Analysis of Consumer Survey on Captions

In 2019, the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) conducted a consumer survey on captions in local TV news. This survey collected more than 900 responses, of which 534 featured open-ended comments. The Captioning DRRP, with permission from HLAA, conducted a qualitative analysis of these comments for major themes. The following three major problems with captions saw the most frequent mentions:

  • Completeness (242 mentions)
  • Synchronicity and timing (153 mentions)
  • Accuracy (123 mentions)

It is clear that for many deaf and hard of hearing consumers of local news, caption quality continues to be a challenge. This analysis was filed with the FCC and is also available in the links below.