Netflix Announces Intersectional Accessibility Initiatives
essence.comNetflix is celebrating its hearing and vision-impaired users in grand fashion. “It’s a big day in the community and I love the fact that it’s about making sure that everybody is aware that disability is a part of human life,” said Heather Dowdy, Director of Product Accessibility at Netflix. “We are celebrating it in all of its dynamic ways.”The streaming giant is dedicated to expanding access for impaired users, meeting them at the intersection of diversity and ability in ways previously overlooked by the entertainment industry.“A lot of times when we talk about inclusion and diversity, we also have to talk about accessibility, how to access the resources and in our case, how to access this great inclusive content?
That is what I’m focused on as the Director of Product Accessibility at Netflix; Creating these features that quite honestly benefit all of us.”Accessibility has been a cornerstone of Dowdy’s life from birth.
As a CODA (child of deaf adults), she was always directly using specialized tools and methods of communication for the deaf and hard of hearing. “I grew up learning sign language at six months old.
So the deaf community is very much my community. Sign language is my first language,” she revealed. “And I grew up in Chicago on the South Side.
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