Italia · Italy

English Italiano

Ciao. Questa è la nostra storia.

Last in Europe to recognise us. We made it happen anyway.

Signed: Lingua dei segni italiana — pending How this page is tested

Italy was the last country in the European Union that had not recognised its own sign language. On 19 May 2021 — article 34-ter of the Sostegni decree, converted by Law 69 — the Republic recognised, promoted and protected LIS and tactile LIS, and recognised LIS interpreters as a profession, after decades of the Deaf association carrying the same bill to every legislature. The cinema law of 2016 had already tied public funding to subtitles and audio description. And still, in 2024, 77.5% of Italian films could not be watched by a person with a sensory disability. The law is ours. The delivery is one film in five.

LIS video — this story, in our language

A named Italian Deaf creator tells this page's story in LIS. The video is the page, and the text is its transcript's cousin. This video existing is the reason this page is allowed to exist.

Lingua dei segni italiana Captions + transcript ship with the video. Read this instead I sign LIS

We were the last to be recognised.
We will not be the last to be delivered — we are building it.

What do you want to do?

  • I want access

    Watch.Understand.Belong.

    Films, news, and services — in LIS, captions, or audio description.

    Go

  • I create access

    Create.Get paid.Be seen.

    Deaf signers, interpreters, captioners, audio describers — your work, your name, your income.

    Go

  • I provide access

    One API.Every screen.

    Platforms, governments, cinemas, companies — deliver real access with one integration.

    Go

  • I back access

    Host.Sponsor.Invest.

    The builders who will turn one accessible film in five into five in five — be part of the firsts.

    Go

More than one of these can be yours. The access is for you, and you can be paid to help make it.

Access in Italy today

The law now says:

The Republic recognises, promotes and protects LIS and LIST — Law 69 of 2021, article 34-ter, since 19 May 2021 — and LIS interpreters are a recognised profession. Law 220 of 2016 conditions cinema incentives on subtitles and audio description, and the tax credit requires both to be deposited with the Cineteca Nazionale.

And we know the exhausting part: a funding condition is not a screening. An observatory of accessible cinema found 77.5% of Italian films released in 2024 unwatchable for people with sensory disabilities. Only the public broadcaster carries an obligation on television.

Recognition took until 2021. The delivery comes next — made by us. That is what is: Deaf and blind creators, paid to make the access — LIS, captions, audio description — delivered to any screen.

In plain words

The law is on your side. What is missing is the service — and that is what gets built here, with the community.

Why captions alone are not enough → Why sign language

Talk to us

Tell us who you are

Write in your own language. We reply in it.

Contact us by form, email, or a signed video message — never voice-only.

I am…