Joanne Woodhouse-Roberts: Channel 4’s Invisible Subtitles!

If you’re like my household who enjoy settling down for the evening with a cup of tea, a bit of chocolate on the sofa to unwind for the evening with the TV remote control, then you may share and feel my pain.

It has been plainly obvious in recent weeks that we have fewer channels to access.

My family and I often watch The Great British Bake off, Location Location Location, Gogglebox and the Grand Prix on Channel 4 to name a few, and like many we rely on subtitles to access these programmes.

We find ourselves bitterly disappointed that the TV guide has written information which tells us these programmes are accessible with subtitles, yet they’re not! The bulk of the damage seems to be on Channel 4.

Now, I am fairly patient and easy going. I understand when technology works it’s absolutely marvellous and when it goes wrong, it’s dreadful. It certainly makes us appreciate it more when it does work!

I am also aware that a ‘fault’ requires someone behind the scenes to frantically try and fix it and put it right. This is something I have to remind myself of, as sometimes I forget how technology makes my life that much easier. I also realise if something can be invented, it can certainly go wrong. There will always be times technology lets us down whether that’s our mobile, GPS, or in this case – subtitles!

Subtitles will crash for some reason or other – and usually only temporarily but after so long without them, we can only begin to wonder what is possibly taking so long to fix?!

For weeks I have been looking at the TV guide, not sure if I can believe what I read. I never know if I should sit down to watch Channel 4, record it and hope for the best or accept that I’ll continue to be bitterly disappointed.

Quite frankly I am getting tired of being positive with ‘tonight is the night it’s going to work!’

Matters are made worse with the Grand Prix as the presenters wear masks and rightly so as they’re traveling to different countries so have rules they need to follow. However for deaf and hard of hearing viewers they cannot even attempt to lip read or try to make sense of anything – we are completely left in the dark with 6 races left this year, will this problem be fixed in time before the end?!

I have seen various bits of information flying across social media, and I’ve tried to piece together the real reason we do not have access to Channel 4 programmes (and some of channel 5).

I recently read an article written by Benjamin Butterworth a late editor and senior reporter who explains the lack of subtitles are due to a fire scare last month. There appears to be a lack of further details in the public domain. I am sure someone knows more but they aren’t telling us.

The only thing we really know is that some offices were affected by the “activation of the fire suppression systems” and they’re doing their best to fix it. It has also been reported since the incident that there are problems with the “all 4 services and therefore we are not able to offer any programmes with audio description, subtitles or sign language”

Is everyone else asking what I am asking? When will it be fixed? Will it be next week? Next month? After Christmas? Come on, give us a clue!

I find it absolutely phenomenal that we are still without subtitles with no real explanation or guide to how long we will be without. I find it even more phenomenal that Channel 4 choose continue to air their programmes to those who are hearing and sighted yet leave behind those who aren’t and rely on subtitles and/or audio description.

I understand there is a technology glitch, we all have those in life but I am of the opinion that the ‘glitch’ isn’t the problem, it’s how people manage and deal with the glitch!

In everyday life I know whether it’s in family life, or our working day, we rely on our attitudes, the ability to prioritise, time management, handle finances and make fast decisions on how to deal with these ‘glitches’.

From where I am sitting, subtitles do not seem to be a priority for Channel 4. So now I ask myself, would Channel 4 air their programmes without any sound but with the subtitles working?

Most deaf/hard of hearing people would still have access with subtitles and no sound, we could still follow a programme and we could carry on reading the subtitles and hearing, sighted people would have the option to turn on their subtitles so they could also access the programme (in silence) – so in actual fact if the sound cut out, but the subtitles remained, access wouldn’t be that much of a problem for the majority, or would it?!

But would Channel 4 air without sound? No, of course not!

I strongly suspect they would shut down the whole system until they got it working again and I suspect they would work at a much faster pace to fix the error!

So why I ask, do they air without subtitles?! Why do they air in the full knowledge that there is a large proportion of the population who cannot access their programmes and what is more, why are we not given more in depth information as to when we WILL get access.

Come on Channel 4 you are publicly owned, you can do better, much better than this.

Take notice of your public!

Joanne is a profoundly Deaf BSL user based in Essex and has worked as a BSL tutor and Language Aide. She recently wrote and was involved in the production of ‘Give Us The Sign’. She is passionate about sharing ideas, Deaf issues and supporting one another.