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Executive Summary: Global Accessibility Frameworks for Streaming Media: A Comparative Analysis

Streaming media is an important way to entertain and inform people. This document looks at whether streaming services are accessible, and if Canada can improve by building a stronger, clearer system. Accessibility depends on three parts: content (captions, audio description), technology (apps, websites, smart TV interfaces), and hardware (devices, remotes, voice controls). When any part fails, people with disabilities can struggle to sign in, find shows, or play videos.

Some European countries, especially Finland, have strong laws, detailed technical standards, regular testing, and real penalties, and they apply these rules to apps, software, and devices. The United States and Japan have mixed systems that often wait for user complaints instead of checking services proactively. The United Kingdom led on TV accessibility but was slow to update rules for streaming; new rules will only apply in 2027.

Canada has a good legal base through the Accessible Canada Act and related broadcasting and streaming laws, but there are gaps: no clear technical standards for streaming, no regular testing, and weak enforcement. The report recommends: clarify duties across the streaming ecosystem, adopt EU-style technical standards, test services on a schedule with public results, and use both incentives and penalties so companies fix problems quickly.

Read the plain language summary here.

Read the final report on the streaming media environmental scan here.

This work was funded through the generous support of the Accessibility Standards Canada Research Grant Program.