Global Ad Accessibility
Report 2026
A look at how broadcasters and advertisers are embracing captions, subtitles, and other accessibility features in advertising, and how audiences are engaging with them across devices. The report combines proprietary XR Ad Delivery data with new consumer research across the U.S. and Europe.
Accessibility Has Become Mainstream Viewing Behavior
For years, accessibility in advertising was treated as a niche consideration for the hearing impaired. Increasingly, the behaviors associated with it are becoming mainstream.
Across the US, UK, France, Germany, and Spain, 80% of viewers now use captions at least sometimes. For many audiences, captions are no longer an accessibility feature. They are simply part of how modern video is watched.
This shift is being driven less by hearing impairment and more by behavior: multitasking, mobile viewing, noisy environments, non-native language content, and changing viewing habits across streaming and social platforms.
At the same time, audience behavior has evolved faster than the industry’s adoption of accessible advertising.
80%
use captions at least sometimes

Accessible Advertising Maturity Index (AAMI)
Global Progress Continues, But Markets Are Moving at Different Speeds
Now in its third year, XR’s Accessible Advertising Maturity Index (AAMI) tracks advertiser adoption, broadcaster enablement, regulatory momentum, and overall accessibility readiness across global markets.
Today, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and the US remain the most mature environments, supported by strong infrastructure and established accessibility expectations. France, Spain, Australia, and Japan continue to advance steadily as accessibility expands across both broadcast and streaming ecosystems.
XR AAMI 2026
1- Nascent
PORTUGAL
2 - Emerging
BRAZIL
GREECE
ITALY
GERMANY
3 - Developing
SPAIN
FRANCE
AUSTRALIA
JAPAN
NEW ZEALAND
4 - Advanced
UK
USA
CANADA
IRELAND
5 - Fully Realised
N/A
Advertiser Adoption
Adoption Is Growing, But Progress Remains Inconsistent
Advertiser adoption still varies by market, but in some regions accessibility is becoming a standard part of campaign delivery, driven by broadcaster expectations, stronger infrastructure, and audience demand.
Canada remains the most mature market in the study, where longstanding accessibility requirements have helped make captioned advertising standard practice.
The UK and Ireland saw some of the biggest gains. In the UK, Channel 4’s new 2026 subtitling requirements are helping accelerate that change.
Biggest Movers
Year-over-year growth in captioned advertising adoption
🇬🇧 UK +23 pts
🇮🇪 Ireland +20 pts
🇧🇷 Brazil +10 pts
Most Mature Markets
Highest percentage of captioned ads in market
🇨🇦 Canada 100%
🇬🇧 UK 56%
🇺🇸 US 27%
Slowest Adoption
Lowest advertiser adoption of captioned advertising
🇩🇪 Germany
🇮🇹 Italy
🇵🇹 Portugal

Broadcaster Enablement
Infrastructure Is Advancing Faster Than Advertisers
Broadcaster readiness for accessible advertising continues to improve across major markets, particularly for captions versus audio descriptions. Established broadcast markets including Canada, the UK, Ireland, and the US continue to lead in operational maturity and accessibility support.
At the same time, accessibility expectations are expanding across streaming and multiscreen environments, accelerating infrastructure readiness beyond traditional broadcast alone.
In many markets, the ability to support accessible advertising now exists at scale. The larger challenge is consistent implementation across advertisers, campaigns, and platforms.
% of Broadcasters Able to Support Captioned Advertising by Market, '25 vs.' 26
Caption Usage Has Become Mainstream Behavior

Audiences Are Watching Differently
XR examined caption usage and viewing behavior across consumers in the US, UK, France, Germany, and Spain.
Across all five markets studied, caption usage is now mainstream audience behavior.
80% of viewers use captions at least sometimes, while 42% use them always or often as part of their regular viewing experience.
What makes the findings more significant is who is driving the behavior. Eighty-one percent of respondents reported no hearing difficulty, yet caption usage remained consistently high across every market.
Younger Audiences Are Driving Caption-Native Viewing
Caption use is being normalized by audiences who grew up on TikTok, Reels, and Instagram
Across every market in the study, younger audiences are significantly more likely to use captions always or often.
The findings suggest captions are becoming embedded within viewing habits shaped by streaming, social video, and multiscreen consumption, particularly among younger generations.

