It is frustrating that captions are increasingly NOT being included in streaming and in replays of government TV announcements when they appear on social media.
An estimated 1.2 million Australians rely on captions every day, and there are countless more who find themselves in busy and loud environments (or are listening to music) when they watch social media.
It is great to see that Auslan interpreters are being included in emergency and disaster broadcasts for the 10,000 people in Australia whose first language is Auslan. We’ve been arguing for this for 2 decades and it’s to the credit of Deaf societies and individual Deaf advocates that it is being achieved (not always but often).
To be clear, all government announcements no matter how they are delivered must have BOTH captions and an Auslan interpreter.
The best thing we can do as a community is to add a comment to every Government video we see on social media when captions aren’t there – “where are the captions?” And tell your friends to do the same.
