Notice of inquiry: Closed captioning of TV material
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission is inquiring under the Disability Discrimination Act into access to closed captioning of television broadcast and cable program services in Australia. The inquiry is intended to inform the Commission in performing the functions set out in that Act.
Submissions are invited on issues which the Commission ought to consider, including
- the extent of captioning currently provided
- any technical, financial or other constraints on captioning, generally or regarding particular classes of material
- relevance of developments in digital technology
- any plans or commitments for increasing the level of captioning provided, prior to and following conversion to digital transmission
- any issues regarding availability and pricing of television receivers with capacity to decode captions
- the relationship to existing obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act of current legislative proposals in the Television Broadcasting Services (Digital Conversion) Bill and the Captioning for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bill
- relevance of overseas requirements in this area including the United StatesClosed Captioning Rules
- actions which the Commission should take or recommend to government, Parliament or relevant regulatory agencies
- whether the Commission ought to extend its inquiry to include captioning of videos for rental, sale or other distribution.
The Commission intends to make submissions available on its Internet site and, after considering initial submissions, to produce an issues paper for public comment in a second stage of the inquiry. Any confidential information submitted should be clearly marked as such and be accompanied by a non-confidential summary. Submissions are requested by 4 September 1998, preferably by email to disabdis@hreoc.gov.au. Submissions may also be sent by mail to David Mason, Captioning Inquiry, HREOC, Box 5218, Sydney 1042. Where submissions are sent by mail a copy on IBM format disc is requested if possible.