MovieFlix Adds Captioning to Streaming Internet Movies

Editor: We've seen lots of good accessibility news in the past few months, and here's some more. MovieFlix and the Captioned Media Program are working to add captions to the streaming internet movies provided by MovieFlix. So if you have a reasonably fast connection, you can now view captioned movies over the internet. Here are portions of the press release.

For additional information, please see the MovieFlix Listing or the Captioned Movie Program Listing in our Resource Directory.

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MovieFlix, a leading broadband movie provider on the Web, and the Captioned Media Program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and provides free-loan open-captioned videos to deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, today announced a new content agreement that will make it possible for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to enjoy streaming movies on the MovieFlix Web site.

"I applaud the Captioned Media Program and MovieFlix for being the first to bring open-captioned movies to the Web," said Anthony Natale who was featured in "Mr. Holland's Opus" and "Jerry Maguire," and is the spokesperson for the Captioned Media Program.

MovieFlix, in association with the Captioned Media Program, will make available more than 15 open-captioned titles including feature films like "McLintock," starring John Wayne and classic television shows like "The Jack Benny Show", "The Jackie Gleason Show" and "The Jerry Lewis Show", among others.

These movies will be added to the MovieFlix library of more than 2000 titles in more than 30 genres. The open-captioned movies will be added to the newly created "Captioned" genre. Open captions (subtitles) appear on these movies without the need for a decoder or special equipment. Open-captions are like subtitles on the screen and give the viewers access to all the information contained in the audio track.

"We are pleased to be the first Web site to offer our growing member base with yet another way to enjoy MovieFlix movies," said Opher Mizrahi, CEO and Co-Founder. "With over 28 million deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in the U.S. alone, there is a great need to make streaming movies more accessible to the deaf community."

About MovieFlix

MovieFlix is the leading broadband movie provider on the Web. Founded in 1998, MovieFlix, a privately held company based in Hollywood, has developed and maintains a library of full-length movies, short films, independent films, and television shows available over the Internet via streaming video technology from the MovieFlix Web site. The current library of more than 2000 titles consists of Hollywood classics, independent films, short films and television shows in more than 30 popular categories. MovieFlix has forged strategic alliances with companies including AOL, ALWAYSi.com, BigStar.com, Covad, iFilm, iSyndicate, NBCi, RealNetworks, RoadRunner, Rogers Communications, Screaming Media, Yack.com, Yahoo, and Zap Media, among others.

About CMP

The Captioned Media Program continues to be funded by the U.S. Department of Education to provide a free-loan service of educational and special-interest/theatrical captioned media such as videos, CD-ROMs, laserdiscs, and other products for registered users. A comprehensive catalog for educational and special-interest/theatrical collections lists more than 4,000 open-captioned videos. All registered users (account holders) are assigned to a specific depository in their geographical area. Special-interest/theatrical media are distributed from one national media.