The Broadcasting Coordination Council approved a draft decision that obliges broadcasters to daily transmit by a newscast in sign language or with subtitles and dubbing for persons with hearing and visual impairments between 5pm and 11pm, IPN reports.
The subtitles must be placed at the bottom of the screen, have a readable size and match the broadcast images. In news bulletins, while interviewing persons, their names, surnames and posts should be uttered. The TV channels will broadcast weather forecasts in video and audio formats. After each weather forecast, the broadcasters will indicate the sources use to present these.
The programs of major importance or their summary, the emergency, public health or security messages will be broadcast in sign language or with subtitles in the Romanian language.
As of January 1, 2018, each TV channel with national coverage will be obliged to ensure the accessibility of persons with hearing or visual impairments to program services during election campaigns. The electoral debates will be retransmitted in sign language or with subtitles. The national broadcasters will also have to ensure accessibility to all the news updates and electoral ads by transmitting these in sign language or with subtitles.
Attending the meeting of the Council, representatives of the broadcasters argued there is a shortage of sign language interpreters and they will be unable to implement the decision. In this connection, the representative of the Association of the Deaf said they are ready to help the broadcasters with the necessary elements given that the Association trains sign language interpreters.
In Moldova there are 17 authorized sign language interpreters working with the Association of the Deaf and these can be contracted by broadcasters to interpret news bulletins.
