Liam O’Dell: It’s time to push for more captioned entertainment in Captioning Awareness Week

Posted on November 12, 2018 by


The entertainment industry is waking up to the importance of captions. This Captioning Awareness Week, it’s time for deaf people to lead the charge.

Right now we are seeing deaf people at the heart of new research into making the arts accessible. The cinema industry has revealed that it is looking into new captioning options, while the National Theatre have just unveiled their new smart glasses last month.

As the deaf community celebrates Captioning Awareness Week, we must continue to put pressure on the entertainment sector to make subtitles available for deaf and hard of hearing audiences.

Such a sense of urgency is necessary for an issue which needs to keep momentum. For some companies – and for creators on YouTube – the process of providing subtitles appears too lengthy, complex and bothersome.

The entertainment industry is currently open-minded about provisions for deaf people, and we must seize the opportunity to not only challenge misconceptions about captions, but suggest the technology and services which we want to see.

This must include captions in all its forms. While closed captions solutions are promising and offer audience members with more flexible alternatives, these provisions must not replace open captioned events. The freedom of choice is something hearing viewers take for granted, but we must also enjoy the same liberties when it comes to accessing the arts.

Last year, the Digital Economy Act called for better subtitles for on-demand content, with the promise of Ofcom being given new powers to enforce the regulations. Yet, over a year later, we continue to see shows online with poor quality captions available. We must call on TV channels to make these long-overdue changes.

Yet as much as technology can bring about change, another key aspect of securing access is through changing attitudes. On social media, posts describing how much of a ‘turn off’ it is for a potential partner to want the subtitles on go viral, reinforcing the myth that captions are primarily an inconvenience, rather than a vital provision for deaf and hard of hearing people.

Captioning Awareness Week, much like any awareness week, offers an opportunity for education as much as it provides a moment to raise the important issues which, as a community, we want the entertainment industry to tackle. They prompt discussion and debate, and we must continue to keep the conversation going.

With subtitles continuing to gain traction in British culture, Captioning Awareness Week could not come at a better time.

Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and blogger from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and makes the occasional video about deaf awareness on his YouTube channel. He can also be found talking about disability, politics, theatre, books and music on his Twitter, or on his blog, The Life of a Thinker.

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Posted in: Liam O'Dell