Broadcasting
Legislation/regulations
Analogue TV
Under Section 18 of the broadcasting code (Act No. 308/2000) public broadcasters have the following duties/obligations:
- At least 25% of all the broadcast programs on each TV channel will be provided with hidden or open captions within five years of the law coming into force.
- At least 1% of all the broadcast programs on one TV channel will be translated to sign language or will be broadcast in sign language.
There are no measures or provisions in relation to audio description of programs (on analogue channels) for blind people.
There appears to be no obligation on private broadcasters to provide accessibility services/features.
Digital TV
New legislation on digital broadcasting is expected to provide for the gradual provision of audio-described broadcasting as well as a subtitling target.
Other initiatives
The strategy of transformation from analogue to digital terrestrial TV broadcasting contains requirements regarding accessibility of TV services for disabled people. The Government set support for access for disabled people to digital broadcasting, including supporting them to obtain the end user equipment (for people with vision and hearing disabilities) as a priority.
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We are interested in receiving any corrections and/or additional information that may help us to update or improve our understanding of the current state of affairs in this country concerning the accessibility of TV broadcasting. This may concern information on relevant legislation, other policies and/or the level of accessibility actually achieved. Please enter your contribution in the “Leave a Reply” box below or send an e-mail to meac at empirica dot com.
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