Liam O’Dell: We should all support the Turn On The Subtitles campaign

We’ve all seen the sign language interpreters at the bottom of our TV screens. For me – and, I assume, many others – it was the first time I had been introduced to British Sign Language (BSL). Accessible television can do wonders for deaf awareness, and now it’s time for subtitled television to follow suit.

An article in The Times on Monday drew my attention to the TOTS campaign – a clever acronym for ‘Turn On The Subtitles’, which calls for open captions on children’s TV shows. Entrepreneurs Oli Barrett and Henry Warren are behind the campaign, and research has already shown that subtitles can boost literacy when in use.

After all, when Dora the Explorer and others are actively teaching children new spelling and literacy skills, it’s hard to find a reason not to introduce something which will only increase the possibility for learning.

Add to that the natural curiosity of children, and you have a whole new generation learning about accessible television. As countless viral videos have shown, young children display little to no prejudice. Introducing them to captions will no doubt help them become more deaf-aware individuals.

Naturally, there will come the concern that open captions are intrusive, that it distracts from the action and that viewers are essentially reading, not watching. If accessibility isn’t a good enough reason, then a boost in our reading ability should be more than a valid excuse to have subtitles integrated into the programme.

There also comes the wider point – which I’ve made before on The Limping Chicken – that open captions are always an issue for some hearing people, until they suddenly need to learn Elvish. Open captions have wide-ranging benefits for everyone.

It’s why both deaf and hearing families should unite around the TOTS campaign, and call on broadcasters and their regulator to introduce integrated captions to children’s programming. Oli has recently met with the BBC to discuss his project, and it’s now time for the deaf community to show our support.

Already, we’ve seen Ofcom step in to regulate subtitled content from media companies. In 2017, the Digital Economy Act passed, placing a requirement on companies to subtitle on-demand content. The appetite is there for more standards for subtitled programming to be introduced, and we can continue with children’s television.

Photo by Ollie Cole.

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.