.

16 May 2024

Disney Star to Include an Indian Sign Language and Audio Descriptive Feed for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024

This Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Disney+ Hotstar and Star Sports Network take a step forward in setting new standards for inclusivity in live cricket.

Mumbai, 16th May, 2024: On the occasion of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Disney Star in association with India Signing Hands (ISH), announces the availability of an Indian Sign Language (ISL) feed for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, starting June 2. This will be applicable for 10 matches including the India matches, semi-finals and finals. The company will also support an audio descriptive feed, along with the ISL feed on Disney+ Hotstar and Star Sports Network. This is the first time that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will be broadcast with sign language and descriptive commentary making cricket more immersive for its deaf, hard-of-hearing and visually impaired users. With this, Disney+ Hotstar also becomes the first OTT platform to make ISL available for LIVE cricket. 

Commenting on Disney Star’s initiative, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Hon’ble Minister of Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India said,

“I commend Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar for introducing Indian Sign Language and Audio Descriptive commentary during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. The Government of India is committed to creating an inclusive society and I strongly believe that this initiative will enhance the viewing experience for millions of differently abled sports enthusiasts.”
- Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Hon’ble Minister of Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India
“We are thrilled to embrace accessibility features making the ICC Men's T20 World Cup available to more fans of the sport. This underscores our commitment to promote inclusivity and serve all users. With these enhancements, we aim to ensure that the excitement of cricket knows no bounds.”
- Sajith Sivanandan, Head, Disney+ Hotstar India
“The descriptive and Indian sign language feeds on Star Sports during Tata IPL 2024 were met with an overwhelming response. Disney Star is extending this endeavour to make cricket fandom and experiences more inclusive by introducing, for the first time ever, these feeds on the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Our mission of serving sports fans is powered by such pioneering initiatives which seek to remove barriers of access and engagement for fans from all walks of life. The initiative also serves to present a more inclusive picture of India's favourite sport and is of immense pride for the sporting fraternity.”
- Sanjog Gupta, Head - Sports, Disney Star
“This feed has fostered the love of cricket into so many differently abled individuals during IPL. With Disney Star continuing this initiative for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 at a larger scale with both Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar supporting this feed, I am confident that it will open doors to the exciting world of cricket to many more people from the Deaf and Visually Impaired communities. This collaboration is really close to my heart since it makes the sport truly accessible and inclusive.”
- Alok Kejriwal, Founder and CEO, India Signing Hands (ISH News)

The ISL feed will provide a comprehensive ball-by-ball update through the presence of a translator on the live stream. The audio descriptive feed will be complemented by voice-over technology, which can render text and images into a speech output, enabling our visually impaired users to easily navigate through the Disney+ Hotstar app.

According to the World Health Organization, with an estimated 63 million community of deaf and 40 million community of visually impaired individuals in India, the need for inclusive entertainment is undeniable. After successfully introducing these features for the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Star Sports Network, Disney Star will make it available for all the India matches along with the semi-finals and finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on both Disney+ Hotstar and Star Sports Network, giving its users the freedom to watch on either of the platforms, at the comfort of their homes or on-the-go.

Starting June 2, tune in to Disney+ Hotstar to watch the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 LIVE and FREE on mobile. The tournament will also be broadcast LIVE on Star Sports Network. 

For more information, please contact:

Gopika Gulati; gopika@hotstar.com; +91 9650603387

Rohan D’Souza; Rohan.Dsouza@disney.com; +91 9833834146

Print
Show me everything from anytime
Press Release

The journey of a champion: IMPACT Person of the Decade Uday Shankar

UDAY SHANKAR, CEO of Star India, is IMPACT Person of the Decade (2004-2014) for being an outstanding leader of people and business, driver of social change & pioneer of reforms in the broadcast industry.

Press Release

We are enormously proud of Uday, says James R Murdoch

“Uday is really driven by a belief in communication and a belief that media and story-telling can make a positive difference. He really brings that to his life and his work every day. We are enormously proud of Uday for being named the IMPACT Person of the Decade; it is a great honour for him and one that he richly deserves. He has a sense of zeal and also a creativity and judgement that is perhaps unique in our community. And that really shows in the impact that he is able to make.”

Press Release

Industry turns out in big numbers at IMPACT show

IMPACT Person of the Decade Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India – the most acclaimed people at the event were IPOY nominees Sam Balsara, Chairman of Madison World and Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director, South Asia, Ogilvy & Mather India, with the Governor singling them out in his speech to recognize their contribution to the country’s recent poll campaign.

1
264 265 266
650
Imagine more
Id: 11740