RTL Group | Cologne, 06/27/2023

Accessible Content At RTL Deutschland

As part of “Diversity Week”, RTL Deutschland placed the topic of inclusion at the center of its comprehensive content offers – from television to radio and print magazines, as well as on social media. The reporting on the “Special Olympic World Games” in Berlin was part of it. However, exactly how barrier-free and accessible is the content RTL Deutschland and its media offer throughout the year? RTL has compiled the most important facts related to this question.

Last Sunday, “Diversity Week”  ended at RTL Deutschland. From June 19-25, the topic of inclusion stood at the center of the comprehensive content offers this year – from television to radio and print magazines, as well as on social media. The aim was to make diversity visible in all of its facets. Also on June 25, the “Special Olympic World Games”, the world’s largest inclusive sport event with around 7,000 athletes with mental and multiple disabilities, came to an end in Berlin, with Bertelsmann and RTL as media partners. Several employees of RTL seized the opportunity to personally support the event and its participants as Corporate Volunteers. At the occasion of the theme week and the “Special Olympics”, Stephan Schmitter, in his former role as Managing Director Program & Brands and Chief Content Officer of RTL Deutschland, and Mirijam Trunk, Chief Crossmedia Officer and Chief Sustainability & Diversity Officer at RTL Deutschland, welcomed representatives and athletes of the “Special Olympics” as well as guests from politics and sports for a get-together at Bertelsmann Unter den Linden 1 in Berlin. In addition, RTL Deutschland published a “Whitepaper Inklusive Dreharbeiten” (Whitepaper Inclusive Filming), which gives recommendations for fictional TV productions featuring cognitively impaired actors. The reporting on such special events is one aspect, the other is the content, which RTL Deutschland and its media offer throughout the year. But how barrier-free – meaning accessible for people with all kinds of disabilities – is this content? How and to what extent can people with visual or hearing impairments consume television programs? Set against this background, RTL Deutschland has compiled the most important facts.

What types of accessible content does RTL offer?

It is important for us to promote the equality of individuals with disabilities in our content as well as its broadcast. Therefore, we focused on the topic of inclusion as part of this year’s “Diversity Week” and are part of the media alliance with the “Special Olympics”. For all people to equally take part in our content, we rely on the continuous expansion of accessible content through subtitling and audio description. Subtitling is composed of barrier-free content on the linear channels RTL, Vox, Nitro, RTL Zwei, and NTV. Generally, all movies and football matches are subtitled. In addition to the linear offers, selected content is played out on the streaming platform RTL+ in an accessible way. In 2021, 735 hours of accessible content was available. For people with hearing impairments, we offer subtitling of the selected formats. Furthermore, we offer text-to-speech on rtl.de, with AI-generated voices reading out the texts. The voices were added by RTL presenter Maik Meuser and podcast host Inken Wriedt. For people with visual impairments, selected formats are available with audio description.

Why doesn’t RTL provide universal accessibility yet?

We want to have all of RTL’s content as an accessible offer, and this is our long-term goal. However, playing out subtitles or audio descriptions involves high personnel and financial expenditures, which cannot easily be simultaneously expanded to all content (in a privately financed company). Therefore, two challenges are decisive: providing high-quality accessible content and the technological implementation of the playout. For both challenges, we are constantly working on solutions that meet RTL’s quality standards. For the future, we see AI-generated speech-to-text solutions as a big lever for providing accessible content.

What programs on RTL include subtitles?

In linear programming, we distinguish between live subtitling and subtitling for recorded content. Both are implemented by external service providers or purchased in the case of license purchases to maintain our own quality standards. It is important for us to offer individuals with hearing impairments the same high-quality TV experience. On average, the daily subtitling rate of RTL Deutschland in 2021 amounted to around 17 percent. This equals about four hours of daily subtitling. 14 percent of it goes to subtitling for people with hearing impairments, and three percent to simple subtitles. It is our ambition to continuously expand our accessible content with subtitles. Our selected formats include, for example, the daily soaps “GZSZ”, “Alles was zählt”, and “Unter Uns”, but we also subtitle ratings highlights such as “Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!”. In 2021, RTL Deutschland subtitled nine primetime formats per day on average. All football matches are also subtitled – such as the sports highlight in the UEFA Europa League semi-final Eintracht Frankfurt against FC Barcelona. On our streaming platform RTL+, we are using automated AI-generated subtitles for the first time, in addition to externally created subtitles. As the technology progresses, this will be continuously expanded.

What programs on RTL include audio descriptions?

Since 2021, we have also been offering audio description for content to offer viewers with visual impairments barrier-free participation in our content. Together with the app “Greta & Starks”, which makes audio description and subtitles for films and TV formats accessible, the format “Der Lehrer” was played out with the audio description option. Here, too, we intend further expansion to make larger parts of the RTL program accessible for people with visual impairments. This year, for example, season three of “Sisi” will get audio description.

Does RTL offer accessible advertising?

Advertising is also moving into the focus regarding accessibility. We are always searching for new developments to enable viewers with hearing impairments the comprehensive participation in our program. The technical playout of the subtitles represents the biggest hurdle. However, we are examining the possibilities of offering subtitled advertisements to our advertising clients. Accessible advertising forms were offered in this year’s “Diversity Week” with a focus on inclusion. We hope to receive cooperation and the willingness in the advertising market to gain important insights that will allow us to expand our offers for accessible advertising in the future. The campaign elements of the RTL initiative “Diversity Unites” as part of “Diversity Week” were all played out with fixed subtitles.