Start with the stream rather than the sport
Write down the event, channel or stream label and intended device. A rights announcement saying an event is available does not also confirm every accessibility feature. NOW’s checked UK subtitle help says some sports events only appear on streams that do not support subtitles, so different sports memberships can expose different amounts of captioned content.
That distinction is useful when planning a shared viewing. A household might find the same competition discussed on several pages, while the particular match is delivered through a different route. Use the event’s actual player destination as the next check rather than treating the competition logo as an accessibility promise.
Check availability before adjusting appearance
The official table excludes Sky Sports Racing from the live sports channels with subtitles. It also explains that captions depend on the responsible broadcaster and are absent from advertisements and trailers. If a caption control is missing only during promotional material, record that boundary rather than assuming the whole programme lacks captions.
Use the player’s speech-bubble control or the documented device-specific route when a track exists. Appearance is a later question: increasing text size cannot create a missing caption feed. Similarly, a household-wide default requests available captions but cannot expand the range of event streams that carry them.
Plan a useful accessibility report
If captions are essential, check the intended live channel in advance where possible and keep an alternative viewing plan. Record the precise channel or extra-stream name, device, app version and whether the speech bubble appeared. Those details distinguish an absent source track from an interface or rendering problem.
When contacting NOW, state whether the issue affected the event itself, a studio segment or advertising. A report that simply says sports captions failed removes the information needed to identify the route. This guide follows the UK help page updated in October 2026; it does not establish Australian service availability or report an accessibility playback test.
Questions about this guide
Does every extra sports stream have subtitles?
No. NOW says some event streams do not support them.
Will changing text size add a missing caption feed?
No. Availability and appearance are different checks.