A world of change in a changing world

The introduction of digital technology is making many of the dreams of the past become realities of the present. This is certainly a fact when the issue under consideration is subtitling for the deaf and hard-of-hearing (SDH). At the beginning of the twenty-first century, SDH finds itself in a crucial stage of its development. The foundations have been solidly planted by strengthened television transmission services such as those provided by closed subtitling and teletext systems. Developments are equally visible in the growing offer of SDH at cinemas and on DVDs. Convergent technology is rapidly blurring frontiers, making it quite difficult to delimit the media where SDH may now be found. In response to such changes, subtitling methods have gradually adapted themselves to the special needs of an ever-growing number of specific contexts. The existence of different norms accounts for the wealth of experiences that have been taking place in many corners of the globe. In addition to providing an overview of the makings of SDH, this article hopes to set forth the discussion of how, in the present scenario, much may be done to make the most of the technical conditions currently available, and of the expertise that has been gained in the last decades, in the hope of coming closer to catering for the needs of all those who may use SDH as a tool to access audiovisual texts.