Shows to be subtitled as part of campaign to help deaf audiences
Theatres, museums and galleries in the UK are supporting Captioning Awareness Week, taking place online until November 15.
The campaign highlights the importance of access to the arts for deaf, deafened and hard of hearing audiences at a time when performances and exhibitions are being accessed online more than ever before.
Highlights during Captioning Awareness Week include a live subtitled performance of Olivier Award-winning play Emilia and a number of renowned shows under the banner of The Shows Must Go On. Live captioned lectures and discussions are also being organised by the British Library, the British Academy and the Royal Society.
Nearly one in five – 18 per cent – of UK adults have hearing loss, yet fewer than one per cent are fluent in British Sign Language.
Captions are similar to television subtitles, but with the actors’ words appearing on screens placed in the set or the side of the stage at the same time as they are spoken or sung.
This live subtitling experience is also available for online performances.
Government figures suggest that more needs to be done during the pandemic to monitor the mental wellbeing of those with hearing loss.
According to the ONS in July, 64 per cent of people with a hearing impairment reported feeling lonely, compared to 44 per cent of nondisabled people.
And 54.8 per cent of people with a hearing impairment reported leaving their home in the past week, compared to 80 per cent of disabled people with a mental health impairment.
The campaign is being organised by the charity Stagetext, which saw an increase in demand for subtitled performances during the lockdown.
In April it provided the subtitling for the Phantom of the Opera, with a2.5 million watching using Stagetext’s subtitles. Some 12.8 million in total watched the performance.
Despite an increase in demand for online performances, access remains patchy.
According to Action on Hearing Loss, 87 per cent of people with hearing loss have attempted to watch a programme on-demand and found it had no subtitles.
Visit www.stagetext.org/ captioning-awareness-week for more information about the campaign.