CANAL+ made one subtitle font readable for dyslexic and non-dyslexic viewers

Foreign-language streaming creates a subtle exclusion: subtitles move quickly, and dyslexic viewers may spend so much effort deciphering text that they lose the scene. A separate dyslexia mode could help one viewer while making co-viewing awkward.

CANAL+, Puissance Dys and BETC created Dystitles, subtitles adapted for both dyslexic and non-dyslexic readers. The design played with the depth and counterforms of letters so dyslexic viewers did not have to decode each word from scratch.

The One Show awarded Dystitles a 2024 Merit in Interactive & Mobile for Good. France Culture reported that the design was refined through workshops with speech therapists, neurologists, dyslexic and non-dyslexic people, and was first available on canalplus.com and connected TVs.

Design for shared viewing, not a separate mode

It fixed the reading layer rather than asking viewers to change content or language.

The team treated non-dyslexic acceptance as part of the design problem.

Deployment through the platform made the solution repeatable across shows.

The typography carried the invention; no new hardware or complex workflow was required.

Accessibility works best when it avoids exile. A shared interface can be stronger than a special mode if it is tested with both the excluded users and everyone else.

Dystitles became part of CANAL+'s accessibility push and appeared in award archives and accessibility case libraries. The durable idea is that inclusive design can preserve a shared living-room experience instead of splitting audiences into separate versions.