The report, Television Access Services: Report for the first six months of 2012, has shown that many channels are significantly exceeding both the captioning (called subtitling in the UK) and audio description (AD) quotas, including on free-to-air channels, such as ITV and BBC, movies and sports channels. The AD increases are the result of a voluntary commitment to increase AD beyond the required quotas.
Under the regulations, Ofcom has added shortfalls from 2011 to the 2012 requirements, closely monitoring the achievement of these revised targets. The report includes a table showing the required quotas and achievements.
Ofcom reports on the access quotas twice a year. In Australia, the recently revised Broadcasting Services Act requires annual reporting of broadcasters’ compliance against captioning quotas.
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