Who is working on it? Captioning Australian catch-up television and subscription video on demand

Abstract

Despite the rapid evolution in the way in which we watch television – through digitalisation and the introduction of video on demand (VOD) and catch-up services – the inaccessibility of television content remains an issue, specifically for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. This article revisits the claim from 2014 that VOD providers were ‘working on’ providing closed captions. Building on Ellis’ 2014 research, the accessibility of television in Australia in 2016 is analysed using a cross study of current subscription VOD services and catch-up television providers. The research reveals that while some companies have accessibility policies and offer closed captioned content, there have been minimal changes in the provision of captioning, both within the industry and in legislation.