Television

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Ofcom consults on sign language requirements

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The UK communications regulator Ofcom has launched a review of the signing arrangements it has in place for TV channels with low audience levels.

In 2007, Ofcom announced that channels with an audience share of between 0.05% and 1% had to show at least 30 minutes of programming a week with British Sign Language. However, two years later, it gave these channels the alternative of spending £20,000 each year in a way that would also increase the level of signed programs on TV. Over 50 channels have taken this option, and contribute this amount annually to the British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust, which funds signed content on the Community Channel and Film 4.


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Ofcom releases access requirements for 2015

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The UK communications regulator Ofcom has released its list of TV channels which will be required to provide access services – captioning, audio description and signing – in 2015.

Ofcom conducts an annual mid-year review of access requirements, based on each channel’s revenue and audience share in the previous year. Following this year’s review, 79 domestic channels will be required to provide access services in 2015, compared to 76 in 2014. This accounts for over 90% of the total UK audience share.


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Call for Japanese news to have English subtitles

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An expert panel at Japan’s ministry of communications has called for broadcasters to provide English-language subtitles for news bulletins in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In its report, the panel said that subtitles were an effective tool to help foreign residents and tourists understand developments, and would help ensure their safety and security. The subtitles could be created using a translation system developed by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and displayed on internet-enabled TV sets. They could also be extended to other languages.

A trial run of the system is planned for 2015.


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UK regulator begins consultation on speaking TV program guides

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The UK communications regulator, Ofcom, has begun a consultation process in which it is asking for feedback on how electronic program guides (EPGs) with a ‘text-to-speech’ function would benefit blind or vision impaired people, and how feasible it is to introduce them.

In its discussion paper, ‘Speaking TV programme guides’, Ofcom notes that it has a duty to provide guidance on the practices involved in the provision of EPGs. “These practices must include the incorporation of such features as Ofcom considers appropriate for ensuring that people with disabilities affecting their sight or hearing (or both) may use EPGs for the same purposes as other people, so far as practicable.”


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US communications regulator reports on audio description

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a report on the current state of audio description on broadcast television and television delivered over the internet.

The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 gave the FCC the power to reinstate audio description quotas for television, which it did in 2011. Currently, commercial stations affiliated with the top four networks in the top 25 markets must provide 50 hours of audio described prime time or children’s programs per quarter.


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The Audio Description Project Conference

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The third annual Audio Description Conference, an initiative of the American Council of the Blind, will be held in Las Vegas from 13 to 15 July.

The conference brings together audio describers, consumers, policymakers and other experts to discuss the current state of audio description and how the service could be improved and extended. This year there are sessions about the ways that audio description can aid literacy; audio description for broadcast television, the performing arts and museums; and audio description in Spanish.


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Challenges of captioning and copyrights

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Media Access Australia spoke to Blake E. Reid, Assistant Clinical Professor at Colorado Law, following his chairing of a session at the M-Enabling Summit on copyright and third party captioning.

The session at M-Enabling covered issues such as the proliferation of inaccessible video content, the need for third party captioning, and the dangers of captioning infringing on the copyrights of audio-visual content owners.


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