By making sound visible on screen, subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) supports access to audiovisual content for people with hearing impairments. At present, SDH is already well established in many developed countries, but in China its development is still in its infancy. It was this context that motivated the present research. In the process of designing SDH subtitles for the Chinese context, it was found that little academic attention had been paid to the production side, and that little was known about how professional SDH subtitlers make decisions in practice. Yet their experience could offer useful guidance for SDH production in China. Against this background, this thesis approaches SDH through two connected phases: production (Phase I) and reception (Phase II). In Phase I, semi-structured interviews were carried out with nine professional SDH subtitlers to explore their decision-making in practice. The qualitative analysis identified six themes: workflow and process optimisation, SDH guidelines, technical and practical constraints, audience-centred considerations, subjectivity in interpretation, and differences in content and background. These themes were then used to inform the design of the SDH subtitles tested in the next phase. In Phase II, an eye-tracking reception study was conducted with 38 Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) viewers in China to compare SDH subtitles with standard subtitles in terms of cognitive load, comprehension, and viewing experience. The findings suggest that, compared with standard subtitles, SDH subtitles were associated with better comprehension, with no evidence of increased cognitive load, and produced similar levels of engagement and enjoyment. Overall, the thesis provides empirical support for the wider use of SDH in China and, it is hoped, will encourage further research on SDH among the Chinese DHH community.