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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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In Touch: Useless subtitles and BSO Resound

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10/07/2018

Useless subtitles and BSO Resound

BBC Radio 4 - In Touch, Useless subtitles and BSO Resound

We ask BBC Current Affairs why stories often have subtitles but no spoken translation.

Joanna Carr, the BBC's head of current affairs, is pressed on why a lack of audio translation is leaving blind and visually impaired people unable to follow news stories.

Too often when watching TV news stories, foreign speakers get subtitles on screen - but there's no spoken English translation. This leaves blind and visually impaired viewers struggling to comprehend huge swathes of international news reports. 
We put the frustrating experience of two listeners to the BBC's Head of Current Affairs Joanna Carr, and ask a head of accessibility and design Gareth Ford Williams for a commitment to change. 
We also hear from flautist Kate Risdon as she prepares for one of the biggest gigs of her career - a proms performance with the BSO Resound Ensemble, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra's dedicated sextet of disabled performers. Tom Walker talks to her about how a top blind musician approaches performance and learning a score. 
Presented by Peter White.
Produced by Kev Core.

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