Great news! On May 7, Spectrum launched its Spectrum Access app, a free app available for iPhone to “provide entertainment access to persons with vision or hearing impairments.” The app enables users to play audio description or closed captioning directly from their phone or tablet. 

It works with movies playing on different platforms such as: DVD, Spectrum TV, Spectrum TV app, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix and other streaming services where any of the movie titles in the Spectrum Access library may be available.

We applaud this effort by Spectrum because, first of all, it provides greater accessibility to entertainment for people with sensory disabilities, and also because it is a step in the direction we are convinced accessibility should go. We dream of accessible elements available seamlessly to its users, no matter where the media is playing.

There are already several technologies that allow the access to captions, video description and even ASL on a second screen. The industry has overcome the barrier of the technology. Now, the next step is to avoid the repetition of efforts by creating a standard common repository of accessibility elements that we call Access for All. With the support of an extraordinary group of experts in media, accessibility, and disabilities, Dicapta Foundation is encouraging the media industry to create that repository where accessibility elements can be shared.

If you are interested in participating in this new alliance for media accessibility, through Access for All,  don’t hesitate to contact us at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..