Hush’.
Netflix prides itself on offering broader representation that mainstream channels often fail to provide. These inaccuracies are harmful both to its brand and to its customers. Indeed, Netflix debuted the latest season of their hit show Black Mirror without any audio description. What’s more, Netflix has even launched some of its headline shows without accessible features. Seminal shows like Queer Eye and RuPaul’s Drag Race have faced criticism for inaccurate and even offensive subtitles. Accessibility in streaming services: The criticism While Netflix has been praised for its general level of accessibility, with subtitles available for almost all content on the platform, the quality has been known to vary from show to show. This is especially pertinent when you realise that there is the possibility of attracting some customers who have left the bigger streaming services due to unreliable accessibility. Every service wants to attract numbers close to the heft of Netflix’s 158 million paying subscribers worldwide, but so far it seems that they have been ignoring the possibility of marketing towards their deaf and hard of hearing customers. It will be a major deciding factor in which services can last long-term. Accessibility in streaming servicesĪccessibility is one of the major reasons why streaming services need to ensure that they offer consistently high-quality subtitles for all their shows. This is also something Disney+ seems to have caught up on recently.
In another move towards accessibility, Apple TV+ also allows the user to choose audio description for certain shows in its catalogue – although this has not yet been rolled out across all shows. On the other hand, competitor service Apple TV+ has garnered praise for its subtitles – even while its general offering has been deemed underwhelming.Īpple TV+ comes with customisable subtitles, which means that viewers can avoid some of the common complaints about subtitles on streaming services – such as clunky blocks of text obscuring the action. It’s concerning to see that, even in one of the biggest original shows on any streaming service this year, subtitles have not been regarded as a priority. But despite the initial hype, there was a flurry of frustration about the quality of the subtitles on the show. It’s one of the most expensive shows ever made at a budget of £15 million per episode, with a savvy marketing strategy that kept the show’s secrets and spoilers well under wraps.
Hulu subtitles language offerings series#
The most blatant example comes from Disney’s new Star Wars spin-off series The Mandalorian. Let’s start off with the example of Disney+.Īlthough Disney+ won’t be hitting the UK until March 2020, Disney’s new streaming service has already launched in the US to much acclaim, mainly for its range of content and product design.īut even amongst a flurry of 4- and 5-star reviews for the platform and its original content, there has been strong criticism of the quality of subtitles on Disney+. Subtitling problems have often been the sign of teething pains. While these streaming services spend millions on acquiring and promoting content, they’re consistently underestimating the demand for subtitles on their platform.
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