This year’s Captioning Awareness Week (11th – 17th November) marks Stagetext’s 24th anniversary in bringing deaf access to arts and culture. This year we are highlighting the 18 million deaf, deafened or hard of hearing adults in the UK.
Recent research by the RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf people) showed that 18 million adults in the UK are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing. That’s 1 in 3 adults, and 6 million more people than previously thought, who might need captions or subtitles to fully enjoy arts and culture.
Stagetext is committed to working with arts and cultural venues to break down barriers and create inclusive experiences for people that can have a transformative effect on both the individual and their social circle. The week-long campaign helps to raise awareness of theatre captioning and subtitling and challenges misconceptions around deaf access.
We’ve worked hard over the last quarter of a century to advocate for and provide deaf access for theatre, live performances, talks, museum tours, book festivals, comedy shows, films and videos.
Adam Churchman, an ambassador for Stagetext said:
“Stagetext has opened up a whole new world of entertainment and culture for me and so many other deaf people. More frequent captioning for tours, talks and discussions would be great to see! It would really help deaf people like myself get involved more in the arts.”
As well as deaf audiences, there are many other people who can benefit from captions. They are useful for anyone for whom English isn’t their first language, for instance, or for people who need support with concentration.
Melanie Sharpe, Stagetext’s CEO, said: “This week we’re celebrating the hundreds of venues across the country that are championing access. With 18 million deaf, deafened and hard of hearing adults in the UK, there’s a huge potential audience for captioned and subtitled events that give everyone the opportunity to laugh, cry, and experience the joys of culture together.”
Find out more and how you can get involved in Captioning Awareness Week 2024.
