Promoting accessibility and inclusion on the ITV News Instagram page: We wrote to you on 6th June 2025 regarding posts, reels, and stories on your ITV Instagram pages (example ITVnews, ITVpolitics, ITVtynetees). We highlighted that your pages continue to share videos, posts and reels with no captioning, meaning deaf and hard of hearing audiences cannot access your news content on social media platforms equitably. And, we were disappointed to receive no response.
We would like to see ITV adding captions to all its online content, across all its platforms, where there is spoken word.
We believe it’s especially important that you do not rely on auto-generated captions, these are not sufficient. Auto generated captions are unreliable, they do not always translate accurately and can fail when there is ‘cross talk’ or background sound and music. News platforms, where users rely on accurate and up-to-date information, must be free from errors and mistakes. Many social media platforms offer functionality, for free, to add captions to videos that can be reviewed and amended before the videos are uploaded, meaning this process takes no more than one or two minutes of additional time.
Accessibility is not an optional extra, it is a right.
#CaptionTheNews Campaign
Difference North East have signed up to the #CaptionTheNews campaign. We will be sharing this with our members across the North East. As the petition creator Liam O’Dell states:
“There are urgent, pressing news stories which require accurate, high-quality reporting and accessibility to reach the largest possible audience… Sensitive legal stories where the wrong mistake can land organisations in trouble.
Only providing access to select news stories on ITV News and ITV Politics’ social channels not only undermines ITV’s commitment to accessibility by association. But also ITN’s work meeting basic journalistic standards and principles.”
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further information.
Yours Sincerely,
Claire Andrews
Development Manager
[Via email to: ITV accessibility team: accessibility@itv.com
cc VP, social: claire.hoang@itv.com 5th August 2025]