One of our top priorities is subtitling on TV, Films, and DVD
We are working hard to get television broadcasts in Europe subtitled, so that hard of hearing people can get the same information as hearing people and have the same possibility to watch entertainment, films, etc.
This, of course, applies to all other media such as DVDs, video clips, or web broadcasting.
For several years we have worked together with our partners and contacts in the European Parliament to influence the decisions made in the field of telecommunications.
To help our members and others in this field, EFHOH regularly publishes surveys and comparative documents, showing the rates of subtitling in member countries. Our partners at EDF have recently published an Audiovisual Media Services Directive Toolkit. The Directive creates an EU-level framework to coordinate national legislation on all audiovisual media, both traditional TV broadcasts and on-demand services (for example, Netflix, Amazon Video, Now TV). To view or download the toolkit, please click the link below:
EDF Audiovisual Media Services Directive Toolkit.
UPDATE – European Commission|Brussels, 23 November 2020
Audiovisual Media: Commission opens infringement procedures against 23 Member States for failing to transpose the Directive on audiovisual content. Read the press release here.
Audiovisual media – accessible for all?
A new report State of subtitling access in EU 2011 was released during the EFHOH AGM in Vienna on the 8th of April 2011. The report reveals a huge inequality for 51 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the EU. The report calls on the EU Member States to respect the rights of the deaf and hard of hearing citizens and for them to have full access to media via subtitling by 2020. You can read the 2011 report and the more recent 2015 report below:
State of Subtitling 2011 Report
State of Subtitling 2015 Report
Easier said than done…
Articles 11 and 14 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights confirm access to information and education as basic human rights. The EU has recently adhered to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Still, over 50 million deaf or hard of hearing Europeans are deprived of their basic human rights simply because they cannot hear programs broadcasted on TV, understand films in the cinema, or performances in the theatre.
Due to this, the European Federation of Hard of Hearing People (EFHOH) launched a pan-European campaign in order to promote subtitling in audiovisual media in all member states. This the easiest solution to grant deaf and hard of hearing people full access to an information society.
Our vision is the full inclusion of people with a hearing loss in society which will only be achieved by giving them full access to media and information.
