Streaming: Hearing Impairment

(asked on 8th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provision of subtitles on catch up TV platforms.


Answered by
John Whittingdale Portrait
John Whittingdale
This question was answered on 15th July 2021

The government recognises that as part of a digitally inclusive society, television content should be accessible for all UK audiences. The Digital Economy Act 2017 introduced new provisions to the Communications Act 2003 giving the Secretary of State the power to establish new accessibility requirements - including subtitling - for on-demand providers.

Ofcom published further recommendations on 9 July 2021, following a request made by this Government and a public consultation. We will give careful consideration to these and will set out next steps in due course.

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