Most of our video-on-demand content on CBC Gem contains a described video (DV ) audio track.
Described video is not yet supported on our live streams.
To enable or disable described video on the CBC Gem app or website, please follow these instructions.
Android mobile app
iPhone or iPad
Web Browser
Apple TV
Fire TV and Android TV
Android mobile app
On the top right corner of the video player, there will be an icon that looks like a D.
Selecting this icon will enable descriptive video, and de-selecting it will disable it.
If you do not immediately see the logo, tap on your screen once to bring up the control bar.
iPhone or iPad
On the bottom right corner of the video player, you should see an icon of a circle with three horizontal dots.
Tap this icon and select English AD from the Languages section to enable described video, and English disable it.
Web browser
If you're watching our content from a web browser, the process is slightly different.
On the bottom right corner of the video player, you will see an icon that looks like a gear.
Click on this and then click on the icon that has an image of headphones.
- To turn on Described Video select English (descriptive)
- To turn off Described Video select English
Please note, if you're using the Safari web browser on a Mac, there will not be a gear icon.
You will find the described video settings by clicking on the CC (Closed Captioning ) icon instead.
You can also enable or disable described video by pressing D on your keyboard.
Apple TV
To enable described video on the CBC Gem app for Apple TV, you will need to select English AV from the Audio Options menu.
You can access this by swiping up on the Apple remote (or clicking up if you're using Apple's newer Siri remote) to display the video controls, selecting the Audio Options icon, and then English AD under the Audio Track header.
To disable described video select English.
Fire TV and Android TV
On the bottom left corner of the video player, there will be an icon that looks like a D.
Selecting this icon will enable descriptive video, and de-selecting it will disable it.
You can view the following video for instructions on how to enable or disable described video on Gem: