It's time to make on-demand TV accessible

The recent subtitling crisis, which resulted in no subtitles on some channels for almost a month, has highlighted just how vital subtitles are. The RNID community have come together to show broadcasters, the government and the general public why accessibility must be a priority.

At RNID, we don’t just want a fix to the problems we have seen over the last few months, we want more. More accessible content so that deaf people and those with hearing loss or tinnitus can enjoy TV in the same way as everyone else.

With help from our supporters, we’ve already achieved a huge amount. Before 2017, there were no targets for how much content should include subtitles or sign language interpretation, which meant a lot of on-demand TV was not accessible. Together, we changed the law so that the government can now set these targets, but this law is yet to be put into action.

Sign our petition calling on the government to enact the Digital Economy Act 2017 and compel broadcasters to make more content accessible to all.

As this legislation also covers audio description, we have worked closely with RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People). We have included audio description in our petition so that we can join forces with RNIB and make sure the government know how important accessible TV is for both our communities.

We’ve come so far together, let’s keep up the pressure and show government – it’s time to subtitle it!