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2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 15/11/2000
Tribunal Requires Captioning for Deaf Persons
Ottawa – November 15, 2000 – The CBC’s English network and Newsworld have been ordered by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to caption all of their television programming in order to address the needs of deaf persons. "This decision leaves no doubt about the responsibility of broadcasters towards this important segment of their audiences," said CHRC Chief Commissioner Michelle Falardeau-Ramsay. "Television captioning allows deaf and hard-of-hearing persons to be a part of the community. We hope that all broadcasters will recognize their responsibility towards viewers and move to increase program captioning," she added. Henry Vlug of Vancouver filed a complaint with the CHRC alleging that the CBC had discriminated against him and other deaf persons by failing to provide captioning on its television programs. Mr. Vlug stated that the CBC had a policy of removing captioning from broadcasts. He further claimed the CBC failed to continue captioning of programs that it took over from broadcasters who had a practice of captioning. In its decision, the Tribunal ordered the captioning of all programming, including television shows, commercials, promos and unscheduled news flashes, for the entire broadcast day. It dismissed the CBC’s claim that the costs of captioning all programming in its broadcast schedule would constitute an undue hardship. The Tribunal’s ruling is in keeping with two 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decisions that confirmed the duty of employers and service providers to accommodate people with disabilities to the point of undue hardship. For more information: Catherine Barratt
Media and External Relations
(613) 943-9119
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