Promotional image for the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show. On the right, artist Bad Bunny looks directly at the camera wearing a frayed straw hat, a white button-down shirt, and a gold chain necklace. To the left, the Apple Music logo is rendered in 3D gold and red lettering against a vibrant light blue background, positioned above the words HALFTIME SHOW.

It took an Apple Music trial for me to witness some of the digital barriers that the Disabled community has been reporting for years. While wanting to watch this Super Bowl performance, I’ll just switch on the translated English captions , I thought to myself, but nothing - no options, no audio descriptions, no subtitles, no translated subtitles, no sign language, nothing. No options at all.

This is strange, surely after sponsoring this huge event, Apple Music would do the bare minimum in terms of accessibility. They’re also publishing the content via a paid service, in Europe - this is a legal requirement under the European Accessibility Act (EAA).

Sure, they might not have all languages, but they should at least have Spanish on screen?

Surely internally, people would be flagging this: “Errr, peeps, this video needs to be accessible”. Also, this isn’t their first rodeo, accessible Super Bowl video surely is a checklist for someone?

A close-up shot of a digital screen displaying an Apple video interface menu titled Audio Adjustments. The specific setting Enhance Dialogue is visible and currently toggled to Off. A playback progress bar at the bottom shows 13 minutes and 31 seconds remaining in the video

“But not speaking Spanish is not a disability” - yes, yes of course, but Spanish captions are not there either. Deaf viewers require verbatim lyrical captions and non-speech information to experience the performance’s intentionality.

While the curb cut effect highlights how access helps everyone, these features are fundamental human rights under the social model of disability, not just a convenience. My own struggle to access the Spanish lyrics was a minor inconvenience, but it served as a window into a much larger systemic exclusion.

They even mention lyric translation features in their press release, on saying people can sing along with translations. However, that means you have to watch the stream but follow along on different device with the Apple Music? You would have to know the set list or know the song title, then switch to this and then follow the translations. Make that make sense in terms of user experience. This is a textbook example of shifting the burden of inclusion, creating more cognitive overload and uncompensated accessibility labour.

But hold on, does anyone else remember the Rihanna Super Bowl performance where ASL interpreter Justina Miles’ performance went viral?

A screenshot of an ABC News article titled ASL performer goes viral during Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime show. The article, written by Katie Kindelan and published on February 13, 2023, features a video still of Justina Miles performing in American Sign Language alongside footage of Rihanna's performance.

I took a look at the Rihanna performance and it turns out this isn’t an option on Apple Music, it must have been the TV network that provided it. There seem to be other TV networks that provided this for 2026. Also, it seems like YouTube and the official NFL channel are doing some of the heavy lifting here providing subtitles.

I decided to dive a bit deeper and look at other Apple Music Super Bowl performances from an Accessibility point of view. Turns out accessible video for the Super Bowl is not good…

2025 - Kendrick Lamar

Nothing at all here. Disappointing

2024 - Usher

This looked really hopeful, they provided lots of options and languages but actually, once you switch them on, the audio or lyrics don’t translate, only the spoken word. So the odd phrase he screams to the crowd appears on screen.

A close-up, angled photo of a tablet screen showing a video player's subtitle settings menu. A semi-transparent overlay lists various language options, with English CC currently selected with a checkmark. Other visible options include Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. In the background, a blurred video of a person playing a guitar is visible behind the menu.

2023 - Rihanna

A close-up shot of a video player interface showing Rihanna in a bright red puffy Loewe jacket. On the right side of the screen, a Subtitles menu is visible, with English CC selected, indicated by a white checkmark. Other visible options in the menu include Auto (Recommended) and Off. A progress bar at the bottom indicates the video is currently playing.

This has English as an option but like the Usher performance, only the spoken word appears not the lyrics. However, this actually announces the song title which helps I guess.

All the lyrics are just music emojis though, not helpful.

A wide shot of Rihanna performing at a past Super Bowl Halftime Show on a glowing red elevated platform. She is dressed in an all-red Loewe jumpsuit and puffer coat, surrounded by dancers in white hooded tracksuits. At the bottom center of the screen, a small black caption box is visible containing only two white musical note emojis (♪♪), illustrating the lack of descriptive or lyrical captions.

Going back even further the Super Bowl performance with Jennifer Lopez, also nothing (granted this was Pepsi sponsored but also appears on Apple Music).

What are the laws about this by region?

Region Regulator Key Law The “Gap”
USA FCC Third Report & Order (2024) Companies have until August 17, 2026 to make caption settings “readily accessible” (one-click discovery).
UK Ofcom Media Act 2024 While the law passed, Ofcom is currently consulting on the “code of practice.” Enforcement for streamers won’t “bite” until late 2026.
EU EU Commission European Accessibility Act (EAA) The law began applying on June 28, 2025

So it seems like my understanding on this from the EU standpoint is correct, this is a breach, but the UK and US seeming have more time before legal consequence is more likely.

There was an interesting case where three Deaf mothers won a court battle after gig promoters working for the band Little Mix refused to provide BSL interpreters. However this still shifted the burden onto disabled people to fight legal battles.

Content inclusion

By offloading accessibility to “the network” or users relying on auto-generated captions or translations from YouTube, Apple Music are sort of saying that the 1.5 billion people globally with hearing loss aren’t the primary audience for their “universal” event. Users can get the content from other providers at least.

Without verbatim captions and non-speech descriptors, the rhythmic storytelling and emotional cues of the production are severed.

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