6 November 2009 10:31 PM, PST | Studio Briefing - TV News | See recent Studio Briefing - TV News news »
Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin has accused broadcasters, online DVD renters, and other video-content providers of dragging their feet in developing technology that would enable programs broadcast online to be closed captioned. Matlin, who has been deaf since childhood and said she was devastated when she discovered that Netflix's free presentation of the newly restored Wizard of Oz lacked closed captioning when it was streamed on the Internet last October 3, told an FCC hearing in Washington today (Friday) that she was originally told, presumably by Netflix, that the "technology was coming" to enable online closed captioning. However, she said in her prepared remarks, "Eventually I found out that there was actually no problem in the technology. In fact, the technology exists to stream content with closed captions. What it came down to was the same issue I encountered 20 years ago [when she originally demanded that TV broadcasters and manufacturers provide closed captioning] -- a lack of understanding and a lack of will and desire by broadcasters, »
Similar News Items
Marlee Matlin- 2009 Year in Review: Television (From AfterEllen.com. 16 December 2009, 12:21 AM, PST)
- Disney ‘Accidentally’ Removes Closed-Captioning from Up Rental DVDs; Promises to Rectify Screwup (From Slash Film. 25 November 2009, 10:57 AM, PST)
- Matlin Has No Problems With Cartoon Show Poking Fun At Her Deafness (From WENN. 13 November 2009, 5:36 PM, PST)
