HBO Max is rolling out audio descriptions for its blind or visually impaired users.
The descriptions, available across only a select few shows and movies, are offer more than just dialogue and sound effects. According to the American Council of the Blind, they’re detailed explanations of what’s going on in each scene, with added context for anyone who can’t get it solely from watching and listening.
Audio descriptions are available on both website and mobile versions of HBO Max, but right now they’re limited to shows like Euphoria and His Dark Materials. There are 1,500 hours of content all told, however, extending to HBO and Max Originals, Warner Bros. films, and other types of acquired content.
“At HBO Max, our goal is to let storytelling take center stage, and for each and every subscriber to be able to enjoy world-class content, regardless of how they access the platform,” said Sarah Lyons, Executive Vice President, Direct-to-Consumer Global Product Management. “This month’s initial accessibility improvements are only the first of many steps we plan on taking to improve the experience for all users. We encourage continual consumer feedback, as it is critical to evolving the product and supporting all of our valued customers.”
If you need a list of which shows are available to choose from, HBO Max has also implemented a category system to help round up all available content featuring audio descriptions. HBO plans to add over 3,000 hours of described content by the end of March 22. That’s projected to double again by March 2023’s end.
Content that features audio descriptions will feature special tracks that can be toggled on and off via each show’s caption settings. These changes, as well as screen reader compatibiltity updates, are rolling out soon.
