Video On Demand Services… SUBTITLE IT!

Have you signed ‘Action on Hearing Loss’ recent campaign: ‘Subtitle It’? If not please do sign it and share: Click here to sign the SUBTITLE IT campaign! We’re nearly at 2,500 signatures!

I’ve been affected a lot by the lack of subtitles on Video On Demand (VOD) services. As a teenager, I like to watch the latest programmes and films… but without subtitles, it’s like I’m being excluded from the world.

I can’t tell you how many times my friends have been like; “did you see that awesome new episode of MTV Catfish last night”… No. Because, they didn’t subtitle it. They never seem to subtitle any new episodes on TV, mostly the American ones on our TVs, just why? The same applies to Video On Demand Services.

In fact, an hour ago, my stupid laptop was playing up as I wanted to watch an episode of ‘New Girl’ on 4oD, so I thought why not download the app on my iPad? So I did this… no surprise, there weren’t any subtitles! I don’t get why they have some online, but none on the app? Surely it must be easy to do!

I emailed 4oD and got a quick reply, thankfully! Unfortunately it was the same old response I’ve heard numerous times…

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“Unfortunately, we are currently only able to make subtitles available for some, but not all, programmes on the on demand section through Channel4.com. However, we are looking to increase our subtitle availability. Currently if subtitles are available an “S” button will be visible on the video player bar. Click on the “S” and the subtitles will load and display.

We would like to assure you Channel 4 is committed to making All 4 as accessible as possible, we regularly consult with the DAC (Digital Accessibility Centre) to ensure our services are as accessible to as wide an audience as possible and will look to introduce accessibility functions across all platforms including our apps as soon as possible.”

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To be honest… it’s like “blah, blah, blah” to me. I want to know the facts. Why don’t they prioritise it? Why aren’t they doing anything? Do they care about us deafies? Obviously not! It seems as they are rambling on to avoid the point! That’s why I’m so keen to help make this campaign happen.

Please sign it, as it WILL improve the quality of deaf/Hard of Hearing people’s lives, and it’ll make us a lot happier!

Click here to sign the SUBTITLE IT campaign!

Thank you, Love E x