TV Jots

When I fired up NBC’s Video Rewind player in my browser recently to check out a few missed episodes of 30 Rock, I was treated to a long-awaited development that networks and download services like iTunes and Amazon Unbox seem to be doing their darnedest to avoid: making subtitles available for those people who require them due to hearing issues, or who simply want them for a host of other common and logical reasons (for example, during scenes with a lot of dialogue-distorting ambient noise). It’s about time because this essential feature is long overdue, and as far as I can tell, NBC is the lone network giving due consideration to online viewers.

Anyone able to access NBC’s Video Rewind player on its Web site can now view full-length episodes of select TV shows, complete with accurate and easily read captions. In fact, the site specifically confirms that all streaming full-length episodes will have closed captioning as an extra feature from here on. The text even consists of true captions—which also include nonverbal auditory content, such as indications when someone moans or a gunshot sounds—as opposed to only mere subtitles, a precise or near-precise representation of what characters say.

Nonetheless, the delivery format may take some getting used to for people accustomed to captioned text running horizontally across the top or bottom of the screen. When activated, NBC automatically positions the online viewing screen leftwards, with the caption content to the right. The benefit of this setup, however, is that the captions scroll downward instead of disappearing from the screen all together after a brief timespan, which makes it easier for people who read slowly or happen to miss something that recently occurred. Note also that captions will only display with the smallest screen setting; the medium and full-screen sizes cause the caption area to disappear completely.

NBC deserves nothing less than a ticker tape parade for finally making many of its shows streamed online equally accessible to interested parties. This is not a slight concern, either. Just imagine how disrespectful to the general public it would be if, with all of the video footage currently placed online, networks decided to make the images alone available and not the audio tracks. That would be a travesty, to say the least. The only question now is how many more years it will take the other networks to stop ignoring/avoiding the problem and/or whining about some imaginary added cost (integrating captions is not expensive at all in the grand scheme of things) and get with the program, too.

As of this writing, the NBC Web site has full-length captioned episodes for the entire first seasons of Emmy-winning 30 Rock and Peabody-winning Friday Night Lights, as well as assorted captioned installments of various series, including Heroes and Last Comic Standing. Yet, please bear with the network, since there are still some kinks that need resolving. For instance, although the video player offers the captions option for Last Comic Standing, none stream in the relevant area when the feature is selected.

Random problems aside, I sincerely hope that NBC’s courtesy, generosity, and innovation pay off with substantially increased Nielsen ratings in the near future.

Tags: accessibility, captions, closed captions, NBC, online video, streaming video, subtitles, television, tv