Greater Access, Better Learning

RTÉ is committed to improving access services and providing tangible educational tools for citizens.

Irish Sign Language (ISL) Awareness Week (Monday 19th – Sunday 25th September)

RTÉ marked Irish Sign Language Awareness Week in 2022 with some special ISL programming and content across our services throughout the week. From Nationwide on Monday 19th September which included ISL on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player to Deaf and Hard of Hearing contributors on News2Day and RTÉ Player throughout and week and from children’s programmes featuring ISL on RTÉjr and RTÉ2 to a catalogue of ISL programming on RTÉ Player, RTÉ underlined its commitment to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Ireland.

Online feedback sessions

As part of ISL Awareness Week, and as part of RTÉ’s engagement with the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind and Visually Impaired in Ireland, RTÉ ran a two-hour ‘Online Feedback Session’ on Friday 23rd September. This was an important element in RTÉ’s ongoing interest in learning more about the experiences of those using our ISL and subtitled content. This session covered a wide range of topics and focused on the user experience.

We also hosted separate Audience Insights sessions focusing on our broadcast services and their accessibility. We promoted the sessions widely through our social channels and by communicating directly with representative groups and their members. In December RTÉ’s Annual Access Meeting was for the first time open to all to attend and was promoted widely. The Annual Access Meeting, like all RTÉ access events, was made accessible through ISL interpreters and Speech to Text and included a comprehensive question and answer session about subtitling and ISL in which RTÉ staff with responsibility for key areas were available to answer questions and receive valuable feedback.

Blind and Visually Impaired users have welcomed RTÉ’s improvements in our Audio Description over the past year. We have trained, to an international standard, a new cohort of Irish Audio Description voices to an international standard to not just increase the volume but also the quality and range of genres we provide.

ISL on The Late Late Toy Show

In 2022 RTÉ employed Amanda Coogan, Jason Maguire and Ciara Grant to present The Late Late Toy Show live with ISL on RTÉ Player and the RTÉ News for a second year. The show was available to stream shortly after the live broadcast. Audio Description (AD) was available for the repeat on Sunday at 3.15pm and on Monday night, and afterwards on RTÉ Player. A fully accessible version (with subtitles, ISL and AD) was then broadcast on Wednesday 30th November, which was also be available to stream. RTÉ also provided Audio Description (AD) for Blind and Vision Impaired audiences on the Sunday repeat and this AD version was available on RTÉ Player after the programme aired on television. The programme was audio described by Clara Murray and Kevin Sherwin.

The response from the Deaf and the wider community to being able to be part of the audience at home enjoying the most-watched television programme in Ireland every year continues be overwhelmingly positive. RTÉ Player views of the Late Late Toy Show ISL have grown to nearly 40,000 during the programme.

Improving Access

Across RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and RTÉjr, RTÉ exceeded all its targets for the provision of subtitles, audio description and ISL in 2022. These targets are set by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (replaced by Coimisiún na Meán in 2023). During 2022, 99.1% of all peak-time programming on RTÉ One was available with subtitles, while 99.93% of peak-time programmes on RTÉ2 were available with subtitles. On RTÉjr over 61% of all programmes were available with subtitles.

RTÉ’s investment in recruiting and training a panel of audio describers has enabled us to increase RTÉ’s volume and range of accessible content on our channels, with a particular focus on Irish content, including drama.

A week of science

A week of ‘infinite possibilities’ was the theme of Science Week 2022 which RTÉ supported, in partnership with Science Foundation Ireland, with a wide range of specially themed content across RTÉ television, radio, and online, from Sunday 13th November until Sunday 20th November. In another year in which global science and health news were a consistent presence in our lives, Science Week was a big focus for across RTÉ.

From the return of Future Island with host, Anna Daly to 10 Things To Know About, and from the RTÉjr Radio Podcast, Let’s Dive In to Episode 1 of Atom Town, the new cartoon themed around the periodic table, RTÉ had plenty in store for curious minds, including the exploration of ways in which we can reduce carbon emission and help save our planet.