47 THE OTT FILES Subtitling
company. Jensen and Thuesen and their new subtitle reader were the winners. A NEW AUDIENCE “Based on that competiton, we took SubReader into a company and found some real partners. We were still a bit young,” Jensen explains. “Originally it was just a project to help my brother, but then we found out that in each given country around 7-10% of people suffer from some form of dyslexia. It’s a big group who are excluded from the media industry in many ways, especially in subtitle-heavy countries.”
Co-founder Thuesen is a programmer and has been continuing to develop prototypes, which the pair have been able to get into the hands of dyslexics for testing. They have also engaged with Danish cinema owners when they discovered that there was a protocol on the cinema service that could be used to offer the spoken subtitles. As a result, SubReader has been live in cinemas for about a year now, operating in 35 cinemas in Denmark, with new ones being added every week. Special cinema showcases are regular,
with ‘Dyslexic Evenings’ or special events inviting dyslexics to try out the technology. As well as promoting the project, it allows Jensen and Thuesen to get first hand, on-the-spot feedback. However, cinema audiences are only a small percentage of total video viewers. “We’ve always known that it’s at home that you consume the most media. It’s always been our goal to bring it to the couch, so you can use it at home or at friends’ houses. And so we launched SubReader Home this past summer.” SubReader Home offers spoken subtitles on Netflix, HBO and Viaplay. The team are also looking at expanding it into the broadcast arena and live TV. Additionally, the accessibility regulations in Europe are beginning to take in dyslexia as a need that should be addressed and Jensen sees some opportunity there. “Broadcasters are always surprised at what a big group dyslexics are, especially compared to other accessibility groups,
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