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Source-This post on Democratizing Entertainment Industry has been created based on the article “Everyone should be able to watch TV — including those with disabilities” published in “The Indian Express” on 26 February 2024.
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News-The article highlights the need for making entertainment space accessible to all.
Background– Persons with audio and visual disabilities have
approached the Delhi High Court to ensure that all films in theatres, on TV, and OTT provide accessibility features like Audio Description (AD) for the visually impaired and Same Language Captions (SLC).
What is the legal status of accessibility in the entertainment industry?
There are four legislative policy and judicial interventions in 2016, 2019 and 2023 which aims to ensure accessible entertainment space to disabled.
1) The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 empowers every person to have the right to entertainment.
2) Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Accessibility Standards (AS, 2019) for TV mandates that half the entertainment content on TV should be accessible to disabled.
3) The Delhi High Court ordered Yash Raj Films in 2023 to deposit AD and SLC files of their blockbuster film, Pathaan, with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
4) The Delhi High Court recently ordered the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to designate a special officer to deal with accessibility features on specific films.
A detailed article on Persons with Disabilities: Rights, Challenges and Solutions can be read here.
What are the Challenges in the Entertainment space for Disabled in India?
1) Lack of Accessibility: There is lack of accessibility features like Audio Description (AD) for the visually impaired and Same Language Captions (SLC) for the hearing impaired.
2) Limited Awareness: Disabled people in India are not aware of their rights.
3) Language Barriers: There is a significant language barrier in India, with a vast population speaking different regional languages. The number of accessible TV serials, across all languages, is around 60.
4) Ineffective implementation of existing provisions: TV networks have not implemented Same Language Captions (SLC) on serials.
For ex– SLC on TV serials in the top five languages averaged just over 8 per cent. In the other Indian languages, and content genres, it is near zero.
What should be the Way Forward?
1) Accessibility Standards-India should implement accessibility standards to ensure that entertainment space is accessible to persons with
isabilities.
2) Sensitization-The government can sensitize the entertainment service providers, developers, and designers on accessibility and inclusive design.
3) Disabled Friendly Policies-The Indian government can create policies that can incentivize companies to implement accessibility standards and inclusive design in their entertainment services. For ex- MIB’s needs to notify the long overdue AS, 2019 for TV.
