Add Closed Captions to Purchased iTunes Movies.

In Canada, we have poor disability laws –  nothing like the ‘Americans with Disabilities Act’ where all online movies are tv shows are required to be closed captioned by law. In Canada, all we have is the CRTC’s ‘working document proposal‘, sections 51-52. (Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2015-104). No laws. No acts. Nothing for Canadian broadcasters to comply with.

So deaf people get screwed over in Canada by Telus, Bell Media, CTV television, Space.ca, and a whole host of other Canadian broadcasters that can’t be bothered to close caption online content.

Apple’s iTunes Canada is somewhat better. Almost all new movies are closed captioned. However, once in a while, you’ll find a movie on iTunes Canada that isn’t closed captioned. Tonight, it was Cairo Time, a 2009 movie. To add insult to injury, it’s closed captioned in the US store.

However, if you can find English Subrip subtitles online (.srt file), and you have a Mac, you can add closed captions yourself.

You’ll need to download a program called Subler. The movie below shows the steps involved.

Note – this does not remove or modify the FairPlay DRM. You’ll still need iTunes or an Apple device to play the movie.