Sign language on television

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may not meet the general notability guideline or one of the following specific guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. If you are familiar with the subject matter, please expand or rewrite the article to establish its notability. The best way to address this concern is to reference published, third-party sources about the subject. If notability cannot be established, the article is more likely to be considered for redirection, merge or ultimately deletion, per Wikipedia:Guide to deletion.
This article has been tagged since January 2008.

This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it.
Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (January 2008)

Sign language on television is the use of a signer for a television programme. The signer usually appears in the bottom corner of the screen, with the programme being broadcast full size or slightly shrunk away from that corner.

Paddy Ladd initiated deaf programming on British television in the 1980s and is credited with getting sign language on television and enabling deaf children to be educated in sign. ^[1]

In traditional, analog, televisions, many programs are repeated, often in the early hours of the morning, with the signer present rather than have them appear at the main broadcast time.^[2] This is due to the distraction they cause to those not wishing to see the signer.^{[citation needed]} Some emerging television technologies allow the viewer to turn the signer on and off in a similar manner to subtitles and closed captioning.^[3]

Legal requirements covering sign language on television vary from country to country. In the United Kingdom, The Broadcasting Act 1996 addresses the requirements for blind and deaf viewers.^[4]