Catherine McKinnell, MP for Newcastle North, has this week renewed her backing for a campaign to ensure that people with sensory loss are able to have equal access to television services.

Attending an event in Parliament organised by Action on Hearing Loss, Catherine pledged her support for the charity’s campaign Subtitle It! which is backing legislation that would mean people with sight and hearing loss are able to watch fully accessible video-on-demand services with subtitles, signing and audio description.

The session was hosted jointly with the RNIB and Sense, where Catherine was briefed on the ability of people with sensory loss to access TV via Video on Demand (VOD) services.

The rise of on-demand, streaming and catch-up services has led to the way that we watch television content being transformed- something which Parliament couldn’t have foreseen when it passed the 2003 Communications Act over a decade ago. The Act led to huge improvements in the provision of subtitles and audio description on traditional TV, but it is now 12 years old, and technology has outgrown it.

Catherine commented:

‘We all know that the way in which we watch TV has transformed completely in recent years, but far too many people with hearing loss are missing out because subtitles are absent from thousands of hours of ‘on demand’ content.

‘That’s why I’m backing Action on Hearing Loss’ Subtitle It! campaign, so that people with sensory loss are not digitally excluded and can enjoy TV content when and how they want to.

‘This is an issue I’ve already raised with Ministers on behalf of my constituents, and will do so again as I know how important this is to many Newcastle North residents.’

Paul Breckell, Chief Executive at charity Action on Hearing Loss said:

‘We are delighted that Catherine is backing the Subtitle It! campaign and is calling on the Government to bring in legislation so that deaf and hard of hearing residents from her constituency of Newcastle North can have the same viewing experience as their hearing peers.’

Action on Hearing Loss is jointly working with Sense and RNIB to improve access to TV for people with sight and hearing loss. Access to TV programmes for people with hearing loss has vastly improved in recent years, however, many programmes on catch up or video on-demand services do not have subtitles or audio description, even if the programmes were subtitled when they were originally broadcast. To find out more about the campaign please visit www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/subtitleit