AOL simultaneously announced and began using Amazon Unbox for its video download service this week. They have joined NBC Universal in its decision to have Amazon Unbox be their exclusive provider of downloadable television shows and movies. This is terrible news for deaf and hard of hearing consumers who rely on closed captions in order to follow dialogue during movies and television shows. Amazon Unbox does not support captions or subtitles and is not in compliance with FCC regulations requiring them for traditional tv shows and movies.

We learned about this back in June and contacted Amazon directly. Their cookie cutter response is proof of their utter disregard for people with hearing loss. We blogged about the dismal experience which you can read here.

In this age where most DVDs, television shows and even commercials are captioned, nearly all hotels have television sets with captions available, and more movie theaters are finally offering screenings with open captions, I find Amazon’s unwillingness to consider the needs of their deaf and hard of hearing consumers reprehensible.

If companies like AOL and NBC Universal applied some pressure, we’d have a much better chance of getting Amazon to “hear” us.  Deaf and hard of hearing people are not second class consumers, but Amazon certainly makes us feel that way.

Use your keyboards, folks. It’s time to make some noise to facilitate some postive changes. Be sure to post your comments about Amazon Unbox’s lack of captions or subtitles on AOL here, NewTeeVee here and, of course, on HearingExchange at the top of this article. NBC Universal did not offer a corporate email contact. You can send them snail mail here:

NBCUNI.COM FEEDBACK
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608

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