September 15–October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States—a time to celebrate the histories, cultures, languages, and contributions of Americans whose roots extend across Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
For organizations creating video and other audiovisual content, it is also an opportunity to think about language access.
One language, in particular, deserves attention: Spanish.
Spanish is a major language of American life
Spanish is not simply a language spoken by visitors or recent immigrants to the United States. It is deeply woven into the country’s history, communities, media, education, business, arts, and everyday life.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Hispanic population of the United States reached 70.1 million in 2025, representing approximately 21% of the nation’s population. Hispanic communities are now present across the country, with at least 16 states having one million or more Hispanic residents in 2025.
Language statistics tell a similar story.
The Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey estimates that about 44.9 million people age 5 and older speak Spanish at home in the United States—about 13.9% of the population in that age group. Spanish is by far the most widely spoken non-English language in American homes.
Spanish’s reach extends well beyond those numbers. Spanish-speaking communities include people born in the United States as well as people who have immigrated from many countries and regions. The result is a rich diversity of Spanish varieties, accents, expressions, cultural references, and linguistic traditions.
For content creators and organizations, this diversity presents both an opportunity and a responsibility: How can we make audiovisual content accessible to Spanish-speaking audiences while respecting the richness of the language and the cultures behind it?
Subtitling can help bring content across language boundaries
Video has become one of the primary ways people learn, communicate, entertain themselves, and access information.
But language can still create a barrier.
An English-spoken video may contain valuable information about education, health, science, culture, public services, entertainment, or business. Without captions or translated subtitles, much of that information may remain inaccessible to audiences who prefer or need to consume content in Spanish.
Spanish subtitles can help bridge that gap.
Subtitling allows organizations to take existing audiovisual content and extend its reach to new audiences without having to recreate the entire production.
A university can subtitle an online lecture series in Spanish.
A nonprofit can make educational resources available to Spanish-speaking communities.
A museum can provide Spanish subtitles for videos about exhibitions and cultural heritage.
A company can localize training and communications for employees across different language backgrounds.
A filmmaker can make a documentary accessible to audiences beyond the original language of production.
And a media organization can expand the potential audience for its programming.
Spanish subtitling is about more than translating words
Effective subtitling requires more than replacing English words with their Spanish equivalents.
Language carries culture.
Humor, idioms, references, wordplay, tone, regional expressions, and cultural context can all affect how a message is understood.
Consider a phrase that is perfectly natural in English but has no direct equivalent in Spanish. A literal translation may technically communicate the words while losing the meaning, humor, or emotional effect of the original.
Professional subtitling and localization consider these nuances.
The goal is not simply to produce Spanish text. It is to create subtitles that feel natural to the intended audience while preserving the meaning and intent of the original content.
This becomes particularly important when content is intended for broad Spanish-speaking audiences.
Spanish is spoken across many countries, and vocabulary and expressions can vary significantly from one region to another. A localization approach considers the intended audience, context, tone, and cultural references rather than treating Spanish as a single uniform variety.
Subtitles can also make Spanish-language content more accessible
The relationship works in both directions.
Subtitling is not only about translating English-language content into Spanish.
Spanish-language films, documentaries, interviews, educational videos, podcasts, social media videos, and other audiovisual content can also benefit from captions and subtitles.
Captions help Deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers to engage with Spanish-language content. Subtitles can also help viewers follow dialogue in noisy environments, when audio cannot be used, or when they are learning or maintaining a language.
Spanish-language content can also be subtitled into English and other languages, allowing stories and perspectives from Spanish-speaking communities to reach audiences around the world.
Accessibility and language access can therefore work together.
A multilingual America deserves multilingual content
The United States is linguistically diverse.
The Census Bureau reports that more than 74 million people age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and Spanish represents the largest share of those languages.
That reality has important implications for organizations producing audiovisual content.
Given that video is one of the primary ways we share knowledge, tell stories, teach, market products, communicate with communities, and preserve culture, language accessibility needs to be part of the conversation.
Providing Spanish subtitles does not diminish the importance of English.
Instead, it recognizes that audiences can engage with the same content through more than one language.
It can also help organizations communicate more effectively with the communities they serve.
Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to think beyond the celebration
National Hispanic Heritage Month began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week and was expanded to a month-long observance in 1988. The period runs from September 15 through October 15, with September 15 marking the independence anniversary of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18, respectively.
The month offers an opportunity to celebrate Hispanic cultures and contributions—but meaningful inclusion can extend beyond a calendar observance.
For organizations, that might mean asking:
- Are our videos accessible to Spanish-speaking audiences?
- Are we providing Spanish subtitles for important educational and informational content?
- Are our Spanish translations culturally appropriate for the audiences we want to reach?
- Are our Spanish-language videos also accessible through captions?
- Are we considering language access when developing new audiovisual content rather than treating it as an afterthought?
These questions can help turn a celebration of linguistic and cultural diversity into more consistent inclusion practices.
Making audiovisual content available across languages
At Amara.org, we believe that audiovisual content can connect people across languages and cultures.
Subtitles and captions can help make knowledge, stories, education, entertainment, and ideas more accessible—both within the United States and around the world.
As Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15, it is worth recognizing not only the extraordinary diversity of Hispanic communities in the United States, but also the role that language plays in ensuring that people can fully participate in the information and media that shape our lives.
Spanish is already a fundamental part of America’s linguistic landscape. Making audiovisual content available in Spanish is one way organizations can meet audiences where they are—and help ensure that language is not a barrier to participation.
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Spanish in the U.S.: Key Facts
- 70.1 million: Hispanic population of the United States in 2025—about 21% of the country’s population.
- 44.9 million: People age 5 and older who spoke Spanish at home according to the 2024 American Community Survey.
- 13.9%: Share of the U.S. population age 5 and older who spoke Spanish at home in the 2024 ACS.
- 16 states: States with at least one million Hispanic residents in 2025.
- September 15–October 15: National Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States.
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If your organization is looking to create captions or translate subtitles into Spanish, Amara.org is here to help.
Email us at client-services@amara.org to tell us about your project, and our team will recommend the subtitling and captioning solutions that best fit your needs. We work with carefully vetted Spanish-language professionals who can help your content reach the Spanish-speaking community in the US and the world.
