BUILD AUDIENCES FOR CINEMA

WatchWord is a new access solution for cinema, which provides always-on closed captions for D/deaf, deafened and hard of hearing cinema audiences. Providing WatchWord at your venue is a great opportunity to elevate your inclusive accessible offer, and increase the number of accessible screenings and develop your audiences.

Inclusivity - Improving Access to your Cinema

D/deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing audiences have long complained about the lack of availability of accessible screenings at times that suit them. Cinemas want to be more inclusive, but offering more open captioned screenings is not always possible.

WatchWord has been designed to complement your existing programme of open captioned films, filling in the gaps so up to 100% of your programme can be accessible to people who need captions, including on opening nights and special one-off screenings.

Building Audiences

There are sound financial reasons to integrate WatchWord into your venue’s current accessibility offer.

There are between 9 million and 12million* UK residents requiring access to captions but who are currently missing from your audiences. On an average day, fewer than 2%** of screenings in the UK have any form of captioning, which means every year, cinemas are losing out on an estimated £17.5 million of ticket sales revenue.

WatchWord is not a replacement for open captions, it is designed to add to a cinema’s existing accessibility offering. WatchWord displays captions discreetly on the glasses, meaning users can sit beside friends and family who may not require captions, and watch any film together.

*Estimated number of D/deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people in the UK figures from RNID & NHS England. ** Based on a survey of 10 cinemas in 10 UK cities screening 237 films on a single day in November 2023