NBC Olympics Enhances Accessibility For Tokyo Olympic & Paralympic Games

STAMFORD, CT, July 28, 2021 /3BL Media/ - NBC Olympics will provide more accessibility to its coverage of this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games than ever before, giving viewers of all abilities the opportunity to enjoy the excitement of the Games through closed captioning, audio description, and digital content accessibility.

In addition to providing closed captioning for all Olympic and Paralympic Games events aired across NBCUniversal’s broadcast and cable networks, NBC Olympics will provide closed captioning for all digital livestreams for the first time ever. Closed captioning provides text of the coverage audio for viewers who are Deaf or hard of hearing.

Audio description services, in which broadcast audio is interspersed with skilled voices describing Olympic and Paralympic scenes and context, will be available for viewers who are blind or visually impaired. For the Olympic Games, all competitions aired during primetime hours, along with the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, will include live audio description on the Secondary Audio Program (SAP) channel, provided by Descriptive Video Works. For the Paralympic Games, NBC Olympics will provide live audio description for all broadcast programming, including those aired outside primetime hours.

Viewers can use #NBCOlympicsA11y and #NBCParalympicsA11y on social media to share with others or provide feedback on closed captioning or audio description to NBCUniversal.

Additionally, improved web content accessibility, including keyboard navigation, color contrast and support for screen readers, will be available on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app.

“We’re excited to provide more accessibility to our coverage of this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games than ever before,” said Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics.  “Our goal is to enable viewers of all ages and abilities to gather together and enjoy all the excitement that the Olympics and Paralympics have to offer.”

All of this audio description and closed captioning will be available to Comcast customers who experience the Games on the Xfinity X1 platform, on Xfinity Stream and on Xfinity Flex, including on the live Olympic Games coverage delivered in 4K.

“The Olympic and Paralympic Games bring people together to witness the greatness of the best athletes in the world,” said Tom Wlodkowski, Vice President of Accessibility at Comcast. “We’re committed to sharing those stories with the widest possible audience and are thrilled to partner with our colleagues at NBC Olympics to deliver the most inclusive viewing experience possible.”

The Tokyo Olympics take place from July 23 – August 8 and the Tokyo Paralympics run from August 24 – September 5 on the networks of NBCUniversal, NBCOlympics.com, and the NBC Sports app.