Part Four - International Comparisons
Television
New Zealand
Captioning requires for New Zealand television services are currently lower than in Australia. As in Australia, television captioning in New Zealand is provided via teletext. The New Zealand Broadcasting Commission, also known as New Zealand On Air, funds the provision of teletext subtitles for hearing impaired television viewers. Captions are available on TV One, TV2 and TV3 but not C4. Between 6pm and 10pm every evening there must be a captioned program playing on at least one of the three channels. More than 150 hours of programmes are captioned each week.
As in Australia, audio description of electronic media in New Zealand is essentially limited to DVDs. New Zealand is part of the Australian DVD distribution system with the majority of DVDs released there being produced in Australia. While not all the DVDs released in Australia have a New Zealand release, those that do would be expected to have the same captioning and audio description services as the Australian releases.
United Kingdom ( UK)
The UKCommunications Act 2003 requires Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, to publish a code setting out the obligations of television channels licensed in the UK to provide subtitling, signing and audio description, which it refers to as television access services. Ofcom must set ten year targets for subtitling, signing and audio description and five year targets for subtitling. Ofcom may also set interim targets. The targets apply to the anniversary of specific dates for each service.
Ofcom published the Code on Television Access Services in July 2004. It requires approximately 70 channels to provide television access services for a proportion of their programs that increase each year to the ten-year targets of 80 per cent subtitling, five per cent signing and 10 per cent audio description. In broad terms, television services with an average annual audience share of UK households more than 0.05 per cent must provide television access services to the highest level they can afford within one per cent of their UK-derived turnover. This is subject to a number of exclusions.
Ofcom may exclude programs and services from these requirements having regard to a range of matters, including the extent of the benefit conferred, the technical difficulty and cost of providing the access service. Music and news programs are examples of services that may be excluded from audio description requirements. Services comprising advertising only, such as a shopping channel, electronic program guides and services licensed outside the UK are also exempt from access requirements.
The Code was amended in December 2007 to reduce the requirements for signing on channels with an audience share of between 0.05 per cent and one per cent, other than public service channels, from January 2009.
Ofcom reports that most broadcasters meet their obligations to provide one or other of the access services.
The BBC television program ‘Click Online’ was provided online with subtitles for five weeks in late 2005. Approximately 90 000 people accessed the online program during the trial. Viewers were able to select whether to watch the program with or without subtitles using Real Player or Windows Media.
In February 2008, Ofcom announced a six-week promotion of audio description services across more than 70 television channels. This followed Ofcom research that indicated low levels of awareness of audio description among the general population and the visually impaired community. Audio description is available in the UK on programs that include Coronation Street, Lost and Home and Away.
| Channel | Captions annual quota (per cent) | Caption level achieved (per cent) |
Audio description annual quota (per cent) |
Audio description level achieved (per cent) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC One | 96.5 | 97.7 | 8.3 | 12.7 |
| BBC Two | 96.5 | 96.9 | 8.3 | 12.0 |
| BBC Three | 87.5 | 91.3 | 8.3 | 24.4 |
| BBC Four | 87.5 | 90.1 | 8.3 | 17.9 |
| CBBC | 87.5 | 92.5 | 8.3 | 12.8 |
| CBeebies | 87.5 | 91.8 | 8.3 | 10.9 |
| BBC News 24 | 87.5 | 88.5 | exempt | Not Applicable |
| ITV 1 | 86 | 91.4 | 8 | 10.7 |
| GMTV 1 | 86 | 87.5 | 8 | 9.1 |
| Channel 4 | 86 | 89.7 | 8 | 9.5 |
| Five | 76 | 78.0 | 8 | 9.9 |
| S4C | 71 | 76.2 | 8 | 9.7 |
Source: Ofcom, Television Access Services: Fourth Quarter Report for 2007 (for full year).
USA
In July 1993, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required all analogue television receivers of a certain size sold or made in the US to have built-in decoder technology to display closed captioning. This was extended to digital television receivers in July 2002. In 1996, Congress required video programming distributors (cable operators, broadcasters, satellite distributors, and other multi-channel video programming distributors) to close caption their television programs. In 1997, the FCC set a transition schedule requiring distributors to provide an increasing amount of captioned programming as summarised below.
