'The Annoying Orange' Needs More Captions

(page 2 of 2)

Streaming movies don't fare much better. Netflix says it's working on captioning its Internet movie library, but has dragged its feet for years. Even Hulu and YouTube are getting into the original Webisodes game. None of these programs will offer captions unless the content creator voluntarily provides them.

Do-It-Yourself, Not Regulation?

While it's good that the Justice Dept. has raised a red flag, that doesn't mean private sector companies that create videos and other programming for use online should be regulated. Some companies already make good-faith efforts, which the deaf community appreciates. More companies should take the time to learn about the benefits of accessibility and the availability of do-it-yourself tools and captioning services.

Captioning gives companies an opportunity to make their content more readily findable on search engines, which drives more customers to their sites and can lead to better advertising opportunities. Businesses that innovate with captions and other features will enrich the user experience for viewers that are disabled, aging, non-English speaking, and so forth. Loyalty— and profitability—will follow.

Once a cottage industry, emerging online formats now have the potential to lock the deaf and hard-of-hearing population out of a huge marketplace of content, unless new regulation and innovation spurs more businesses—including the emerging online programmers—to embrace accessibility.

Without further incentives, waiting for hundreds of online-only providers to do the right thing will take too long. That's the message the Justice Dept. should convey—and it's what businesses and content creators should consider as they look to the future.

A parting thought for those still on the fence. "The Annoying Orange" generated more than 56 million monthly views in October—more traffic than for some cable channels. It's exempt from the captions law. While some say this Web series isn't worth spending time on, isn't that a choice that deaf and hard-of-hearing people should be able to make on their own?

Suzanne Robitaille is the founder of abledbody.com and the author of a new white paper, "The French Chef Still Waits for 'The Annoying Orange': Making online programming accessible to people with disabilities," which can be downloaded here.

Business Exchange

Track and share business topics across the Web.