ITV under fire for deaf services cutbacks
ITV bosses are coming under fire after making cutbacks to their sign-language department, Signpost.
The department is shedding seven of its 24 sign language experts who appear on programmes for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The British Deaf Association (BDA) has called for ITV to reconsider its position, stating deaf people deserve to have more coverage, not less, on UK channels.
ITV, which supplies the Signpost service to other TV channels, said it has to make the cuts due to new regulatory changes that have seen its contracts dry up.
In January 2009, Ofcom introduced new arrangements for the provision of signing on low audience channels to better meet the needs of British Sign Language (BSL) users. However, this has since been questioned by the BDA, as deaf people still aren’t given enough choice in broadcasting issues.
A spokesperson for the BDA hoped that ITV would reconsider its decision. It pointed out that deaf viewers are an important audience and there is a responsibility from ITV to ensure they do not experience a reduced service to accessible programmes, which the rest of society takes for granted.
As featured on Sundaysun.co.uk.
