Closed captions are displayed on personal devices like the smart glasses that WatchWord and WatchWord Live uses. Many of the films that cinemas screen can include closed captions. WatchWord extracts and broadcasts the captions to audiences wearing the glasses.

In theatre, WatchWord Live listens to the performer’s dialogue, converting it into captions broadcast to the glasses.

WatchWord and WatchWord Live accessibility solutions have been developed so that D/deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing people, and non-native speakers, can attend any cinema screening and an increased proportion of theatre performances, providing a greater choice of what to see and when to attend.

When you go to the cinema or the theatre, you collect a pair of smart glasses, and a handheld controller which works like a smartphone. When you put the glasses on, you will see the dialogue appear through the glasses as captions. You can look at the screen or the stage whilst reading the captions.

The handheld controller allows you to change the size, position, colour, focal-length and brightness of the text.

There is a lanyard on the controller to make it easier for you to move around the venue.

Yes, the glasses can be worn over your own glasses and with hearing aids or a cochlear implant processor. You can also adjust the nosepiece so that the glasses feel comfortable on your nose.

The glasses are usually free for you to use. If your cinema has WatchWord or your theatre has WatchWord Live, you simply add them to your booking, either online or with a customer service representative at the venue.

The cost of providing WatchWord and WatchWord Live system varies depending on the number of glasses required for your venue.

WatchWord can be bought or hired for short, medium or long term and we offer subscriptions to the services over 12, 24 or 36 month durations.

WatchWord Live can be bought with an annual renewable subscription.

More information is available on our WatchWord and WatchWord Live prices pages

Contact us for further information and to discuss your venue’s specific requirements.

You can rent WatchWord on a short term basis, for example for a film festival or single production, or on a longer term basis. Contact us to discuss your specific requirements.

Click here to find out which cinemas have WatchWord. As cinemas join us, they will be added to our website.

WatchWord Live is currently available at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia, USA

WatchWord can display captions in whatever language is included with the movie.

We are currently developing a multi-lingual version for cinemas which will be launched in 2026.

At present, WatchWord Live works with English spoken performances.

If you have a question we have not included in this FAQ, please contact us here