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6 Other Matters

This document was originally published by the ITC, one of the organisations replaced by Ofcom at the end of 2003. It represents Ofcom's current policy.

6.1 National Emergencies

Deaf and hard-of-hearing people need to be kept informed about national and local emergencies.

When information about emergencies is being broadcast, the same information, including relevant telephone numbers, should be provided, preferably in open captions leaving sufficient time to write the details down.

6.2 Apology Captions

Where practicable an appropriate apology or explanation is to be transmitted as soon as possible after any loss of subtitles. A caption stating that "There are no subtitles for this programme" is not acceptable.

6.3 Further Information

The ITC and BBC co-funded research into the use of subtitles was conducted by the Centre for Deaf Studies at Bristol University and the findings presented in the report 'Switched On'.

Research on children's subtitles, 'Dial 888; Subtitling for Deaf Children', was conducted by Dr Susan Gregory. Research on news subtitles, 'Good News for Deaf People' was conducted by IFF Research Ltd. Copies of findings are available from the ITC.

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