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We provide substantial levels of subtitling, signing and audio description on the programmes we broadcast, so they can be accessed and enjoyed by people who suffer from poor vision or hearing.

We have an access service policy in place for each ITV channel, tailored to suit its specific audience profile. We are in regular contact with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and Royal National Institute of Deaf People (RNID) to obtain feedback from their members about the access services we provide.

In 2009 we exceeded all Ofcom targets and our own internal targets for access services. The table below shows our performance in providing audio description, subtitling and signing.

Improving access for the deaf and hard of hearing

Over 95% of the ITV1 schedule is subtitled, which means nearly every programme – except some shown during the night - carries subtitles. We have increased the amount of subtitling on our digital channels, particularly on ITV3 which tends to have a more mature audience. In 2009, 83% of ITV3 programmes had subtitles – nearly a third more than in 2008 and more than double the 35% target. Our aim is for all peak time digital programming, as well as programmes on digital channels associated with flagship ITV1 shows (such as The Xtra Factor on ITV2), to be subtitled.

Nearly 6% of programmes on ITV1 in 2009 were signed, as well as nearly 4% on ITV2 and ITV3. We did not do any visual signing on ITV4 or CiTV in 2009 because we decided instead to follow an alternative arrangement suggested by Ofcom. In 2009, Ofcom established the British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust (BSLBT) to make special visually signed programmes for the Community Channel. It invited channels with a low audience share – including ITV4 and CiTV –to contribute towards the BSLBT rather than provide signing.

SignPost

SignPost (www.signpostbsl.com) is our award-winning, in-house signing facility. Originally set up to provide signing for television, SignPost now provides online signing services and content in sign language and about sign language. We offer all SignPost services for free.

We run an online news service providing items of particular interest to the signing community. In 2009 we broadcast a new series, Sign Languages of the World, which profiled diverse international sign languages including Arabic, Croatian, Japanese, Spanish and Sri Lankan.

Other recently-launched SignPost services include:

• SignedStories (www.signedstories.com), a website designed to encourage deaf children to read. Around 85 children’s books are available on the website in voice, sign and text to help children improve their signing and English language skills. We aim to upload a new book every month. SignedStories is used by 200,000 children in 100 countries. It is recommended by the British Association of Teachers of the Deaf and has won several awards.
• ITV BabySign (www.itvbabysign.com), which teaches parents to communicate with both hearing and deaf babies before they learn to speak.

Due to financial constraints we were unable to launch BSL TV, an online sign language channel, in 2009 as planned. We intend to continue developing the service in 2010, to create a one-stop-shop for news, information, entertainment and educational content for the signing community.

Awards won by SignPost in 2009 include:

• International Visual Communications Association (IVCA) Clarion Award for Charity and Social Enterprise
• Royal Association for Disability Rights (RADAR) People of the Year Human Rights Award for ‘Doing IT Differently’
• Royal Television Society (RTS) Regional North East and Borders Award for ‘Best Online Production’, for SignedStories

We were also shortlisted for an award from Signature, a national organisation for the development and advancement of communications with deaf people.

SignPost employs many deaf and hard-of-hearing professionals who are supported at work by sign language interpreters from the UK government’s Access to Work scheme. Read more about employee diversity at ITV.

Improving access for the blind and partially-sighted

Audio description is a spoken word commentary that describes what is happening on screen for people who are visually impaired. Audio description was available for over 17% of programmes shown on ITV1 in 2009.

We meet twice a year with the RNIB and maintain regular contact with them. We take on board their recommendations to do as much audio description as possible, and in 2009 provided this service on an average of 17% of programmes across ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4, more than twice the average target. We believe that quality is more important than quantity, so we are careful to choose the programmes we think will be most enjoyed by the blind and partially sighted.

In 2009, ITV engaged closely with Ofcom on its Review of Audio Description and awaits the outcome of the regulator’s consultation with interest.