- Apple is adding ASL support to the Apple TV app
- It’s only for a handful of titles for now
- Unlike other streamers, the ASL option is integrated on the original title
The millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing people around the world usually have just one option when it comes to watching movies and films: closed captions. American Sign Language (or ASL, and its British counterpart, BSL) can help bring less reading and more visual interpretation to the viewing, but it takes people, time, and technology to integrate it into your favorite streaming services.
Some streamers, like Netflix, employ third-party plug-ins from Google or others to enable ASL overlays. Others, like Disney, Amazon, and HBO, create distinct versions of their content with built-in ASL overlays.
Apple, however, is launching something a little different. A handful of original-content titles will now tap into a new settings toggle (supported in iOS 27.2) that turns on ASL or BSL for films like F1: The Movie, Greyhound, and Way of the Warrior Kid.
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The feature is also launching with a new Apple TV film: Being Heumann, which, not coincidentally, is about real-life activist Nancy Heumann’s efforts in the 1970s to get more rights and accommodations for disabled people.
The controls are found under Settings, and once enabled, the option will appear on these titles as a sign-language icon.
Each ASL interpreter appears as an overlay on top of the Apple TV content, meaning they’re not in picture-in-picture boxes.
It’s worth noting that the sign-language interpreters are all real people, directed by what’s known as Directors of Sign Language or ‘Dazzles,’ who help them interpret the content. Apple is not, for now at least, using animations or AI to ramp up ASL coverage. No word on whether this might be under consideration.
“Bringing sign language interpretation to Apple TV is an exciting step forward in making the viewing experience more accessible and inclusive for Deaf audiences,” said Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives in a press release. “Accessibility is a core value at Apple, and we’re proud to continue creating experiences that allow more people to enjoy the content they love.”
For now, the launch consists of very few titles and, oddly, doesn’t even include Apple’s Academy Award-winning Best Picture, CODA, which is about a young aspiring singer whose parents are deaf — though it’s probably a safe assumption that the film will soon be added to the ASL-supported list.
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lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance Ulanoff)
