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Netflix’s “Instant Viewing” does not support closed captioning.
By jjpuorro | June 5, 2007
Netflix is now introducing “Instant Viewing” which enables anyone with an Internet connection to be able to watch movies on their personal computer (link: http://www.netflix.com/MediaCenter?id=53…) . This was appealing to me because I would be able to watch movies instantly. The reason I jumped ship from Netflix to Blockbuster online was because with Blockbuster I am able to run out to a local store and exchange my viewed DVD for another one instantly. Timing is especially important for me because I watch tons of serial TV shows on DVD’s and it irriates me whenever I finish a DVD and cannot watch the next episode on another DVD. With “Instant Viewing” I would be able to watch a million TV episodes without even running out to the local Blockbuster. Great idea, right?
Being Deaf, I fully expected “Instant Viewing” to not support closed captioning. Nonethless, I decided to shoot off an E-mail and see if the movies were closed captioned. Here’s the E-mail string pasted below:
=================================================
From:”Netflix Customer Service” <customerservice@netflix.com>
[Add to Address Book]
To:jj.puorro@xxxx.com
Subject:Re: Other [NFC15] NFLX ID: 0WA943MY48U0TCHBURX8FR8U9084TTDA
Date:Tuesday, June 05, 2007 5:55:28 PM
[View Source]
Dear J.J.,
Thanks for your message.
Netflix is committed to assisting our customers. While our instant viewing
content does not currently support closed captioning, it is a feature that we
are looking to expand upon.
You may reach instant viewing support at 1-866-402-2616 between 7am and 11pm
Pacific Time, seven days a week. Please note that we will need you to be in
front of your computer at the time you call.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.
Thanks,
Christopher
Netflix Customer Service
Satisfied with our response?
SATISFIED
http://www.netflix.com/CSSurvey?tid=0WA9…
ul=yes
UNSATISFIED
http://www.netflix.com/CSSurvey?tid=0WA9…
ul=no
AOL users please copy and paste the link into your browser.
> —–Original Message—–
> From: jj.puorro at xxxx.com
> Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 8:54:16 PM
> To: customerservice at netflix.com
> Subject: Other [NFC15]
>
>
> Subject: watch now
> Error Code:
> Hi,
>
> I am a former Netflix subscriber. I am curious about the “Watch Now”
> feature. Are the movies subtitled or closed captioned? Meaning if the DVD
> offers subtitles, would the movie be subtitled on the PC as well?
>
> I am a Deaf person who relies on captions/subtitles to watch films.
>
> Thanks for any response that I may receive.
>
> -J.J.
============================================
” While our instant viewing content does not currently support closed captioning, it is a feature that we
are looking to expand upon.”
It’s nice that they are “looking to expand upon”, but as a Deaf person I know that this isn’t happening anytime soon. A part of me just accepts this fact and another part of me is sick and tired of this crap. Don’t get me wrong, Netflix isn’t out to ruin things for the Deaf community or anything. It’s just that it does not occur to these people when they are inventing something new to make their invention 100% accessible to everybody. I can understand that “they” don’t mean to exclude the Deaf community and that things like this happen all the time.
However, think about this….does anyone see any public buliding being built these days without wheelchair ramps, handicapped bathrooms, water fountains set closer to the ground, and etc..???? The answer is “No”…at least in America. What happens if a builder builds a bulding without wheelchair access? Surely, the builder would get fined and be forced to install accessible ramps and so forth.
There needs to be a law in this country that requires everything on broadcast on TV, shown in the movie theaters, on DVD, and streamed on the Internet to be closed captioned. We in the Deaf community are always playing catch up with techonology. Right now, we can’t watch movies from Netflix on our PC’s, we cannot catch a missing episode of ‘Lost’ on line, we cannot always watch the bonus features on DVD’s, and so forth…it is getting old. I lived through TV not always being captioned on prime time, movies not being captioned at all, and now streaming videos…..when will we ever be “ahead of the technological curve”? Will it ever happen?
P.S.- I have to moderate all comments. I was just hit with 8,000+ spam comments….anyone know how to delete all of them instead of 20 at a time???
