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Caption Quality

The Captioning Quality Guidelines are a work in progress as we endeavour to get agreement from all stakeholders. Please contact our office if you would like more information.

 

Caption Quality Campaign

The Deafness Forum "hit the road" between 22 March and 12 May 2004, holding two public meetings in each of 17 regional locations. The purpose of each meeting was to promote the need for captioning quality and seek public support for Deafness Forum's campaign to have all captioning providers and broadcasters, as well as manufacturers of DVDs, videos and movies with captions, endorse its newly developed captioning quality Code of Practice. Also during 2004, the Deafness Forum conducted a campaign to send postcards to the Minister for Communications Technology and the Arts to urge him to take note of the issue.

Poor captions are as bad as none at all image The Broadcasting Services (Digital TV Standards) Regulations 2000 require that all free-to-air broadcasters must caption all prime time, all news and all current affairs programs. There were some limited exceptions. However, the regulations effectively came into full force on 1 January 2004, from when all news and current affairs programs (both metropolitan and regional broadcasts) transmitted via a digital signal must be captioned in full.

An agreement negotiated by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) also requires that free-to-air broadcasters progressively increase the volume (amount) of captioning on their programs over a period of years. Another agreement negotiated with PAY TV broadcasters will see a progressive implementation of captioning on PAY TV programs on up to 40 channels.

There is also another HREOC agreement that requires regular screenings of captioned movies in cinemas, currently in all capital cities and three regional centres.

Whilst Australia has generally enjoyed high quality captions on TV broadcasts, since the advent of the captioning regulations there have been some incidents of poor quality captioning. There currently are no legislated standards for captioning quality. Poor quality captioning is not acceptable. Captions must be understandable and must communicate the soundtrack, otherwise there is no point in them being there.

There is a need for quality standards to assist industry and government. Those standards should be endorsed by the caption suppliers, broadcasters, manufacturers of captioned DVDs, videos and movies, relevant government authorities and other relevant bodies.

 

What is poor quality?

If a whole bulletin or program is not captioned that is poor quality. If segments or stories are not captioned that is poor quality. If parts of stories are not captioned that is poor quality. If captions do not reflect what is being said on the soundtrack at the time that is poor quality. If the spelling or grammar is not correct that is poor quality. If a message apologising for the lack of captions is frequently screened that is poor quality. In March 2004, the Forum provided copies of the Code of Practice to all relevant stakeholders seeking their endorsement. Follow up letters were sent to all stakeholders during January 2005. The following responses had been received as at 6 June 2005.

 

Responses from Deafness Sector Organisations

These organizations have endorsed the Code:

  • Deafness Forum of Australia
  • Victorian Deaf Society (Vicdeaf)
  • Self Help for the Hard of Hearing (SHHH)
  • Better Hearing Australia (Victoria)
  • Better Hearing Australia Incorporated (National)
  • Deaf Children Australia
  • Deafness Council of NSW

Responses from providers of captioning

These companies have endorsed the Code:

  • Access Innovation Media P/L
  • Australian Caption Centre
  • Caption It
  • Captioning and Subtitling International
  • The Captioning Studio

Some of those companies have indicated that, in fact, they see the Code as defining a minimum standard.


Responses from advertisers

Australian Association of National Advertisers Supports the Code and will reference it in its Best Practice paper, “How to Caption Your Television Advertising”.

 

Responses from movie companies

Hoyts Would be delighted to work with Deafness Forum to introduce a voluntary Code of Practice and have asked to be kept informed.
Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia With regard to Australian-produced films, have passed on the Code to individual members, who will endeavour to implement the standards when captioned versions are produced.
Magna Pacific Request to endorse Code will go to next Board meeting.

 

Responses from DVD/Vidoe manufacturers/distributors

Roadshow Entertainment Delighted to endorse the Code in the hope that it becomes accepted industry standard.
Columbia Tristar Very supportive. Its Australian captioning provider endorses the Code. Has sent the Code to its American captioning provider and is waiting on advice that it is met.
AAV Limited Has no control over what clients include on DVDs. However, most studios provide VHS masters with captioning and most of the titles it is involved with do contain captioning.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment P/L. Endorses the Code of Practice. All locally created captions meet the standards. Most DVD captioning created in USA – meets Standards except for not using different colours to identify different speakers and sound effects - will investigate and implement use of different colours for different speakers when possible.

