HBO Max increases accessibility options with audio described content

HBO Max has added audio descriptions to 1,500 hours of its movies and TV shows in order to help the blind and people with low vision. And more is coming.

This week, HBO Max rolled out “nearly 1,500 hours of audio described content on web and mobile platforms,” according to a press release from the Disability Rights Advocates group (DRA) and the American Council of the Blind (ACB). Audio descriptions are voice tracks that play over movies and shows designed to inform people who are blind or who have low vision about important things happening onscreen. Take this scene from The Lion King, for example:

Streamers like Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu already offer audio descriptions. Now you can switch over to audio description tracks on select movies and TV shows available on HBO Max. Among the titles that offer this feature at the moment are His Dark Materials, Dunkirk, Euphoria, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Genera+ion, with more on the way. WarnerMedia aims to have 3,000 hours of described content available by this time next year, and at 6,000 by March of 2023.

There will also be a new Audio Description section added to the navigation menu to make it easier to find accessible content, and there are improvements on the way that will help people with low vision set up accounts using screen readers.

There’s been an increased focus on accessibility issues for movies, TV shows and video games in recent years, particularly as people are isolated during the pandemic. It’s good to see HBO Max taking these steps, and we hope more are coming.

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h/t Yahoo Finance