Let’s Talk: Do you watch TV with captions?

Closed Captions (CCs) have changed the way many Australians engage with their TVs. For some, it’s a simple convenience. For others, it’s an absolute necessity.

By law, the five major free-to-air channels must offer captioning on shows broadcast 6pm and midnight. This ensures those with hearing loss can still access all prime-time news, current affairs and entertainment.

But practically every Australian has benefited at one point or another from captioning – whether quietly watching in a doctor’s waiting room, or casually working around background noise at home.

This raises a vital question: is our current closed captioning service good enough?

Our partners at We’re All Ears recently asked readers in the hearing loss community how satisfied they were with captioning. The response was passionate and diverse.

For many, it was an essential tool for keeping up with the world. But many felt the delivery itself left something to be desired.

It only takes a few seconds of captioned live TV to realise things are far from perfect, with several seconds of delay. This can be a major concern when it comes to following news or sports coverage.

Rather than making comprehension easier, the lag between delivery and caption often confuse matters further. Add to this the occasional mistakes and gaps, and it’s clear there’s room for improvement.

Today we’d like to extend this important discussion to Starts at 60 readers:

Do you rely on closed captions to watch TV? Is it necessary, or a simple convenience? And is this service good enough for your needs?

Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

This conversation is sponsored by Connect Hearing. It was written as we feel it delivers valuable insights into a health topic important to the Starts at 60 community. For more information, please visit the Connect Hearing website or call 1300 362 231.