 

Responses from TV broadcasters

ABCTV Take captioning responsibilities very seriously. Committed to increasing level of captioning. Believe quality of output is high. In late 2004, tendered for captioning services and required all tenders to meet the provisions of the Code of Practice. Subsequently informally indicated it would endorse Code.
SBS TV Supports provision of captioning services as widely as possible within its limited funding. In late 2004, tendered for captioning services and required all tenders to meet most of the elements of the Code of Practice.
WIN TV Found draft Code of Practice valuable. Requested regular and ongoing feedback so they could work towards achieving better quality. Attended several public meetings in various places to learn, listened and promised necessary action. Subsequently advised that it would not endorse the Code of Practice but would support adoption of Voluntary Captioning Quality Guidelines by its industry, based on the Code.
Southern Cross TV Requested regular and ongoing feedback so it could work towards achieving better quality.
Seven Network Not uncomfortable with a Code of Practice. Believes strongly in captioning quality. Indicated that it wanted to sit down with Deafness Forum and look at some of the detail in the draft.
Network Ten Did not believe a Code as proposed is the appropriate way to address quality issues. A rigid set of rules would hinder flexibility. Adoption of a Code would raise false expectations about what is achievable. Suggested contacting Australian Caption Centre if any specific concerns about TEN's captioning.
Sunraysia Television Limited
(STW 9 Perth)
 Code under consideration with Free TV Australia.
Prime TV (including GWN Western Australia) Fully supports and operates in accordance with all Free TV Australia operational practices.
Free TV Australia (the Association for commercial free-to-air broadcasters, including regional networks) Met with Deafness Forum on 1 April 2004. Comfortable with proposal (provided it was not aimed at giving Australian Caption Centre a monopoly on the provision of captioning services). Encouraged Deafness Forum to talk with all metropolitan networks, ABC and SBS, plus Digital Broadcasting Australia (which provides a forum for broadcasters, manufacturers and retailers) and the Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association Ltd (some of whose members manufacture digital set top boxes). Subsequently undertook exercise to develop guidelines for adoption by all commercial networks (including regional networks) as well as ABC and SBS, as internal documents. Notified Deafness Forum formally of the guidelines just prior to 30 March meeting with key TV and caption provider stakeholders.
AUSTAR Would respond through industry association ASTRA.
OPTUS Endorsed approach taken by ASTRA.
ASTRA (Association for pay TV networks) Supported the initiative/principle, provided that the necessary flexibility was retained. Sure broadcast industry would come to a mutually acceptable resolution with Deafness Forum. Met with Forum on 1 April 2004. Provided various detailed suggested amendments in February 2005. Suggested the Code should more appropriately apply to captioning service providers rather than to broadcasters.
FREE and PAY TV INDUSTRY (including ABC and SBS) Representatives of entire TV industry met jointly with Deafness Forum and representatives of captioning providers on 30 March 2005 to discuss guidelines prepared by Free TV and agreed by all networks. In response to Deafness Forum comments on the guidelines, the networks indicated that the omission of a clause regarding pop-up captions was not meant to imply scrolling captions were better. They agreed that pop-up captions were desirable and would look at putting a clause in. They suggested that while the live captioning section in the guidelines currently identified the problems rather than solutions, it wasn’t meant to imply that the general principles did not apply to live captioning situations. They undertook to review that section with a view to incorporating some specific minimum requirements for live captioning. Deafness Forum indicated that it would not want the guidelines to imply something was so hard that it could not be done. The industry indicated that it had seen the Guidelines as explaining to people what captioning is all about, as well as providing guidance. Representatives of TV industry are scheduled to meet with Deafness Forum again on 20 June 2005.

 

Responses from government agencies

Australian Communications Authority Importance of captioning quality understood but can only deal with voluntary codes of practice relating directly to the telecommunications industry.
Australian Broadcasting Authority Would look into possibility of implementing such a proposal. Also advised that the Broadcasting Services Act regulates licensees individually, rather than as part of a network. If a particular licensee has commenced broadcasting in digital mode in an area, that licensee is obliged to provide a captioning service. Many regional licensees have large licence areas covered by multiple transmitters - up to 70. The complete rollout of digital transmissions may take several more years.
Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts Government would endorse a voluntary code of practice for captioning once developed and agreed between the Deafness Forum and the various companies and industry groups involved in broadcasting.