Subtitles are an essential tool for people with hearing disabilities to access audiovisual content. Despite their importance, however, they have never received the proper attention in terms of design. The aim of this thesis project is to explore the expressive power of subtitles as a means to communicate all the auditory elements of films. The goal is to develop a subtitling system that enhances the viewing experience for deaf people while remaining invisible to hearing individuals.

Through testing phases, people with hearing disabilities were involved to identify the most effective methodologies for visually representing characters’ speech manners, their tone of voice, noises, and music. The project ended with the organization of a film screening and the creation of an editorial project.