.

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

Starsports.com unveils IPL 2014 campaign

According to Ajit Mohan, head, new media, STAR India, for this IPL, the mobile screen will become the first screen for a large number of sports fans. "The campaign reflects our ambition, our commitment to make IPL the biggest online sporting event in the world. The creative is a fabulous take on how IPL fans can leverage our service to stay unaffected by the twists and turns that life throws at them. Arun and Lowe have been fabulous partners for us."

Press Release

Zee and STAR discontinue their distribution JV, MediaPro

Uday Shankar, CEO, STAR India, says, "MediaPro has been a truly delightful and path breaking partnership. Punit and I created MediaPro with the objective of accelerating digitisation, promoting transparency and introducing best practices in distribution. Thanks to the commitment of both parties the JV has delivered exceptionally well on each of these. I am proud to say that MediaPro also led the industry consensus for the most efficient way of moving to a digital domain. This in turn allowed us

Press Release

Football goes glamorously mainstream with Indian Super League

Uday Shankar, CEO of Star India said, "Inspiring our nation to excel is a priority and comes naturally to us at Star India. With our expertise in marketing and production of sports content, our task is cut out to etch football in the sports culture of India. The nation has been awaiting its second sport for far too long. And we're delighted to collaborate with esteemed partners in the business and sports world to make that happen!"

1
405 406 407
650
Imagine more
Id: 11740