Closed captioning in Latinamerica

Closed captioning is available in some Latin-American countries.

Some countries in Latin-America have passed laws and regulations regarding closed captioning on television, and some TV channels have started providing this service because deaf and hearing impaired viewers demand it. Closed captioning is free of charge and is possible in all TV sets manufactured after 1993. To enjoy this service, you must choose the subtitles or closed captioning option offered via your remote control in your text TV. Argentina Argentina pioneered closed captioning technology in Latin-American broadcasting. The Canal 7 public national network provided this service in august 2000. By 2002, seven hours of programming was closed captioned daily, including the evening news. Three million hearing impaired Argentinean viewers enjoy from this service.

Peru

In Peru, closed captioning technology was introduced in 2004. The national Canal 7 TV is currently fulfilling the minimal requirements established in the Law of Audiovisual Media. The main news broadcasting are closed captioned, and closed captioning is being phased in for the benefit of more than half a million hearing impaired Peruvians.

Mexico

In Mexico, the private Azteca America and Azteca 13 channels introduced closed captioning in 2005. This broadcast network offers real-time captioning for the main news and some entertaining shows. The goal is to increase the number of hours with closed captioning in the near future due to the demand of almost seven million Mexican viewers with hearing loss.

Chile

Chile has no law regulating closed captioning. The efforts of some associations for people with disabilities and for the hearing impaired helped introduce closed captioning technology in the national television of Chile (TVN), and the public Canal 13 channel in 2005.

Columbia

In Colombia, the technology required for closed captioning was acquired following an agreement in 1997 between the Ministry of Communications and the National Institute for Deaf People. Some public channels such as Canal Capital of Bogota, RCN-Caracol, Inravision and some regional channels are introducing real time captioning in some programming.

Sources: www.subtitulosocultos.org.ar, www.conadisperu.gob.pe, www.fonadis.cl, teletrece.canal13.cl, www.insor.gov.co, www.sitiodesordos.com.ar and www.elportaldesordos.com