Written by Diana Sanchez, Head of Business Development, Access Services
Bringing together more than 500 people who care deeply about accessibility and localisation is always interesting, and the 30th anniversary edition of Languages and the Media did not disappoint.
My first Languages and the Media was in 2002. In fact, it was my first-ever conference presentation. With a thoroughly adrenaline-fuelled and somewhat wobbly voice, I spoke about the concept of "invisible subtitling": the idea that great subtitles should go unnoticed. If audiences are fully immersed in the content, the subtitles have done their job.
Twenty-four years later, this year's conference felt special for several reasons.
Most noticeably, the audience itself felt different. For the first time, it seemed there were more attendees who were deaf, blind, or had low vision. While there is still progress to be made, it finally felt as though the industry conversations included far more people who are both practitioners and users of accessibility services. Their presence mattered. It is easy for service providers to make assumptions about user needs, but those assumptions need constant validation, particularly as new generations of Deaf and blind people bring different experiences, expectations, and preferences.
This conference was also different for me because I was not speaking. That gave me the chance to fully engage with the sessions, and there were some outstanding contributions from the Red Bee team.
A particular highlight was Marie Campbell's session on Blind Leadership and Inclusion in Audio Description which Red Bee co-hosted with DVW. Fern Lulham, Nefertiti Olivares and Corie Brown shared their experiences working in the audio description industry and captivated the room. As Marie observed, having blind professionals speaking for themselves about their work and experiences, while demonstrating what meaningful inclusion can look like in organisations such as ours, feels more important than ever.
Another standout session featured Lesley McGilp on a panel about British Sign Language on screen in the UK, hosted by Jonathan Penny. The discussion focused on the importance of Deaf inclusion in the creation of BSL services, both through sign language interpretation that enables access to a wide range of content and through the creation of high-quality BSL-presented programming. Contributions from Cathy Taylor of Ofcom provided valuable regulatory insight and made this one of the most engaging discussions of the conference.
Hewson Maxwell's presentation in the Broadcast Access Technology session offered another perspective. Alongside Matt Simpson, Mike Armstrong and Nigel Meggit, he explored the current state of technology across captioning, audio description and sign language services. While technology was a recurring theme throughout the conference, this session emphasised something equally important: accessibility technology should be guided by the people who use accessibility services. Technology may enable scale, but user leadership should determine direction.
What struck me throughout the event was the depth of expertise represented across content owners, vendors, regulators and advocacy groups. The accessibility community has developed into a genuine global centre of excellence. While accessibility is highly cultural and looks different in every market, the commitment to quality, inclusion and innovation is shared across regions. We should be proud of the leadership this community provides. At the same time, as media consumption habits, platforms and technologies continue to evolve, part of our collective responsibility is to coordinate across organisations and sectors to ensure that excellence continues rather than being taken for granted.
One contrast I did notice at the event was in the tone. Accessibility-focused sessions were largely optimistic, even when discussing the opportunities and limitations of AI. The localisation sessions I attended felt more cautious and sometimes pessimistic.
That difference surfaced clearly during the closing panel, when someone suggested that localisation could learn from the accessibility principle of "nothing about us without us." It is an appealing idea, but in accessibility the phrase centres the users of services, not the people who create them. In localisation, that means audiences rather than translators, editors or voice actors.
The challenge is that localisation has yet to find a way to consistently include audiences in the conversation. When localisation works well, it remains invisible. Most viewers are unaware of the decisions behind subtitles, dubbing or translation, making it difficult to gather meaningful feedback about quality. If the industry believes audiences value the quality that human expertise delivers, it will need to prove it. That starts by making the invisible visible, helping audiences understand what is being done on their behalf, and inviting them into the discussion.
Perhaps by the time we meet again at Languages and the Media in Athens in 2028, we will have found a way to do exactly that. Until then, I hope the conversation continues at Media for All in Porto in June 2027.
About Red Bee Media
Red Bee Media is the leading global media services partner for innovation and growth. We enable some of the world’s most recognised media brands, broadcasters and content owners to instantly connect with audiences anywhere at any time. Every day, millions of people across the globe discover, enjoy and engage with content prepared, managed, broadcast and streamed by Red Bee Media. Headquartered in London, with media experts in Europe and Asia Pacific, Red Bee Media provides innovative solutions across the entire content delivery chain, including Playout, Streaming, Distribution, MCR, Media Management, Access, Content and Post-Production services.
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Leanne Tomlin
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