Television

For people with a mild hearing loss various devices to assist hearing a television set work through headphones and/or a hearing aid. For more severe hearing loss, a domestic loop or a neck loop can be used with a hearing aid or cochlear implant switched to ‘T’. A range of products to suit various needs can be supplied by mail order by RNID Shop and Connevans Ltd. (See Factsheet 1, Section c, for contact details to obtain catalogues).

Subtitles

For most deafened people, none of the above is sufficient but TV programmes can still be enjoyed 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.

With an analogue TV, you need a set that can receive Teletext. Select the programme required, press the text button, then 888 and subtitles should be displayed, usually across the bottom of the screen. Different coloured text is used to denote a different person speaking. Occasionally sound effects are also included. Newspapers and journals giving listings of television programmes show which have subtitles, usually with an asterisk [*] or [S] in brackets after the details.

However, the future lies with digital television, and existing analogue services are gradually being switched off region by region over the years to 2012. 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 and Freesat), cable (Virgin Media) or via your aerial (Freeview). Your existing television can be used, but you also need a set top box (STB).

Obtaining subtitles on digital transmissions and DVD discs is quite different from the analogue TV service and is achieved by using a separate menu on either the STB or TV remote control box.

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

Recording analogue subtitles requires a video recorder (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.

Recording Digital Subtitles

Recording digital subtitles should be easier, as usually the set top box (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 video recorders (PVRs) will be used for this purpose – these record to a hard disk and usually have far greater capacity, and may 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.

DVD

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.

Next
Back to Contents