A day full of news for Netflix which made official a nice novelty, on smart TVs, in favor of children, while – at the same time – it launched a package of initiatives relating to accessibility.
Listen to this article
Having concluded the dispute with the Italian tax authorities (non-payment of some taxes) with a solution that provided for the payment of 55 million and 850 thousand euros in a single tranche, Netflix has ventured into the release of various innovations, including some in the accessibility quota and others in favor of the little ones.
In the first case, among the initiatives communicated by the platform on its official blog in view of the World Accessibility Awareness Day, there is the creation of a special collection, Celebrating Disability with Dimension, which – while users browse the platform – will give visibility to a series of ad hoc contents (films and over 50 shows) taken from the schedule of the great N. Equally, from the current month and in 2023, audio descriptions (AD), dubbing for the original content, and subtitles for the deaf and those with hearing impairments (SDH), will be extended in more than 10 languages, including Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese.
In a second step, the less common European languages and those of Asia-Pacific will be covered. Again as part of the basket of initiatives dedicated to accessibility, on the web side and on iOS, new badges will arrive to indicate the presence of audio descriptions and subtitles.
As is known, the platform has suffered its first decline in users, with a certain disaffection even from long-term ones. To remedy this, the streaming giant has also formalized a second initiative, in addition to the provisions for accessibility, this time paying attention to the public of the little ones who, as the company itself recalls, are “attracted by what they love – their toys, foods, favorite songs – and it’s hard to get them to try something new ”.
A little along the lines of the shuffle button, which chooses for the user what to watch, among the films, series and programs in the Netflix catalog, now comes, for children, the sparkling “Mystery Box” that will allow them to discover ” their next favorite series and movies or reconnect with a familiar face, ”making available content like“ Boss Baby: Back In The Crib ”or“ Back to the Outback ”. To access the new function on (smart) televisions around the world, just go to a children’s profile and, in the top row relating to “Favorites”, click with the mouse on the box relating to this Box, to reveal a title in it hidden.