On May 10, 2024, 22-year-old Sita Maya Shrestha, a visually impaired student from Kathmandu now studying in New Delhi, found herself in a rare situation: fully immersed in a movie theatre. Why rare, one might question?

For Shrestha, this moment wasn’t just about watching a biopic of a visually impaired industrialist; it was about experiencing cinema in a way that she had never been able to in her home, in Nepal. The key difference? The film featured audio descriptions and closed captions—technologies still largely absent in Nepali movies, leaving visually impaired and deaf audiences isolated from mainstream entertainment.

In Nepal, where 2.2 percent of the population lives with some form of disability according to the 2021 census, lack of audio description and closed caption in movies and digital content is a glaring omission.

The census further breaks down the types of disabilities: 36.7 percent have physical disabilities, 16.88 percent have low vision, 5.37 percent are blind, 7.85 percent are deaf, 7.87 percent are hard of hearing, and 1.56 percent are both deaf and blind.

Despite this significant demographic, the concept of accessibility in Nepal is often limited to physical structures like ramps and elevators, neglecting the broader needs of those with sensory impairments.

Shrestha’s experience in New Delhi, where she watched the biopic Srikanth with the aid of the XL Cinema app, which provides audio descriptions, contrasted with her experiences in Nepal. Here, she often had to rely on those seated next to her to describe crucial scenes, a situation that left her feeling like a burden and eventually drove her away from theatres.

“For the first time, I didn’t have to depend on the person next to me to know what was happening,” Shrestha said. “I could enjoy the movie just like a sighted person. It allowed blind and visually impaired people to mix with sighted people and participate in discussions.”

The utility of these technologies extends far beyond personal enjoyment. Audio descriptions (AD) provide verbal explanations of visual elements during gaps in dialogue, making video content accessible to those who are blind or have low vision. This technology helps not only the visually impaired but also those who struggle with focusing on visuals, understanding explanations, or language barriers.

Closed captions (CC) convert the audio portion of a video into text, ensuring that individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing can access entertainment, news, and information.

Sami Lawati, a 20-year-old visually impaired woman from Kathmandu, has never been to a theatre in Nepal due to the lack of audio descriptions. “People often wonder why they’re necessary,” she said. “But with digital and social media trends being visual, and even educational content being primarily visual, it leaves us feeling excluded,” she added.

Realising the need, organisations like Blind Rocks, which have been advocating for inclusive visual content, premiered a music video with an audio description and closed caption in September 2023 at Singhadurbar, in the hall of the National Assembly’s Committee of Sustainable Development and Good Governance. The event, attended by lawmakers, aimed to sensitise them to the importance of accessible contents, said Lawati, who is a board member at Blind Rocks.

Madhusudhan Ghimire, 23, head of Blind Rocks’ Talking Video Library, explained their focus on making music videos and documentaries accessible to the blind and visually impaired through audio description and to the deaf through closed captions.

“Audio description is new in Nepal,” Ghimire said. “We started with music videos to raise awareness, especially inside the government, and aim to make movies accessible, but limited resources have restricted our efforts to smaller projects.”

Ghimire also emphasised that making videos accessible with audio descriptions and closed captions benefits everyone, not just those with disabilities.

He compared it to the vibration feature on phones, which was initially designed for people with hearing impairments but is now widely used. “What may seem like an extra function or work for some can be a basic need for others,” he said.

However, as per Ghimire, despite many advocacy efforts, including meetings of Blind Rocks with the Film Development Board, Nepal in March 2024, there has been little progress. “They showed positive interest and said they would reach out to us soon, but there has been no response. We need to follow up on the matter as well,” Ghimire said.

The struggle for accessible cinema in Nepal is not just about entertainment; it’s about rights. Article 14 of Chapter 3 in the ‘Act Relating to Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2074 (2017)’, states that people with disabilities have the right to participate in cultural programmes and services, including television programmes, films, dramas, theatres, and cinemas, in accessible formats.

Similarly, Article 17 guarantees the right to information in accessible formats, including electronic broadcasting institutions providing news and other programmes as specified by the government.

Yet, these rights remain largely limited to paper. “Despite the provisions mentioned in the Act, the rights are not being guaranteed on the ground, even from the government’s side,” said Rahul Chaudhary, a 28-year-old with a hearing disability from Madhesh Province, Dhanusha.

Chaudhary explained the importance of closed captions, often confused with subtitles, in providing a complete viewing experience for the deaf and hard of hearing.

“Closed captions include all audible information, assuming that the audience cannot hear the audio in the video,” Chaudhary said. “For example, with subtitles, I won’t know if someone is crying or sobbing, or if a dog is barking in the background. Closed captions provide all these necessary details. It may seem insignificant to those who have always been able to hear, but it’s vital for us.”

Chaudhary also pointed out that many developed countries, including neighbouring India and China, have incorporated these features into their visual content.

In China, since the establishment of the Guangming Cinema project in 2017, over 600 movies with audio descriptions have been made for theatres serving the visually impaired. In India too, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry issued a directive in 2019 requiring audio descriptions and closed captioning in cinemas.

“People often downplay the need for accessible movies or digital content, suggesting it’s less important than basic needs like food or shelter,” Chaudhary said, frustrated. “They argue that accessible roads and transport should be enough. But what about our right to equal participation in information and entertainment? Why should we settle for basic accessibility when we deserve the same access as everyone else?”

Even public service announcement (PSAs) audio/video produced by the government lack audio descriptions and closed captions. “Has the government considered how effective an earthquake rescue PSA video would be for visually impaired people without audio descriptions? Alternative solutions are needed,” Shrestha said.

Sugam Bhattarai, general secretary of the National Federation of Disabled-Nepal (NFDN) and visually impaired himself shared that in 2017, NFDN had published a Web Accessibility Guide that aimed to help web developers create accessible websites.

This guide was endorsed by the government, with a message from then-director general of the Department of Information Technology, Birendra Kumar Misra, encouraging its use across governmental agencies.

Bhattarai does acknowledge some progress in web accessibility but highlighted that many government websites remain inaccessible to the disabled. “Improvements like providing headlines and captions have helped, but issues such as the use of non-Unicode fonts and the lack of alt text [alternative text] for images persist,” he said.

“Nepal still has a long way to go in terms of web and digital accessibility. The guidelines for text, websites, and images are not fully met, and the concerns about audio descriptions and closed captions for video content and movies have been completely overlooked both by the government and the entertainment industry,” Bhattarai added.