In 2015, we launched the Subtitle It! campaign to fight for equal access to on-demand television services, such as ITVX, Netflix and Disney Plus, to provide a minimum amount of subtitles and signing for people who are deaf or have hearing loss.
A decade later
Thanks to your incredible support, from petitions and consultations to legislative wins, our community has driven real change:
- The Media Act 2024 passed. This means service providers and on-demand services will have to ensure their content is accessible by delivering the following provision when the quotas are enforced:
- 80% of programming must be subtitled
- 10% must be audio described and
- 5% must be either presented in or translated into sign language
- Over 25,000 people signed our petition in 2022
- The Digital Economy Act 2017 gave Ofcom powers to regulate accessibility
- Sky and BT committed to subtitle improvements
What our supporters say
I’m excluded from conversations because I can’t access the same content. Subtitles would mean freedom to choose what and when I watch.”
– Michelle, Northumberland.
I’m paying for these services like everyone else and I shouldn’t have to cope with this discrimination when subtitles aren’t available.”
– Brent, RNID volunteer.
The problem
No subtitles or signing on on-demand TV means people miss out on dramas, important news, and shared moments with family. Live broadcasts and government announcements often leave deaf people and British Sign Language (BSL) users excluded.
Our campaign began because people told us how this exclusion felt:
80% of respondents told us that the lack of subtitles stopped them from watching the programme.
60% of deaf BSL users told us they needed an interpreter to access live broadcasts of government announcements.
Read the report
The Subtitle It! Report 2023 looks at where progress has been made – and where barriers remain.
The Subtitle It! campaign so far: a timeline
2024
Our campaigner’s support is driving the change we need for improvements in subtitle and signing provision across various platforms.
- In September 2024, Stephanie Peacock (Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth) responded to our joint letter with RNIB confirming the Government’s commitment to making television content accessible to all audiences.
- In May 2024, the Government passed the Media Act 2024, which put the minimum quotas for subtitles and signing on on-demand services into law ensuring equal access to TV shows for people who are deaf or have a hearing loss, wherever and whenever they are watching a programme.
2023
In March, the Government published the Draft Media Bill, which included part of the secondary legislation necessary to enact the regulations on on-demand services.
It adopted Ofcom’s recommendations for quotas for subtitle, signing and audio description provision but also introduced the concept of ‘Tier 1 services’, which would cover the services that would be obliged to meet the quotas.
2022
- From winter 2021 to spring 2022, we ran a joint petition with RNIB calling on the government to introduce legally binding subtitle, signing and audio description quotas. Over 25,000 of you signed, and on 12 July we handed it in.
- On 1 August, the Minister for Digital responded: “The Government supports a digitally inclusive society, in which television content should be accessible for all UK audiences, regardless of the platform you choose to watch or listen to it… with more than 3/4 of households now using video-on-demand services; it is now essential that these services provide appropriate accessibility.”
However, we remained concerned about the lack of a clear timetable for bringing in the regulations. - We secured a meeting with the Minister of State for Media, Data, and Digital Infrastructure, Julia Lopez MP in November 2022. The Minister confirmed the Government’s commitment to regulate and make on-demand TV accessible and to do so at the earliest possible opportunity. She also said she wants the regulations to be futureproof, which we welcomed, given how quickly the on-demand TV market changes.
2021
- In May, Ofcom conducted a survey to learn more about the viewing habits and preferences of BSL users.
- In July, Ofcom published their final recommendations, giving the government everything they needed to enact the law. The targets they recommended were:
- 40% of on-demand content should be subtitled within 2 years of the legislation coming into force, rising to 80% after 4 years.
- 2.5% of on-demand content should be signed within 2 years of the legislation coming into force, rising to 5% after 4 years.
- We wrote to the Minister for Digital Infrastructure urging them not to delay any further. Read our open letter.
2020
- In July, Ofcom’s second consultation was published. It proposed the recommendations from the first consultation should apply to services with 200,000 unique visitors a month and where the costs of access services come to less than 1% of ‘relevant turnover’. We responded, setting out the needs of viewers who are deaf or have hearing loss:
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- we strongly argued against ‘technical exemptions’ where providers and platforms weren’t willing to work together to provide subtitles
- subtitles do not provide equivalent access as BSL for deaf people. The needs of the BSL community should not be traded away against other forms of sensory loss
- an interim one year target should be included, to create reputational risks for those who don’t comply
- providers should not be allowed to offer subtitles merely on one platform. Each service on each platform should include accessibility as the norm
- this is a long overdue change in the law that shouldn’t be delayed any further. As soon as Ofcom publishes it recommendations, we will restart our work to campaign for the implementation of the rules.
- In September, Ofcom’s consultation closed to responses. We expected Ofcom to make final recommendations to government on the regulations in late 2020.
2019
- In November, the government wrote a letter to Ofcom, requesting a second consultation to get more information on some of the key parameters of the legislation, to help them understand how it should operate in practice.
2018
- Ofcom carried out a consultation to establish quotas for how much on-demand content must carry subtitles. Thousands of you contributed to our consultation response to Ofcom, in which we called on TV providers to move towards fully accessible content for those who are deaf or have hearing loss. Read our press release about Ofcom’s 2018 consultation.
- Ofcom reported back to government and made recommendations on the regulations, proposing that 80% of content should be subtitled and 5% should be signed within four years of the legislation coming into force. We welcomed these recommendations and publicly called on the government to implement them as quickly as possible.
2017
- Thanks to the support of our campaigners, in early 2017 the Digital Economy Bill was successfully amended to promise new powers to the regulator of TV, Ofcom, to set on-demand subtitle quotas for broadcasters.
- In April, this Bill became The Digital Economy Act 2017.
2016
- We recruited subtitle users to Sky’s subtitle trials and by September 2016, Sky started to roll out subtitles.
- We’ve worked with other service providers to encourage them to drive up subtitle levels, resulting in providers such as BT committing to the investment of technology to allow subtitles to be shown on its on-demand programmes.
2015
- You told us that accessible TV was really important, so we launched ‘Subtitle It!’ in June.
- Sky (the UK’s biggest paid-for TV provider) subtitled just 4% of its on-demand content. We worked with deaf teenager Jamie Danjoux to promote his petition calling on Sky TV to add subtitles to its on-demand services. In summer of that year, Sky made a public commitment to take action.
What happens next?
- The Government will publish a list of Tier 1 on-demand services that must meet new accessibility quotas.
- Ofcom will develop an Accessibility Code for these services, in consultation with stakeholders, to ensure it reflects the needs of disabled audiences.
- A four-year implementation period will follow the publication of the Code and service list.
Looking ahead
As we celebrate 10 years of campaigning, we’re proud of what’s been achieved, but we know there’s more to do. Subtitles and signing are still missing in too many places, leaving people excluded from vital information and everyday viewing.
To everyone who has shared their story, signed a petition, or stood with us – this milestone belongs to you. Together, we’ve proved change is possible. Let’s keep going until no one is left out.
