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Play Foundation in the Apple TV app, reveal the playback controls, and open the subtitles or Audio Options menu. Choose a subtitle format such as CC or SDH, or choose an available audio-description (AD) track. On iPhone and iPad, tap the picture first. On an Apple TV device, you can also enable the system feature at Settings > General > Accessibility > Audio Descriptions before selecting AD during playback.
What the three accessibility choices mean
The Apple TV app can offer several different kinds of accessibility tracks for the same episode. They do different jobs, so selecting the wrong one can make it seem as if a feature is missing.
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| Option | What you hear or read | Who it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Subtitles | Written dialogue, usually translated into the selected language. | Viewers who want dialogue in another language or cannot use the program’s original audio. |
| CC (closed captions) | Dialogue plus relevant sound information, such as music, a door closing, or a phone ringing. | Viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing, and anyone watching with the sound low or muted. |
| SDH | “Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing”: dialogue and important non-dialogue audio cues, presented as text. | Viewers who need a fuller text representation of the soundtrack. |
| AD (audio descriptions) | A separate narration track describing important visual events, settings, actions, and expressions between dialogue. | Viewers who are blind or have low vision, or anyone who wants spoken context for visual details. |
CC and SDH put information on screen. AD changes the audio track. Turning on captions will not cause visual action to be narrated, and enabling AD will not automatically display dialogue as text.
Turn on subtitles, CC, SDH, or AD while watching on iPhone or iPad
Choose a track during playback
- Open the Apple TV app and start the Foundation episode.
- Tap the video image once. The playback controls appear over the picture.
- Tap the subtitles, captions, or audio-options control. Depending on the app version and the track supplied for that episode, it may be labelled with a speech-bubble icon, Subtitles, or Audio Options.
- Select the language and format you need. Choose a subtitle or CC/SDH entry for text, or an entry marked AD or Audio Descriptions for narrated visual information.
- Tap outside the menu or resume playback. The selection normally applies immediately to the episode.
If the menu contains subtitles but no AD entry, the app is showing the tracks exposed for that specific episode, language, storefront, and device. It is not a hidden toggle that can be forced from the playback screen.
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Make Audio Descriptions available at the iPhone or iPad system level
Apple’s accessibility instructions put the system switch here:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Accessibility.
- Tap Audio Descriptions.
- Turn on Audio Descriptions.
This setting tells compatible Apple video apps to prefer an audio-description track when one exists. You still need to select the track in the Foundation playback controls if it is not chosen automatically. The switch cannot create an AD track for a title that does not include one.
Turn on subtitles and audio descriptions on an Apple TV device
Enable the Apple TV accessibility setting
- From the Apple TV Home Screen, open Settings.
- Choose General, then Accessibility.
- Turn on Audio Descriptions.
The wording and exact placement can vary slightly between tvOS releases, but the relevant control is the Audio Descriptions switch inside Accessibility. This is separate from VoiceOver, which reads interface elements aloud.
Check what the Foundation listing provides
- Open the Apple TV app and search for Foundation.
- On the show or episode page, inspect the accessibility indicators. Look for CC, SDH, and AD, along with the listed languages.
- Start the episode and press the select button on the Siri Remote to reveal the playback controls.
- Open Audio Options (or the subtitles control) and choose the required subtitle, CC/SDH, or AD track.
Enabling the system switch does not guarantee that every episode will show AD. The title page and playback menu are the authoritative places to check the version available to your Apple account and region.
Use the Apple TV app on a Mac, Windows PC, smart TV, or other device
On other supported platforms, the control is conceptually the same even when the icon or label changes:
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- Open Foundation in the Apple TV app and begin playback.
- Move the pointer, tap the screen, or press the remote’s select button to reveal the controls.
- Open Audio Options, Subtitles, or the speech-bubble control.
- Choose an available language, CC/SDH format, or AD track.
Smart-TV and set-top-box interfaces can place the control at the bottom or side of the player. If you cannot see it, pause the episode and interact with the picture rather than the show’s detail page. The exact button appearance is platform-dependent, but the available tracks come from the same title metadata for that storefront.
Which Foundation audio-description languages are listed?
The US Apple TV listing identifies English audio with AD and lists additional AD tracks in the following languages:
| Audio-description language listed for the US catalog | What that means |
|---|---|
| English | English narration describing visual events. |
| Canadian French | French AD track identified for Canadian French. |
| French | French-language AD track. |
| German | German-language AD track. |
| Italian | Italian-language AD track. |
| Japanese | Japanese-language AD track. |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Portuguese AD track for Brazil. |
| Russian | Russian-language AD track. |
| Latin American Spanish | Spanish AD track for Latin America. |
| Spain Spanish | Spanish AD track for Spain. |
| Turkish | Turkish-language AD track. |
The same US listing shows English CC/SDH and a broad set of SDH subtitle languages. The list displayed to you can be different because Apple’s accessibility availability varies by country or region, and individual episodes can expose different metadata. Check the Foundation page in your own Apple TV storefront instead of assuming that the US language list applies elsewhere.
