Canal+: this new feature offered for the first time in the world to subscribers

This new feature should be available on a few programs by the summer before full implementation for 2025. An ambitious and inclusive project!

“Dystitles”: this is the name of this new feature soon to be offered by Canal+ which consists of “new generation” subtitles using special typography. The letters are indeed written in black, while the space inside these letters is filled with white. This typography should allow dyslexics “to understand the subtitles thanks to a design that corresponds to the way in which their brain perceives the letters”, explains Béatrice Sauvageot, researcher and president of the association Pouvoir Dys, in a press release from the group. With classic typography, “people with dyslexia (…) must take the time to decipher each word to understand its meaning and therefore do not always have time to read the subtitles of a scene before they disappear”, underlines the press release. A real problem when it comes, for example, to watching new series such as The Morning Show or Ted Lasso.

8% of French people concerned

“Specially designed for reading subtitles, the unique design of the characters plays with the depth and the counterforms of the letters allowing dyslexic readers to free themselves from deciphering, while being understandable by non-dyslexic people, after a short time. adaptation”, underlines BETC, partner of the project. Dyslexia is part of the specific language and learning disorders (TSLA), known as “dys disorders”, along with dysphasia (language) or dyspraxia (motor development and writing). Difficult to quantify precisely, “dys disorders are frequent” and “would concern nearly 8% of school-age children” in France, according to the High Authority for Health (HAS).

All programs accessible by 2025

“We have done tests with our subscribers. The feedback is extremely positive”explains the director general of Canal + France, Gérald-Brice Viret, to the newspaper The Parisian. We do not yet know the exact date of implementation of these subtitles which will be available by summer on the myCANAL platform as an option in the language and subtitle settings menu. Canal+ already plans to integrate Dystitles more broadly into its catalog of programs, including direct, in 2025.

Article written in collaboration with 6Medias