Television

Deafened people need not be excluded from the enjoyment of their favourite programmes thanks to subtitling. All five terrestrial analogue channels and the Welsh language S4C channel have government imposed subtitling targets, and the majority of programmes – both recorded and live – on analogue television have these subtitles. Most subtitles are "closed" – they are not visible until they are called up by means of Teletext page 888.

However, the future lies with digital television, and existing analogue services will gradually be switched off over the coming years. The existing subtitling targets for the analogue channels also apply to their digital equivalents and subtitling targets are also being set for an increasing number of digital only channels. Digital television can be received by satellite (Sky), cable (Virgin Media) or via your aerial (Freeview). Your existing television can be used, but you also need a set top box (STB). Subtitles can be selected through controls on the STB or remote control.

There are also targets on both analogue and digital television for programmes to be interpreted in sign language, although those targets are much lower than for subtitles. There is also a wide range of listening aids available to amplify or enhance the sound received from the television.

Recording analogue subtitles requires a videorecorder (VCR) specially adapted for the purpose, as normally the Teletext subtitle signal is switched on in the television set after it has passed through the VCR. However, there is no longer any VCR for this purpose available in the shops, though there may be still some second hand ones available. There are also special pieces of equipment to capture analogue subtitles, such as the Telemole, though they are becoming increasingly hard to find.

Recording digital subtitles should be easier, as usually the STB, where they are switched on, is before the recorder. This means that if they are switched on in the STB they will be recorded if the equipment is correctly connected. However, VCRs manufactured for analogue television are not the most suitable to record digital programmes. Increasingly, personal videorecorders (PVRs) will be used for this purpose – these record to a hard disk and usually have far greater capacity, and may even be able to record two programmes simultaneously. However, not all will record subtitles so equipment needs to be chosen carefully. Recordable DVD (see below) can also be used, although this has some limitations.

Those with analogue VCRs have also used them to view pre-recorded videos of cinema films, sports events and other things as well as to record television programmes. Some pre-recorded videos provide subtitles, but the system used (closed captioning) is a different technology from that used for television subtitles, and so can only be displayed if you have either a VCR that incorporates a closed caption decoder or a separate caption reader. Videos with closed captions can usually be identified by a rectangular logo on the packaging.

Pre-recorded videos are increasingly being superseded by DVD (digital versatile discs) which are played on a DVD player connected to a television or using the DVD drive of a computer. Whether subtitles are present should be clearly displayed on the outside of the case, so it should be easy to check before buying a disc. Many DVDs contain extra features such as documentaries and audio commentaries by the director or stars of the film, and these may not be subtitled even if the main feature is. However, the presence of subtitles on DVDs is increasing, though care is still needed before making a purchase.

See also Factsheet 5.

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