Channel 4 viewers have been without proper subtitles for nearly a month and the broadcaster has finally given further insight as to when they will be back.
Earlier this week, it was announced those who required subtitles, sign language and audio description may have to wait until the middle of next month for these to return in full.
But the has broadcaster promised the number of programmes with subtitles will increase ‘over the coming days.’
Fan favourites including Great British Bake Off, The Last Leg and Gogglebox, as well as Channel 4 News and the coverage of Formula One racing, will carry subtitles.
Channel 4 said it had achieved this ‘by changing the way our channels are broadcast.’
The broadcaster has confirmed it has begun to bring subtitles back to programmes on Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media and All 4.
It had already started to add subtitles to some of the channel’s biggest shows on online catch-up.
Channel 4 was among several broadcasters who experienced initial issues when TV company Red Bee Media, which handles playout services and broadcasting technology, was involved in a fire scare incident.
It saw services on the channel, as well as some others such as Channel 5, go down for around 25 minutes but despite this happening on September 25, the issue is still not completely resolved.
Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom revealed it received over 500 complaints due to the ongoing issue, which started nearly four weeks ago.
The regulator also criticised the channel for the lack of subtitles, with the National Deaf Children’s Society and charity Signal also addressing concerns over the fiasco.
Jo Rose, an Outreach Worker at Signal and Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) user, previously spoke to us with her interpreter, Abbie Knight about how the deaf community felt left ‘in the dark’ over the lack of aids available.
She said to Metro.co.uk: ‘The deaf community are really angry with this and no one seems to be taking it seriously, it can’t be answered really as to why no hasn’t been taking it seriously.’
Subtitles remain unavailable for Freesat viewers, with all audio description and sign language services still not on offer.
Channel 4 said this will remain the case until ‘we move to the new system that is being built and tested.’
It issued a revised statement on Tuesday, once again apologising for the lack of access for some viewers.
The broadcaster said: ‘Channel 4 would like to apologise to viewers for not currently being able to provide access services, we realise how frustrating this is for our viewers.
Addressing the lengthy amount of time it is taking for things to resume as normal, it added: ‘We cannot rush this and run the risk of something going wrong.
‘Something like this needs to be installed slowly to ensure our channels don’t come off air and to prevent something like this from happening again.
‘That means that full access services might not be available until the middle of November. Clearly, if we can do anything to speed up this process, we will.’
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