Subtitling, signing and audio-description
The BBC is committed to ensuring that its services
are progressively more accessible to people with a hearing or
visual impairment, through the provision of access services: subtitling,
signing and audio description.
SUBTITLING
The BBC has been at the forefront of the development
of subtitling, investing heavily in improving and extending the
service over recent years. The first teletext subtitles appeared
on BBC in 1979. Live subtitling was introduced on a regular
basis in 1986. In 1990 stenography was introduced, allowing quicker
and more accurate verbatim subtitling of live programmes. In 1993,
we invested £1.5 million in a live subtitling production
centre. Between 1995 and 1998 we invested well over £1 million
more in establishing live subtitling in each of the UK nations
and the English regions—13 sites in all: BBC viewers now
have unparalleled access to subtitled regional and national news.
Our targets for subtitling are as demanding
as any set for UK broadcasters, and we are exceeding them in a
number of respects:
— Last financial year, our target for
subtitling across BBC 1 and BBC 2 was to reach 55 per cent of
output. By the end of the year, we were actually subtitling 56.7
per cent of output.
— Within this overall performance,
we are subtitling virtually the whole of our peak-time output
on BBC 1. This year, our overall target is to reach 60 per cent,
rising to 80 per cent by 2003-04.
— We have adopted targets for our digital
channels which are twice as demanding as those set for commercial
TV companies. We will aim to subtitle 50 per cent within five
years of launch and 100 per cent within 10 years.
— Our actual performance across all
our digital channels comfortably exceeds our targets: across BBC
1 and BBC 2 digital we will reach at least 60 per cent this year,
and about 30 per cent of BBC Choice is already subtitled, compared
with a target for this year of 10 per cent.
— The total number of hours of subtitling
broadcast by the BBC has increased sharply. This year we will
broadcast more than 15,000 hours of subtitles, compared to 9,575
in 1997-98. That would represent a 57 per cent increase over two
years. The subtitling budget has increased over the same period
by 30 per cent, and more than £2 million has been invested
in capital developments over the same period.
— Reaching 50 per cent subtitling of
our existing digital channels by year five will require many thousands
of additional hours of subtitling each year. That represents a
huge new investment by the BBC.
We are also taking steps to ensure that people
are aware of our subtitling service and how to use it. During
Deaf Awareness Week recently we showed a trail several
times over the week, aiming to raise awareness of our subtitling
service.
SIGNING
The BBC provides more television output with
British Sign Language interpretation than any other broadcaster.
This autumn, we increased the amount of signed
output on analogue television to 2.5 hours a week, and introduced
a repeat of See Hear, our long-running programme for the
deaf and hard of hearing, which is both signed and subtitled.
By comparison, ITV provides no regular signed output. Channel
4 provides one hour a week.
From next May, across our digital channels,
we are committed to providing at least 1 per cent of our total
output in sign-interpreted format. This will rise to 5 per cent
over 10 years, subject to the development of a system of "closed"
signing. These targets are as demanding as that set for any other
broadcaster.
AUDIO-DESCRIPTION
The BBC has been involved from the start in
moves to develop a system whereby a descriptive narrative can
be delivered alongside the main soundtrack, to enable people who
have a visual impairment to get more enjoyment out of television
programmes. We were a key partner in the AUDETEL project sponsored
by the European Commission in 1993. The BBC invested £50,000
in capital equipment to support AUDETEL. Unfortunately the AUDETEL
project ultimately failed to deliver a practical and cost-effective
approach to audio-description on analogue television.
The advent of digital television gives us a
new opportunity to develop audio-description technology. We have
continued to take the lead in the development of audio-description,
setting the technical standards which will be adopted by the rest
of the industry.
We are also working with other broadcasters,
equipment manufacturers and the RNIB to ensure that affordable
receiver modules are available in the shops over the next few
months.
This autumn, we launched a pilot audio-description
service, describing at least two hours of programming a week on
BBC 2. From next May, we plan to launch our full service, with
a target of audio-describing 2 per cent of our output, rising
to 10 per cent over 10 years.
ACCESS SERVICES
ON UKTV CHANNELS
The UKTV commercial channels operated in joint
venture with Flextech are licensed by the ITC and are subject
to targets for subtitling, signing and audio-description set by
the ITC. By the third quarter of this year, when the ITC target
was 5 per cent, UK Gold actually had over 8 per cent of output
subtitled, UK Horizons over 12 per cent, UK Style more than 14
per cent and UK Play approaching 6 per cent. UKTV has now committed
to aim for subtitling at least 25 per cent of UK Gold, well ahead
of the current 10 per cent target it is obliged to meet by the
ITC.
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