As of 1 January 2006, all ‘new’ English language programming, defined as analogue programming first published or exhibited on or after 1 January 1998, and digital programming first aired on or after 1 July 2002, must be captioned, with some exceptions. Analogue programming first shown before 1 January 1998 and digital programming first shown before 1 July 2002 are deemed Pre-Rule Programming.
For Pre-Rule Programming shown during 1 January 2003 - 31 December 2007, 30 per cent of programming per channel per quarter must be captioned. From 1 January 2008, 75 per cent of Pre-Rule Programming per channel per quarter must be captioned.
There are two categories of exemptions from the closed captioning rules in the US: self implementing exemptions, and exemptions based on undue burden. Self implementing exemptions operate automatically and programmers do not need permission from the FCC. Examples include commercials less than 10 minutes, and programming shown between 2am and 6am. For exemptions based on undue burden, program producers must apply to the FFC demonstrating that implementing closed captioning would impose an undue burden, which is defined as a significant difficulty or expense. While a petition is pending, the programming that is the subject of the petition is exempt from the closed captioning requirements.
It is understood that nearly 100 per cent of new television programming in the US is captioned.
In addition, the US Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires federal agencies to caption their video and internet information. Boston-based public broadcaster WGBH is a leading provider of online captioning technology and has developed its Caption Keeper software, which converts closed caption data into data that is suitable for live and archived multimedia presentations in RealPlayer, Windows Media Player and QuickTime Player formats. WGBH’s Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Centre for Accessible Media (NCAM) has developed the free Media Access Generator software for creating captions and audio descriptions for online multi-media.
On 4 October 2007, AOL, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo announced that they had asked WGBH and NCAM to establish and manage the Internet Captioning Forum to address the technical challenges presented by online video provided from broadcast or other previously captioned sources, as well as video created specifically for the internet.
In December 2007, a draft Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2007 was introduced to Congress with the aim of ensuring that individuals with disabilities have access to Internet-based communications and video programming services with captioning and audio description.
Cinemas
New Zealand
In New Zealand, three cinemas provide films with captions—one in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. These cinemas have used the DTS captioning system since late 2005.
Following a complaint to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission (HRC) in December 2001 regarding the lack of captions in cinemas, the first captioned film screening in New Zealand was of ‘Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring’ on a trial basis in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in November 2002. A captioned version of the second of the Lord of the Rings films screened in early 2003.
Subsequently, the HRC facilitated a working party of six representatives from the Motion Pictures Distributors Association, Motion Pictures Exhibitors Association, the Deaf Association of New Zealand, the Hearing Association of New Zealand and Captioning Access New Zealand in June 2003 to provide further captioned movies.
United Kingdom
Approximately 220 cinemas in the UK provide captioned films.
From September 2003 to March 2005, the UK Film Council operated a pilot program, the Cinema Access Program, to provide funding for various cinema captioning purposes. The Program is funded by the National Lottery via the Arts Council of England.
In a one-off scheme in 2004, the UK Film Council allocated grants of up to £5000 to 78 successful applicants (£350 000 in total) for projects to install captioning and audio-description equipment in cinemas in England. The intention was to equip approximately 10 per cent of all cinemas in England with a wide geographical coverage and provide a critical mass of accessible cinema sites.
Also in 2004, the UK Film Council made available £60 000 to support approximately 20 feature length films for a trial period of one year for captioned and audio-described film provision.
In addition, the UK Film Council allocated £50 000 over a three year period to create, develop and maintain an internet-based information service to inform those with sensory impairments about films being screened at local cinemas in England.
USA
More than 300 movie screens are equipped with rear window display systems and more than 160 screens are equipped with DTS caption projection systems. As indicated earlier, these systems are capable of providing caption and audio description services.
Handheld devices
USA
In August 2007, the WGBH Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Centre received a grant of $US 600 000 over three years from the US Department of Education National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to research and develop captioned content for handheld devices such as iPods, mobile phones and other mobile devices.
