Turning closed captions on or off
Closed captions are not visible until activated. For some service providers, closed captions are activated from within the app. The closed captioning settings available on your Roku® streaming device have no effect on the content from these service providers. See a list of a few common apps at the bottom of this article.
For many apps, closed captions can be activated from the settings of your Roku device.
- Press Home
on your Roku remote - Scroll and select Settings
- To open the Captions menu, select Accessibility. If Accessibility is not listed, select Captions.
- Select Captions mode and choose when captions appear
- Off – captions never appear
- On always – captions always appear (when available from the service provider). When service providers use their own settings, closed captions are activated within their app.
-
On replay – captions appear only after pressing Replay
on your Roku remote (with content that supports instant replay) -
On mute – captions appear only when volume is muted
- Note: The "On mute" selection is not available on all Roku devices.
Customizing closed captions
For apps that use the closed captioning settings available on your Roku device, there are three style elements that can be customized – text, background and window.
- Press Home on your Roku remote
- Scroll and select Settings
- To open the Style menu, select Accessibility and then Caption style. If Accessibility is not listed, select Captions.
- Adjust each style element. A preview appears with an example of the changes.
- Text – style (font) / edge effect / size / color / opacity
- Background – color / opacity
- Window – color / opacity
Using closed captions during playback
For apps that use the closed captioning settings available on your Roku device, closed captions can often be turned on or off during playback.
- Note: Not all apps make this feature available.
- After playback begins, press Star
on your Roku remote to open the Options menu - Scroll and select Closed captioning.
- Choose when captions appear
- Off – captions never appear
- On always – captions always appear (when available from the service provider). When service providers use their settings, closed captions are activated within their app.
-
On replay – captions appear only after pressing Replay on your Roku remote (with content that supports instant replay)
-
On mute – captions appear only when volume is muted
- Note: The "On mute" selection is not available on all Roku devices.
When closed captions are turned on or off during playback, the setting is retained for future programs.
Closed captioning on specific apps
Below you can find links to instructions for activating and customizing closed captions on some common apps.
- Netflix: How to use subtitles, captions or alternate audio
- Hulu: Using closed captions and subtitles on Hulu
- Sling TV: Using closed captions
Other accessibility features
Screen reader: The screen reader is a text-to-speech feature that assists with navigation of the Roku user interface and on-screen menus.
Headphone Mode: Headphone Mode allows you to listen via headphones using the Roku mobile app for iOS® and Android™.