No captions/subtitles
Can anyone tell me why so many BBC productions, like this one, are not captioned or subtitled? Surely the UK must have its share of citizens with hearing problems.
share[deleted]
Lip reading is inadequate to understanding on both sides of the Atlantic, and the truth is, the British public have trouble understanding regional accents as well. A move by BBC to introduce regional programming resulted in such an uproar over being incomprehensible, RP("proper" pronunciation)is used almost exclusively. You may hear a bit of Manchester or cockney but it's never thick. In fact, regional accents (like Irish, Welsh, Scottish) you do hear are likely to be actors doing imitations, and they are just as irritating to the originals as bad British accents by American actors, and vice versa. Subtitle should be common courtesy especially when we try hard to be proactive about mobility and access. But it's slow going and it's true, for some reason it is thought a sign of stupidity. (Well, to be honest, it's because Americans want it, and American equals stupid.) Subtitles can be distracting but it is very distracting in ANY program with any accent not to catch what is said. Who has never in their life had to ask someone to repeat something because they didn't catch it? In a story, it can totally skew your understanding of the plot. Maybe ITV will do it, then BBC will be huffy and rush to do it better.
shareOK, I'm an American and am stupid. So please BBC, provide subtitles for me and hubby who are hard of hearing! (wink)
shareAdditionally in reference to "subtitles can be distracting," subtitles (when they have them) are generally off by default, and must be turned on, so it is only distracting to those of us who wish to activate them.
I wonder if the real issue is that they are too cheap to pay for it.