Broadcasting Act 1990
Channel 3
The Broadcasting Act 1990 required Channel 3 licensees, as a licence condition, to provide a minimum amount of subtitling for deaf people and specified that in 1998 at least 50% of the channel’s output per week must be subtitled; after 1998, the greatest number of hours that the ITC considers practicable must be subtitled. The ITC has since required annual targets to increase and to reach 90% in 2010. In 2002, Channel 3 regional companies subtitled 83% of their output: GMTV subtitled 75%.
Channel 4
The subtitling provision in the Act does not cover Channel 4 but the Channel agreed to work towards the 50% target in 1998, and this was incorporated into the Channel 4 licence. The Channel has also agreed to match the increases on Channel 3 so that at least 90% of programme hours are subtitled from 2010. In 2002, Channel 4 achieved 84%.
Channel 5
Channel 5 Broadcasting is required, as a licence condition, to implement proposals contained in its application in relation to subtitling. From the start of the service in 1997, 23% of programmes were to be subtitled, and the channel achieved this in their first nine months of service. Thereafter C5 increased the number of hours at least in line with specifications set out annually by the ITC and in 2002 subtitled 53% of its output. The channel is required to subtitle 80% by 2008.
Broadcasting Act 1996
The 1996 Act requires the ITC to draw up a code promoting the understanding and enjoyment of programmes by persons who are deaf or hard of hearing and blind or partially-sighted. The code applies to all digital programme services and the commercial guaranteed-place simulcast broadcasts (except the BBC).
The final code was published in February 1997, and revised in 2001.
Quotas
The Act requires specific minimum amounts of certain programming in digital services to be subtitled, to be accompanied by audio description or translated into or presented in sign language (subject to an Order by the Secretary of State). The minimum amounts, which apply from the tenth anniversary of the service, are:
Subtitling: 80% (increased from 50% in 2001)
Audio description: 10%
Signing: 5%
The subtitling requirement may be met by closed subtitling, as for example, on teletext, or by open subtitling, appearing on-screen such as with foreign language films. In 1998, the ITC revised its guidance on the standard of subtitling. Among the additions to the guidance were specifications that subtitles for digital services should be in the Tiresias font, that the nominal size of subtitles should be 24 television lines for the capital ‘V’ and that the range of colours for subtitles be limited to 12. The use of subtitles accompanying acquired programmes has been allowed, provided they adhere to certain minimum standards.
Interim targets
The ITC believes there should be a steady progression towards the different minimum requirements for subtitling, signing and audio description and has set interim targets in the years prior to the 10th anniversary of the start of the digital services.
Additional promotion of services
The ITC believes digital licensees should consider other ways of promoting the understanding and enjoyment of their programmes by, for example, providing programme listings in an accessible form.
ITC Research
In 1996 the ITC carried out two pieces of research about subtitling. The first, dealing with subtitling of children’s programmes was published in April 1996. The results of this research prompted the ITC to revise its guidelines in relation to subtitling, the new guidelines were published in 1997 and amended in 1998.
The second project, looking at news subtitling, was published in November 1996. This established that subtitles provided on terrestrial news programmes do meet the needs of deaf and hard of hearing people.
The ITC is currently leading a DTI funded project VISTA, that aims to develop a talking Electronic Programme Guide system to allow visually impaired viewers to select more easily the programmes they want to watch on digital television. We are also investigating the feasibility of using special processing in a digital television receiver to suppress background programme sounds to make the programme dialogue easier to understand for viewers with some hearing loss.
Further References
ITC Publications
ITC code on subtitling, sign language and audio description on digital terrestrial television (amended July 2001)
ITC guidance on standards for subtitling (amended February 1999)
ITC guidance for standards on audio description (May 2000)
ITC guidelines on standards for sign language on digital terrestrial television (amended March 2002)
Dial 888: Subtitling for deaf children. ITC Research. 1996. £5.00
Switched on - deaf people’s views on television subtitling. ITC/BBC report (available to order, £20).
News release 32/96, 96/96, 17/97, 52/97, 73/97, 87/97, 81/98, 103/98, 17/99, 50/99.
HIGGS, CHRIS. Wired for vision. in Spectrum. 1996: Winter, 14-15
SANCHO-ALDRIDGE, J. Good News for Deaf People: Subtitling of National News Programmes. in Spectrum. 1996: Winter, 16-17
External Publications
The Broadcasting (Sign Language) Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/167) London: Stationery Office, 1997
ViSiCast website http://www.visicast.sys.uea.ac.uk/
June 2003
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