ITV has agreed to add a British Sign Language version of an election debate programme to its on-demand platform after pressure from a deaf campaigner.
The BBC reported that the recent debate between Prime Minister Rishi Sukan and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer included subtitles but not a live translation.
Katherine Rowley told the BBC she “felt very disappointed” that she could not follow the debate live.
ITV responded to a letter from Katherine’s lawyer and said adding signing to live broadcasts “involves a considerable degree of planning and additional resource.”
The BBC reported that The Communications Act 2003 requires that at least fiver per cent of broadcast content must be translated into sign language and that most content should include subtitles.
The BBC also quoted research saying that many who use BSL as their first language struggle with English subtitles because they have a lower than average reading ability as a result of reading being based on spoken language.
Katherine’s lawyer Chris Fry told BBC News that equality laws should be updated to close the five per cent target “loophole” and make sure key content in the public interest is available in accessible formats.
He said: “My kids tune into Horrible Histories sometimes and they’ve got BSL on there. If you’re going to provide it on kids’ broadcasts great – but what makes broadcasts on the elections less important than that?”
He added that there are other accessibility issues around elections, including visually impaired people receiving leaflets through the post.
ITV responded that it recognised Katherine would be disappointed by the absence of sign language but it also said she had no basis to bring a claim of discrimination. A spokesperson added that a BSL version of the programme would be made available on the on-demand platform and all election content would carry subtitles.
ITV also said it considers accessibility and inclusion to be “very important”.
Katherine said: “I felt very disappointed that I couldn’t follow the debate. It’s an important part of our way of life, voting. Equality shouldn’t have to be an afterthought.”
Chris called on political parties to provide BSL translations of their broadcasts and manifestos during the election campaign.
