We need you! We are running a survey to find more out about what you want from subtitles and BSL interpretation when watching TV or on-demand services.
We want to hear from you what your experience of using subtitles or signed services has been in the last year and how it has impacted your ability to watch TV shows.
Why are RNID doing this survey?
Subtitles and signing are used by people with hearing loss or who are deaf to have equal access to TV shows and are increasingly used by the wider public when watching programmes in loud environments or on the go.
We want an up-to-date picture as to what your experience of using subtitles and signing is like now in 2023. The information gathered from this survey will help us show the Government and Broadcasters why subtitles and signing are important for making services accessible and reveal which broadcasters and platforms we need to push to improve their provision.
What has happened so far?
Our 2015 Progress on Pause report found that 87% of people with hearing loss had started to watch a programme on-demand and found it had no subtitles. Additionally, 71% told us they felt they had missed out on, or been left out of, conversations with friends or family because of a lack of subtitles.
8 years later, we have successfully changed the law to require on-demand services to have subtitles and signing quotas on their programmes, but the Government is yet to enact regulations to bring the law into force.
While we know some services have increased the amount of subtitles since 2015, we know that people are still being excluded from being able to watch the shows they want to watch.
Take the survey here and please share with your friends and family who rely on subtitles and BSL interpretation.