68%
of 18–24-year-olds in France use captions always or often
65%
of 25–34-year-olds in Spain use captions always or often
58%
of 18–24-year-olds in the US and UK use captions always or often
Why Audiences Use Captions
Caption Use Is Driven More by Media Consumption Behavior Than Accessibility
Across all five markets, viewers are using captions because they make their media and entertainment content easier to follow in everyday viewing environments. While the reasons vary by market, the broader shift toward habitual use is happening consistently around the globe.


🇺🇸 US
87% watch video with captions on while at home alone, with family, in noisy environments, or while multitasking
🇬🇧 UK
40% say captions help them catch details they would otherwise miss
🇫🇷 France
60% cite multitasking as their top reason for using captions
🇪🇸 Spain
79% use captions when watching non-native speaking content
🇩🇪 Germany
75% watch with captions to better understand English-language content on streaming platforms
Every Screen is a Captioned Screen
Caption Usage Now Follows Audiences Across Every Device
Smart TVs remain the most widely used device for caption usage across all markets and demographics (86%) with smart phones second (46%), laptops (36%), and tablets (24%). Across every device in the XR study, the majority of viewers watch with captions on.

US
American audiences show the highest multi-screen caption behavior, driven by younger audiences
UK
Balanced viewing across TV and digital screens reinforces the need for consistent cross-platform captioning
France
37% use smartphones as a primary viewing screen, the highest mobile usage in the study
Spain
89% watch video with captions on a Smart TV, the highest TV usage in the study
Germany
40% watch on laptops/desktops, among the highest across markets
No Media Content Type Is Caption-Free
Caption Usage Extends Across Every Major Content Category
Across movies, scripted TV, reality programming, and short-form video, audiences increasingly expect captions as part of the viewing experience.
Usage remains strongest around internationally distributed and multilingual content, but platforms including TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram Reels also show consistently high caption engagement.
The findings challenge the assumption that social video is a sound-on environment.
82%
use captions always or often on foreign-language content
46%
use captions always or often while watching movies
39%
use captions always or often on short-form video
44%
use captions always or often on kids’ and family programming
Captions Change How Audiences Engage with Advertising
Captions Improve Advertising Attention and Comprehension
Captions influence how audiences process and engage with advertising creative itself. Across all five markets, viewers report stronger comprehension, higher attention, and improved detail retention when captions are active.
36%
say they pay more
attention to advertising
when captions are on
Across all five markets:
37%
say captions improve dialogue understanding
32%
say they catch more detail
31%
pay more attention when captions are active
Audience Expectations are Growing for Brands
What This Means for Advertisers
Captions are no longer only supporting accessibility. Increasingly, audiences use them as standard viewing tools that help them follow, understand, and engage with media and advertising.
For brands, this changes the role captions play within campaign delivery. Captioned creative increasingly influences media effectiveness across streaming, social, mobile, and multiscreen environments where viewers already expect captions as part of the experience.
In many markets, the infrastructure already exists. The opportunity now is embedding accessibility into campaign planning, creative workflows, and advertising operations from the outset rather than treating it as a late-stage adaptation.
Methodology
This report combines XR’s Global Advertising Delivery data with proprietary consumer research conducted in partnership with MX8 Labs across the US, UK, France, Germany, and Spain.
XR analyzed advertiser adoption, broadcaster accessibility enablement, and overall market maturity across major global markets, including caption usage, broadcaster readiness, and accessibility infrastructure trends.
Consumer research was conducted among 3,000 general population respondents. The study explored:
  • caption usage behavior
  • device and content consumption
  • motivations for caption use
  • and the impact of captions on attention, comprehension, and advertising engagement
Broadcaster analysis also considered regulatory developments, infrastructure maturity, and evolving accessibility standards across global markets.
XR Accessible Advertising Maturity Index (AAMI)
The XR AAMI measures advertiser adoption, broadcaster enablement, regulatory maturity, operational infrastructure, and accessibility implementation trends.
About XR Extreme Reach
XR helps brands manage every aspect of their advertising creative, from talent payments and rights to ad delivery, so every ad lands exactly how and where it should. The XR platform powers millions of ad creative assets for the world’s top brands, simplifying how marketers version ads, archive content, deliver campaigns, pay talent, and track usage rights, all while saving time and money.
Headquartered in Hudson Yards, NYC, XR also has offices in Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
For more info, contact [email protected]