Delta looks to extend closed captioning to seatback live TV

A trailblazer in providing accessible seatback entertainment to passengers, Delta is working to bring closed captioning to inflight live television for the Deaf and hard of hearing.

In the absence of regulatory mandates, and after “significant investment,” the U.S. major achieved 100% English closed captioning of all stored movie and TV titles by the end of 2023 — and it continues to meet this laudable standard. But it’s not resting on its laurels.

In addition to offering expanded audio-descriptive programming for vision-impaired passengers, Delta said its “next goal for inflight entertainment is the addition of closed captioning on live television, something that the teams are working on to achieve.”

Delta presently offers up to 16 channels of live TV over IP (IPTV) on Delta Sync seatback screens aboard its A220, A319, A320, A321, 737-800, 737-900, 757-200, and 757-300 twinjets when flying domestically. Select 767-400 widebodies flying U.S. transcon, such as the one pictured above, offer DIRECTV channels on seatbacks. (Delta is separately rolling out IMG’s dedicated live sports channel Sport 24 on international flights for passengers’ own devices.)

“We have been able to launch live TV closed captioning on a subset of our fleet and are working on the other hardware types,” Delta revealed as part of an accessibility update to Canadian authorities, and as shared by its in-beta generative AI assistant.

Delta’s accessibility work is extensive. Nearly three decades ago, it became the first U.S. carrier to establish an Advisory Board on Disability and Accessible Travel, and included frequent flyers with the lived experience of disability.

An accessible travel map from FlightPath3D has been added to all Delta aircraft that offer IFE, allowing customers with low vision to view the progress of their flight.

On 2 October — the 40th anniversary of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) — Delta revealed that other key initiatives are afoot, including: “Displaying important inflight announcements on seatback screens to support customers who are Deaf or hard of hearing.”

It is also expanding digital accessibility tools on its website, Delta.com, and on the Fly Delta app, “including the ability for customers to communicate accessibility needs and provide details about mobility devices.”

Moreover, the SkyTeam Alliance member intends to introduce tactile seat control on its new A350 Delta One suites, which will also be 100% accessible to persons with reduced mobility (PRMs), as previously reported by RGN.

More widely in commercial aviation, the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) has long led industry standards to implement accessible closed captioning and audio descriptions for IFE. But captions for inflight live television are not always compatible with legacy IFE hardware, and there may be satcom limitations and other hurdles to consider.

Two pieces of legislation, introduced in the U.S. Congress a few years ago, could ultimately see formal rulemaking around accessible IFE enacted, as explained by industry veteran and former APEX Technology Committee chair Michael Childers.

In the meantime, Delta is voluntarily doing the sort of meaningful passenger experience work that doesn’t always garner big headlines — but perhaps should.

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