Broadcasters told to increase subtitling

Broadcasters have been told to increase the amount of subtitling, audio description and Irish Sign Language services they provide on their content over the next three years.

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has updated its access rules, increasing the number of channels that must help people who have sight and hearing impairments enjoy programmes, and setting higher targets for the channels already subject to the rule.

Targets

Target ranges have been set for UTV Ireland, Irish TV and Oireachtas TV for the first time. The highest targets relate to the percentage of content that must be subtitled. For UTV Ireland, this will steadily increase to a range of 56-60 per cent of its programming by 2018.

The 2018 subtitling target for RTÉ One is 87-92 per cent, for TV3 it is 51-55 per cent and for RTÉjr it is set at 48-52 per cent. Some 15-18 per cent of Oireachtas TV should be subtitled in 2018, the regulator said.

The audio description and Irish Sign Language requirements are much lower, with the highest target set at 2.5 per cent for RTÉ One.

“We look forward to continued engagement with broadcasters and service users to support the achievement of targets,” said BAI chief executive Michael O’Keeffe.