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Deaf Activists Demand Equal Access to Netflix Content

Amid the brouhaha about the California-based company's rate hike, deaf activists drive growing Change.org campaign calling on the company to provide better access to subtitledcontent; Oscar winning actress shows her support.

Amid the brouhaha about a Netflix rate hike, thousands of deaf activists and an Oscar winner are calling on the Los Gatos company to provide better access to subtitled movies online.

Netflix is getting a lot of flack this week after an announcement that it is raising rates on its DVD mail rental service. But for the deaf and hard of hearing, paying Netflix more per film available is par for the course: they cannot watch 70 percent the service's online "watch instantly" videos, as they do not have subtitles. Furthermore, while it is possible to see a list of all of the subtitled content on the site, but users cannot search within that content.

Sebastian St. Troy, a consumer-rights activist in Texas who who lost most of his hearing last December as a result of a non-cancerous brain tumor, launched a Change.org campaign in April to encourage Netflix to provide equal access.

"No wonder so many are dumping Netflix," he said. "Especially the deaf and hard of hearing consumers, who do not have equal access to Netflix content."

St. Troy says that enhancing the search functionalities of the Netflix site would mean equal access for the hard of hearing, and make Netflix much more attractive for those who rely on subtitles to enjoy movies.

"Netflix is failing to provide not only good service to its customer, but more importantly, equal treatment to the deaf and hard of hearing."

St. Troy's campaign has attracted more than 3,500 supporters from across the country through Change.org, the world's fastest growing platform for social change. Activists hope to rally thousands more from the nation's 35 million deaf and hard of hearing and their allies.

On Monday Academy Award winning actress, Marlee Matlin sent the following message on her twitter account, "Dear Netflix. Nevermind about the price hike. When are you going to start captioning your streaming content? Fail, big time."

"This is an extraordinary campaign," said Change.org campaigner Clara Long. "Seeing so many deaf and hard of hearing activists come together for a cause like this has been remarkable. Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on the issues that matter to them, and it is an honor to provide a platform for the deaf and hard of hearing community."

Live signature totals from the Netflix campaign on Change.org: http://www.change.org/petitions/netflix-make-films-accessible-for-the-deaf-hoh

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