10th consecutive National Day Rally to have sign language interpreter as S'pore aims for more accessible content

SINGAPORE - Sunday's (Aug 21) National Day Rally will be the 10th since 2012 to have a sign language interpreter convey Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's speech - the most important political one of the year.

This includes independent efforts from the Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf) as well as collaborations with the Prime Minister's Office and national broadcaster Mediacorp.

It will also mark the sixth year that captions, open or closed, are provided by national broadcaster Mediacorp so viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing can read what he says.

Closed captions also include descriptions of background noises and other audio cues.

There was no Rally in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Mediacorp said that for selected major live events like the Rally and the National Day Parade, it provides such captioning as part of ensuring that programmes are as accessible as possible to all audiences.

For selected national messages, it also has sign language interpreters where production allows for it, it added.

Mediacorp did not respond to questions on which types of its programmes are currently not accessible and the barriers to making them accessible.

The issue of subtitling, closed captions and sign language interpretation was raised in the Enabling Masterplan 2030, released on Wednesday (Aug 17) with clear targets set out to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

These goals include having 70 per cent of free-to-air television content to be made accessible by 2030, up from 48 per cent now. This could be done through subtitling, captioning or sign language interpretation.

The report added that the remaining 30 per cent comprises largely live and near-live programmes, for which captioning technology is not at a sufficiently high level of accuracy for general use.

Mr Alvan Yap, deputy director of the Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf), said on Friday that the 70 per cent goal is a "laudable step forward" but hopes the gap can be closed further.

"We look forward to fully accessible media and fulfilling the ultimate goal of equal access to information, communication and entertainment as envisioned by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities," he added.

The convention is a global agreement led by the United Nations that aims to guarantee equal rights for people with disabilities. Singapore ratified it in 2013.

According to SADeaf, there are an estimated 500,000 people in Singapore who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Mr Yap added: "We hope that such access is also available and provided for live programmes such as election rally speeches on TV, announcements of election results, and National Day Parades, and not confined to pre-recorded or scripted shows."

Ms Vanessa Neo, a 28-year-old graphic designer who is deaf, echoed the importance of making programmes more accessible. She regularly watches YouTube, Netflix and Disney+ content with English subtitles activated.

She said that when Korean dramas such as Business Proposal have English dialogue which does not come with subtitles, she would skip the scenes as she would not understand them.

"Sometimes, when my fiance is available, he will transcribe what is being said. But most of the time, he is unable to do so," added Ms Neo, whose fiance has normal hearing.

Mediacorp said on Friday that prime-time shows on TV from 7pm to 11pm on free-to-air channels such as 5 and 8 have closed captions, as well as selected non-prime-time programmes.

Some news bulletins on free-to-air channels, including the vernacular ones, have closed captions.

These contribute to about 48 per cent of Mediacorp's free-to-air programmes that currently have closed captions.

Correction note: This article has been updated for clarity.