The study “Monitoring language diversity and accessibility of streaming platforms in the EU”, coordinated by Josu Amezaga-Albizu from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), with co-author Blanca Arias (TraDiLex researcher and member of both the Board and Executive Committee of the AccessCat Network), determines that linguistic diversity on streaming platforms is “concerning”, with a predominance of English over the rest of the European languages.

Focused on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+, the report demonstrates the lack of linguistic diversity on the platforms. Additionally, it draws relevant conclusions in the field of accessibility:

• The availability of audio descriptions is extremely limited (only present in 12% of the products), and what is available is mostly in English (in total, 54% of audio descriptions are in the English language). This constitutes a barrier for users with accessibility needs who are unfamiliar with the language.
• There are no European sign language options on the platforms.
• There are only five minority European languages present on the platforms: Catalan, Galician, Basque, Luxembourgish, and Welsh.
• The availability of products in English is higher than in local languages (either in audio, subtitles, or audio description).
• Borders limit access to content in minority languages, although there are linguistic communities that extend beyond borders. This is the case for Catalan or Basque: in France, despite having linguistic communities of these languages, access to content in those languages is limited.

This report is a commission from the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament. As explained by Eurodeputy Diana Riba, this report “represents the first approach to the issue of languages in the landscape of streaming platforms in the EU” and will help “design and evaluate European audiovisual policies.”

Image by Marc Puig from the presentation event of the study in Barcelona, after being presented two weeks ago in the European Parliament.