More Reasons to Love Wonder

“Wonder” is now one of the first major films to be translated into American Sign Language. It is especially fitting that this beautiful film about kindness and acceptance is accessible to the Deaf community in their own language.

Lionsgate announced its partnership with the mobile application Actiview and Deaf activist and actor Nyle DiMarco to create an ASL interpretation of Wonder. That family-friendly film, which debuted in November 2017 as a Lionsgate movie, tells the story of a young boy with facial differences caused by a genetic syndrome who is bullied when he begins attending mainstream school in the fifth grade. The 2012 home release of the animated film Ice Age: Continental Drift also included ASL interpretation.

“I hope that shows Deaf/ viewers that there could be more options for enjoying movies and television,” DiMarco wrote in an email. “Mostly I hope that studios and networks reflect on how accessible their content is and look at ways that they can improve. It would be amazing if in the not-too-distant future all viewable content had an ASL option.”

The ASL interpretation of Wonder is available via Actiview, an iOS app that includes accessibility features for people who are blind or have low vision as well as those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Users sync their app to the content they’re watching on a TV, laptop, or theater screen, and choose from accessibility options like audio descriptions, captions, and amplified audio. Their mobile device becomes a second screen that provides additional content to improve the movie-watching experience.