Audience Matters: How Filmmakers Can Prioritise Accessibility in Film

As a filmmaker, you’ve worked hard to bring your vision to life. You have a movie that hits all the marks: a unique concept, great camera quality, and more. Naturally, you want the entire world to experience your film.

However, many people won’t be able to enjoy your film as is. One in four U.S. adults — which totals up to 61 million people — have a disability, and more than 10% of this population have hearing or vision disabilities. These disabilities can make it difficult (if not impossible) to enjoy your movie.

Filmmakers can no longer treat accessibility as an afterthought. If you want to get as many people looped into your incredible work as possible, you need to take proactive steps to include all your potential viewers. Here are four steps that you can take to prioritize accessibility in your films and turn your film into an experience everyone can appreciate.

Add Subtitles to Your Film

While the importance of web accessibility is widely recognized by developers, filmmakers are still behind in adopting accessibility-boosting tactics. However, the importance of accessibility remains the same. Audio must be readable to increase your film’s accessibility.

When you write subtitles, you empower people with hearing impairments to enjoy films with ease. They can read your closed captions and read your actors’ lips in real-time, so they can understand what’s happening in your movie at the same pace as their peers. Subtitles can also help people with cognitive disabilities, such as ADD and autism, keep up with your film.

Subtitles can also be a great tool for English language learners and other foreign audiences. When you offer multilingual captions, you can help non-native English speakers fully process the dialogue of your film and make your movie go global.

Create an Audio Description Script

While people with vision impairments can enjoy your movie by listening to it, helping them get your full film experience requires an extra step. Consider creating an audio description script, which is a type of narration that people with blindness or low vision can turn to get more context about what’s happening in your movie.

Audio descriptions should tell your audience which character is speaking and read aloud any on-screen text. Detailed descriptions of important visual elements or inaudible plot developments are a must. Audio descriptive services can help you write, record, and edit your descriptions if you don’t have the time or expertise to do it yourself.

If your film will be available or promoted on your website, don’t forget to make your site accessible and highly navigable for screen readers, which people with vision impairments use as digital guides.

Hire a Diverse Post-Production Crew

Hiring a diverse production crew can be an incredibly helpful strategy for increasing your film’s accessibility. Professionals who are experienced with accessibility practices, as well as people who have disabilities themselves, can provide insights into how inclusive your film really is. Their perspectives can keep you aware of opportunities to improve your film experience for everyone.

Online filmmaker tools like The Mandy Network can help you connect with potential crew members with specific skills and experiences.

Of course, it’s important not to simply rely on your crew members to keep you accountable. As a filmmaker, it’s your responsibility to do independent research or take accessibility training classes to understand the benefits of inclusivity and how to implement accessibility in your media.

Release Films in a Variety of Formats

Not everyone has the luxury of going to the theater. People who are disabled or immunocompromised often struggle physically to leave their homes. At the same time, not every family can afford streaming services. Not every streaming service is easily accessible by people with disabilities either. This displays the importance of releasing films in a variety of formats, so your audience can choose the option that works best for their needs.

Don’t discount the importance of releasing DVDs. While physical copies of your film may not be your biggest money-makers, they can help more people enjoy your film — and allow viewers to do so multiple times without spending more than they can afford.

Prioritize Accessibility in Film

Accessibility is a hot topic in practically every field, including the entertainment industry. However, filmmakers are still falling behind when it comes to meeting the needs of people with disabilities. To ensure that everyone can enjoy your film — no matter their abilities or income — it’s important to get proactive about inclusion in your post-production stage.

Start by hiring a diverse crew and taking steps to learn about accessibility needs. Then, add subtitles and audio descriptions to your upcoming film to ensure everyone can get the context they need about every scene. When your film is ready for release, make multiple formats (like streaming and DVDs) readily available for your potential audience members.