Ofcom notes that the quality of pre-prepared captions (which are called ‘subtitles’ in the UK) is generally very good, and the majority of complaints it receives are related to live captioning. As caption quotas have risen, so have the number of programs being captioned live. Most of this captioning is now undertaken using speech recognition technology, but this is imperfect and errors are common.
Following consultation with viewers and representative groups, Ofcom has concluded that the four key dimensions that affect the quality of live captions are:
- Latency – the delay between speech and captions
- Inaccuracy
- Intermittent captions
- Presentation – whether captions scroll across the screen or appear as blocks of text
Ofcom is proposing that broadcasters report every six months on the speed and accuracy of their captions, the delay between captions and dialogue, the number of programs which have been captioned live because they were completed late, and any technical failures which have occurred.
Another suggestion is that ‘live’ programs be delayed by about 20 seconds, allowing more time for captioners to prepare captions and send them as blocks of text. Ofcom has asked broadcasters to comment on the feasibility of this approach (which has been adopted by one broadcaster in the Netherlands).
As part of its consultation process, Ofcom has compiled a comprehensive report which looks at viewers’ experience of live captions, research carried out into how people watch captions, the production and transmission of live captions, and measures put in place by regulators around the world to improve their quality.
The report notes, “In early discussions with representative groups, broadcasters, and subtitling providers, it soon became apparent that there is no one solution – to achieve an appreciable improvement in the quality of live subtitling, small improvements would be needed in several areas.”
Ofcom is allowing up to ten weeks for public comment on its proposals.
The situation with live captioning in Australia is very similar to that in the UK. Live captioning is much more common than it used to be, and the complaints that people make about it here are the same as those of their British counterparts.
Ofcom’s report notes that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has been developing a set of guidelines it will use to judge caption quality, taking into account their readability, accuracy and comprehensibility. A draft of these was released in December, with the final version due by the end of June.
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