Topics: Uncategorized |
June 7th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
My goodness, who has time for all of this? I have Netflix, have had it for sometime and have never used the instant viewing part. I do read the descriptions (written) that they provide, tho.
Lantana, Lantana’s Latitude
November 1st, 2007 at 1:26 am
I’m not deaf, but I’m a person who often watches foreign movies. I was disappointed when I found that Netflix immediately showed dubbed versions of foreign movies. I simply can’t watch dubbed movies. So, I emailed them requesting that they make the option of subtitles available. It’s bothersome for a lot of people that they didn’t think these things through. Hopefully, for the both of us, the service will be expanded.
November 9th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
I agree, it is annoying as hell not being able to watch stuff online.
March 9th, 2008 at 9:02 am
[…] and the poor development of their “Instant Viewing” feature, which you can read about here, here, and here. The captioning of a/v material on the Internet is definitely a move I want to […]
March 15th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Anything streamed on the internet? Think about that for a minute. By that logic, every book published, even by the smallest press and in the most limited run, should have to be published in Braille. It’s completely unenforcable, and I don’t think it’s an outlandish suggestion that some artists would see any restriction on their presentation of their work as a first ammendment issue.
March 16th, 2008 at 1:10 am
Why not? It should be a law as far as I am concerned. Books are written in more than one language…movies are subtitled or dubbed for many different languages…why not English subtitles and/or brallie? Anything is COMPLETELY ENFORCEABLE if we want it to be…
March 16th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
If your local bookstore has a Spanish-language section, take a look at the books you find there (the translations, not those originally written in Spanish). What you’ll find is that most, if not all, of those books are published by major houses. That’s because it’s not financially possible for small presses to pay someone to translate their books. While it’s obviously not as costly CC a film as it is to translate an entire book, plenty of films, particularly those on the net, are made by companies that literally couldn’t afford to pay a temp to come in for a week and do it. I used to work for a small literary magazine, and if we had had to publish our journal in a second format, we couldn’t have published it at all.
Two more quick points.1.) The only reason TV can be forced to CC is that the airwaves are considered public property, leased by broadcasters. That doesn’t apply here. 2.) I can’t think of a web content law that has been effectively enforced.
March 16th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
It is specifically stated in the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act circa 90-91) that anyone who can afford it, should do so. I am paraphrasing here of course. ADA does not expect smaller companies to be obligated.
As for your two quick points:
1.) Netflix is not “public airwaves”, but most of their DVD’s…about 90% are already subtitled and/or captioned…so why not simply figure out how to derive those subtitle files and put them online??? I mean this is 2008…and we put a man on the moon almost 40 years ago…it’s absurd that this cannot be done..
2.) That’s true…nothing on the web has never been enforced…but I am sure if congress went into session and passed a law that effectively said, “No more BS…if you don’t offer subtitled content we’ll kick your ass”…it could happen…
I don’t care if it is unlikely to happen or if there are good reasons why it is not happening…IT.HAS.TO.HAPPEN.NOW I have zero tolerance for these things just like a wheelchair bound person would have zero tolerance for a building without ramps…
March 24th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I use the instant viewing all the time and love it as I am not deaf I still wish they had captions its nice to read while watching just in case you can’t make out what they are saying.
March 29th, 2008 at 10:44 am
As a deaf person it is discouraging not to hear
the dialog. Last movies received (new) were a
complete fiasco since the story line was not
known. Am sure the “Saved” movies will be the same. Is there a way to tell which movie has CC
before ordering?
June 7th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Building software is a process. The streaming service that Netflix provides is great now and still in it’s infancy. I’m sure they will continue to improve it to meet the needs of their customers.
What about competition? Why not scream at Blockbuster and Hollywood Video for not coming out with something better and with subtitles?
Another law isn’t what America needs. Start a petition and have people sign it online and send it to Netflix.
1 person bitching on a blog isn’t enough.
August 10th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Mat, online petitions rarely if ever work. When people DO sign petitions, it’s about things that directly affect them. People are self centered. Ever see a celebrity join a cause that didn’t affect them or a loved one personally?
CC online would be awesome. I don’t think it’s because they don’t care about those with disabilities… although if it were something to cater to a specific race, they’d jump on it. I wonder why skin color takes precedence over a valid complaint like this one?