This paper presents an empirical approach to the reception of subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. It is part of a more comprehensive project involving several researchers across Europe and dealing with different aspects of subtitles such as character identification and contextual information. The aim of the present study is to discover the most suitable font, size and position for subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. Once the pilot study was tested, the research followed the following four steps. Firstly, several clips from the film Stuart Little 2 were subtitled using three parameters: three fonts (Arial, Tiresias, Verdana), several font sizes (ranging from 18 to 40) and three positions (top, bottom and mixed). Secondly, the audiovisual texts were shown to a selected audience consisting of individuals from various deaf associations all over Spain. These volunteers were chosen on the basis of a given set of criteria, namely, type of hearing disability and age. Thirdly, the members of the audience were asked to fill in brief questionnaires so as to enable the researchers to ascertain the degree of comprehension and enjoyment related to the different formats. Finally, relevant conclusions were drawn. The study has yielded some interesting insights into the most suitable font, font size and font position for subtitles taking into account audience members. It is argued that this type of research is particularly pertinent in the field of audiovisual translation and especially in the field of subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH), in which research on the crucial area of reception is long overdue.