Why subtitles appear but audio descriptions do not
The episode has no AD track
Apple states that not every video includes an audio-description track. A title can therefore have several subtitle or SDH choices while offering no AD option at all. Check the episode’s language and accessibility indicators before troubleshooting the device.
The selected language or edition is different
AD is supplied as a particular audio language. If the player is set to a language for which the episode has subtitles but no AD, the AD entry may not appear. Open Audio Options and review the complete language list rather than looking only for an English label.
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Your storefront or region has different rights
Accessibility availability can vary by country or region. A language list copied from another country’s Apple TV page is not a reliable promise about your catalog. Use the title page signed in to your own account and note the region associated with that storefront.
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On touch devices, the controls remain hidden until you tap the video. On a computer or television, move the pointer or press the remote’s select button. Pause if necessary so the control overlay stays visible long enough to open the menu.
VoiceOver is being confused with AD
VoiceOver reads buttons, menus, and other interface elements. Audio Descriptions narrate the program itself. They are separate accessibility features. If menu items are still being announced after you turn AD off, check whether VoiceOver is enabled on the device.
A practical troubleshooting checklist
- Confirm the title: Make sure you are playing the Apple TV version of Foundation, not a trailer or a different provider’s listing.
- Reveal the player controls: Tap the picture on iPhone or iPad; move the pointer or use the remote on other devices.
- Open the right menu: Look for Subtitles, the speech-bubble icon, or Audio Options.
- Inspect the title metadata: Check for CC, SDH, and AD indicators and the languages shown on the episode page.
- Check the system switch: On iPhone or iPad use Settings > Accessibility > Audio Descriptions. On an Apple TV device use Settings > General > Accessibility > Audio Descriptions.
- Try the episode’s other language entries: AD may be listed under a specific language rather than under a generic “Audio” heading.
- Compare the storefront: If another person sees AD and you do not, compare country or region, account storefront, episode, and device.
- Separate AD from VoiceOver: Disable or review VoiceOver if the unwanted narration is reading menus instead of describing the story.
If the AD indicator is absent from the title page and no AD entry appears during playback after these checks, the most likely explanation is that Apple does not expose an AD track for that episode, language, device, or region. Subtitles can still work normally because they are a different type of track.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to choose the right track for your needs
| Your goal | Choose | Where to select it |
|---|---|---|
| Read translated dialogue | Subtitles in the desired language | Playback subtitles control |
| Read dialogue and important sounds | CC or SDH | Playback subtitles control |
| Hear narration of visual action | AD or Audio Descriptions | Playback Audio Options |
| Have menus and controls read aloud | VoiceOver, configured separately | Device Accessibility settings |
For a viewer who is both deaf or hard of hearing and blind or has low vision, captions and AD solve different parts of the problem. If the episode provides both, select the caption track in the subtitles menu and the AD track in Audio Options; the exact combination depends on what the player permits.
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What to expect when a track is selected
Subtitles, CC, and SDH appear as text over the picture. AD is mixed into the program’s audio and generally speaks during pauses in dialogue so that visual information can be conveyed without replacing the main conversation. The narration is not a subtitle style and will not appear as text unless a separate caption track includes it.
Track names and indicators are supplied with the title metadata. An episode can therefore carry CC/SDH in many languages while having AD in fewer languages, or have an AD option on one device and not another when platform or regional metadata differs. Treat the current episode’s menu as the definitive list.
Do you need an Apple TV 4K?
No. The Apple TV app and its accessibility controls are available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, compatible smart TVs, and other supported living-room devices. An Apple TV 4K is an optional dedicated playback device, not a requirement for subtitles or AD. Choose it only if you want a separate television box and prefer its remote and tvOS interface.
Quick procedure by device
| Device | Playback action | Optional system setting |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone or iPad | Play Foundation > tap the picture > subtitles or Audio Options > choose the track. | Settings > Accessibility > Audio Descriptions. |
| Apple TV device | Play the episode > press select to show controls > Audio Options > choose the track. | Settings > General > Accessibility > Audio Descriptions. |
| Mac, Windows, smart TV, or other supported device | Play the episode > reveal controls > Subtitles or Audio Options > choose the track. | Menu names and system paths vary by platform; use the title’s available tracks. |
Bottom line
Foundation has subtitle/caption and audio-description tracks in the Apple TV catalog, but the exact choices depend on the episode, language, device, and region. Reveal the playback controls, select CC or SDH for written information, and select AD for spoken descriptions of visual events. If AD is missing from both the title metadata and the playback menu, Apple has not made that track available in the version you are watching; enabling an accessibility switch cannot add it.
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