NBCUniversal Enhances Accessibility For Its Coverage Of The Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics to Feature More Audio Description than Ever Before, Including All Coverage on NBC and the Gold Zone Whip-Around Show on Peacock

January 12, 2026

NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will be accessible to more viewers of all abilities than ever before, providing the excitement of the Olympic Games with enhanced closed captioning, audio description, and improved digital content accessibility.

Closed captioning, which provides on screen text of the program dialogue for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, will be available for all Olympic events airing across NBCU’s properties, as well as the Gold Zone whip-around show on Peacock. NBCUniversal will also provide closed captioning for digital livestreams with commentary across Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app for all live events and full event replays from linear coverage.

Audio description (AD), the interspersing of broadcast audio with skilled voices describing Olympic and Paralympic scenes and context, will be available on the second audio program (SAP) for viewers who are blind or have low vision. The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will provide more AD than any previous Winter Games. All coverage on the NBC network (including full event replays) and the Gold Zone whip-around show on Peacock will feature Audio Description.

In a first for a U.S. broadcaster for a Winter Olympics, audio description services for coverage on NBC will be provided in stereo, enhancing the quality of sound for viewers. NBC Sports’ Paralympic broadcast team of Tony Ambrogio, Adam Giardino, Pat McCarthy, Tony Simeone, and Norma Jean Wick will be providing audio description.

Additionally, improved web content accessibility, including keyboard navigation, color contrast and support for screen readers, will be available on NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, and the NBC Sports app. Livestreams and replays which offer audio description will have English audio description as a language choice within the players on these digital platforms. To easily find all events with audio description, click here.

"We’re thrilled to continue our commitment to providing all viewers with more accessibility to our Winter Olympics coverage than ever before. It’s only fitting that an event of such magnitude deserves top-tier audio description and closed captioning services, and we can’t wait to build off the momentum of Paris into the excitement of Milan Cortina."

— Amy Rosenfeld, SVP, NBC Olympic Production

"Comcast NBCUniversal has been dedicated to bringing viewers to the biggest moments in sports for over a decade now. NBCUniversal’s accessible Winter Olympics coverage, featuring audio description and closed captioning, is designed to continue that mission. The world will be watching all the action in Milan and Cortina come February, and these services will allow our blind, low vision, Deaf and hard of hearing viewers to fully engage in the experience."

— Tom Wlodkowski, Vice President of Accessibility at Comcast

To contact NBCUniversal about issues related to closed captions, please send an email to [email protected] audio description issues, email [email protected]

With unique and unforgettable backdrops throughout northern Italy, the 2026 Winter Olympics will span from Milan to Cortina with events taking place across multiple venues and regions. This will be the second time the Olympics are held in Cortina (1956 Winter Olympics) and the fourth time overall that Italy has hosted an Olympic Games (1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, the last time Winter Games in the Central European Time Zone).

The NBC broadcast network and streaming service Peacock will be the company’s primary platforms for its coverage of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, scheduled for Feb. 6-22, 2026.

Click here for more programming information and here for information about the Paralympics, which will take place March 6-15, 2026.

NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2036, which are scheduled for Milan Cortina (2026), Los Angeles (2028), French Alps (2030), Brisbane (2032), Utah (2034), and the 2036 Summer Games.