Television
The great subtitles fiasco: Channel 4 must be punished for failing deaf viewers
Liam O’ Dell
Despite supposedly championing diversity, the broadcaster’s subtitling has been broken for months. Ofcom and the government must step in
Noel, Noel … a scene from the recent series of Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off. Photograph: Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions
Noel, Noel … a scene from the recent series of Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off. Photograph: Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions
Fri 10 Dec 2021 10.38 EST
Let’s abandon the misconception that only deaf and disabled people benefit from subtitled television. If you were one of the 5.7 million viewers in the UK who watched the Korean drama Squid Game last month and opted for subtitles, you’ll know what I mean.
Everyone who watches content with subtitles does so to engage with a show and process information in a way they otherwise couldn’t. In every situation, subtitles are an accessibility feature.
Channel 4’s subtitles outage in September affected huge numbers of viewers. Damage to hard drives caused by the triggering of the fire suppression system at the London base of Red Bee Media – which provides access services to large broadcasters – [...]