On May 23, HBO Max became Max and launched with over 6,500 hours of audio described content thanks to the 2020 agreement that was negotiated by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) on behalf of the American Council of the Blind (ACB) and Bay State Council of the Blind.
What is Max?
Max is a streaming platform from Warner Bros. Discovery that will replace HBO Max. It is the destination for HBO Originals, Warner Bros. films, Max Originals, the DC universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, an expansive offering of kids content, and best-in-class programming across food, home, reality, lifestyle and documentaries from leading brands like HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, Investigation Discovery and more.
When Will Max Launch?
Max will launch on May 23.
Will I have access to Max?
Current HBO Max subscribers will have access to Max at the same price as their HBO Max subscription and will have access to their current plan features for at least 6 months depending on their current subscription length.
Others can sign up as a new Max subscriber. Max will offer three pricing options, giving subscribers the choice to select which plan best fits the needs of their household.
Max with Ads: 2 concurrent streams, 1080p resolution, no offline downloads, 5.1 surround sound quality
- $9.99/month o $99.99/year
Max Ad-Free: 2 concurrent streams, 1080 resolution, 30 offline downloads, 5.1 surround sound quality
- $15.99/month o $149.99/year
Max Ultimate Ad-Free: 4 concurrent streams, up to 4K UHD resolution, 100 offline downloads (may include restrictions in certain content categories), Dolby Atmos sound quality.
- $19.99/month o $199.99/year
Note: Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon provide Audio Description tracks in Dolby 5.1. Audio Description tracks are not provided in Dolby Atmos.
discovery+ subscribers (who are not also already HBO Max subscribers) will not have access to Max but can sign-up as new Max customers for an expanded catalog. We’ll offer ample opportunities for them to check out Max.
Customers can visit the help page to find out more.
What To Expect on Launch Day
If you are a current HBO Max subscriber, depending on what device you are using, on May 23 your HBO Max app will either automatically update to the Max app or will prompt you to download a new Max app. Devices that will automatically update are: Roku, FireTV, Fire Tablet, Vizio, Web, Comcast and Cox. The devices that will prompt you to download a new app are: iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, LG, Google TV, Android TV, Android Mobile, Samsung, PlayStation, XBOX. HBO Max subscribers will have their previous profiles, settings, watch history, “Continue Watching” and “My List” items waiting for them to stream on Max. All HBO Max customers will receive an email with instructions on how to migrate from HBO Max to Max. All the information on migrating to Max can also be found beginning on May 23 at the following link: help.max.com/hbo-is-max.
How Will Max Be Different from HBO Max -Audio Descriptive Content and Navigation
More Audio Descriptive Content Than Ever Before
We are pleased to announce that there will be more than 6,500 hours of Audio Descriptive Content available on Max as of launch. This library now includes favorites from lifestyle brands like Magnolia, TLC, and HGTV as well as the HBO Originals and Max Originals we know and love. The Audio Description library is always growing.
Audio Description indicators on Content Details Pages
Every Series or Movie has a “Content Details Page” that contains extra information to help you determine what to watch. That information can range from plot descriptions to ratings to cast and crew details. New for Max, Content Details Pages will also include an icon to indicate if Audio Description is available. Screen readers will read the icon as “Audio Description Available”. AppleTV, iPhones and Android Mobile will temporarily read as “A D”.
Audio Description Library Page
Just like with HBO Max, Max will maintain an “Audio Description Library Page.” It will include all the functionality you’ve come to expect from HBO Max plus even more. Like in HBO Max, you can filter by genre or see all titles alphabetically. As an enhancement in Max, you will also be presented with a personalized “For You” rail immediately following the title of the page and within each genre filter. This will help surface the most relevant and popular content for you, enhancing your content discovery experience.
With additional content coming onto Max, more genre filters have been added to find content faster, including new filters for Food and Home, Sports, and Science and Nature.
With the launch of Max, only Series that have more than 90% of episodes described will appear on the Audio Description Library Page. This will help to prevent you from starting a series, only to encounter significant gaps in description. Regardless of the 90% threshold, all episodes with Audio Description will be indicated on the program’s Content Details Page and available within the Video Player.
Find Audio Description in More Places
On HBO Max, the Audio Description Library Page was found in the main menu. In Max, you will find the Audio Description Library Page in the “Browse by Genre” row within each of the Home, Series, Movies and Search pages. The “Browse by Genre” row will always appear as the last row. Within the Series and Movies pages, you can also utilize the Audio Description Tab to quickly filter for Audio Descriptive Content. That’s five more ways we are integrating Audio Description into the experience for all users.
On web, you will still find a link in the footer to take you to the Audio Description Library Page.
Like HBO Max, you can still use the search terms ‘Audio Description’ or ‘DVS’ to search for Audio Descriptive Content.
All content with Audio Description will also be listed on the ACB Audio Description Project website.
Screen Reader Support
At launch, Max will support screen reader technology on Web, Roku, Vizio, LG, Samsung, XBOX, PlayStation 5, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android Mobile, Android TV, Google TV, FireTV, DirecTV, Comcast, and Cox. While we aim to provide an equivalent experience to HBO Max, as with any new technology platform, the experience might not be perfect on day one, particularly with respect to mobile and tablet devices. We will continue to work hard to improve the experience with every release.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to support PlayStation 4 Text To Speech or Samsung Voice Assistant at launch. Samsung Voice Assistant may be the default screen reader technology on Samsung phones sold on or before November 2020. Efforts are ongoing to support these technologies and we apologize for any inconvenience. In the interim, some Samsung devices may download TalkBack for screen reader support. Help with screen reader can also be found in our Help Center beginning May 23.
Color Contrast and Magnification Support
Like HBO Max, Max will support magnification up to 200%. Each page and component within Max has been designed with appropriate color contrast ratios.
We Want to Hear From You
This community is important to us. Please feel free to reach out to us with comments, suggestions or requests at any time. Beginning May 23, You can visit our Help Center. You can call us at 1-855-442-6629 or you can email us at [email protected]. Our team is also available on Facebook and Twitter as @maxhelp.