Several candidates behind desks, a short sentence that sets fire to the powder, verbal jousts that fuse and turn into a general hubbub. If political debates can sometimes be difficult for an average viewer to follow, it is mission impossible for the more than six million deaf and hard of hearing French citizens.
This is highlighted, five months before the 2022 presidential election, by an unprecedented study carried out by Ifop for the Jean-Jaurès Foundation and Média’Pi, an information site dedicated to deaf and hard of hearing people. According to this study published Monday, November 8, 69% of deaf and hard of hearing people questioned believe that the subtitles are not of sufficient quality to follow a political debate. However, subtitling is the only means imposed by the Superior Audiovisual Council (CSA) to make these face-to-face meetings intelligible to this population.
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With the approach of the presidential election, the question of the accessibility of political debates on television arises all the more so as 71% of the deaf and hard of hearing say they get information via the small screen, thanks to the subtitles and the translation into sign language. And this despite the many bugs, the latency times (which can range from 30 seconds to a minute of lag, as reported Express in 2017) and other disappointments that the deaf can encounter in front of the small screen. Not to mention the personalities present on the sets, who stop, shout at each other, mumble. A reality impossible to transcribe live in writing and which is a feat for a sign language interpreter (LSF) alone.
“We know that conversations are difficult to caption, tip David Medioni, author of the study, interviewed by franceinfo. But we wanted to draw media attention to this problem now, a few months before the presidential election. The idea is not to point the finger at them, but to get things done. “
The situation is however far from being as catastrophic as in the past. For 58% of respondents, the media have “Make efforts” to make their content more accessible to the deaf community.
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According to a notice published in July 2021 by the CSA concerning the representation of disability on the air and the accessibility of television programs to people with disabilities, the channels have increased their offers of subtitled programs (up to 1 170 additional hours on France 3), as well as the hourly volume of information editions translated into LSF.
“It was a great struggle for television to give us quality subtitles, and above all, sign language interpreters”, explains to franceinfo Noémie Churlet, actress and director of Média’Pi. But if the subtitles are obligatory, the translation in LSF, it is not, recalls Jean-Louis Navarro, director of production “dressing and accessibility” at France Televisions.
In many cases, however, sign language interpreters are essential. Many deaf people have difficulty reading French. What to create “fracture”, “two worlds that do not meet”, analysis Noémie Churlet. “Which has terrible consequences for fully participating in society.” Deaf since the age of 2, the actress has long felt excluded from the society that surrounded her. As “many deaf and hard of hearing”, for years, Noémie Churlet put her right to vote in parentheses.
“At 18, when I was given my voter card, I rejected it.”
Noémie Churlet, deaf actress and director of Média’Pito franceinfo
For a long time, she could not follow the news on television. And even less political debates. “I could read, but in my reading and in the language of the political world, I lacked a lot of context that I did not have”, she says. She’s not the only one. In all, 21% of the deaf and hard of hearing questioned say they face the same difficulties in accessing the media and information, reports the Ifop-Jean-Jaurès-Média’Pi study.
How can we ensure that the deaf and hard of hearing can properly follow political debates on television? For Noémie Churlet, this will involve a combination of quality subtitles and translation by sign language interpreters, as well as an option in LPC, a completed spoken French language, a code invented for better lip reading used by de many deaf and hard of hearing.
The actress keeps fond memories of the sequence that reconciled her with the televised political debates: the Macron-Le Pen duel between the two turns, in 2017. Thanks to the two pairs of performers (for the presenters and the candidates), effective subtitles and an LPC option, the actress has not lost a crumb of the face-to-face. “It was amazing, she rejoices. I really immersed myself in the debate and it allowed me to see the character of each of the people who spoke. Usually, I do not perceive which voice a person has, nor his manner of speaking, his character, the slightly prickly or argued side of the debate. But this time, thanks to sign language, I saw the expressions and character traits of each of the candidates. “
Despite the progress made since the onset of the health crisis, where presidential and ministerial speeches were systematically translated and captioned, Noémie Churlet has the bad impression that these efforts have been put on hold. But the director of Média’Pi remains optimistic. When asked what she would like to see on air by April 2022, she hopes the experience of the jump-off debate will be repeated.
And why not new, original and innovative forms of debate? “Everything is possible, she hopes. As for you [les entendants], you have to put into practice, exercise … Before, we passed the microphone between the guests, then things evolved. You have to see what can be put in place visually. It was done for hearing people, we can do it for us. “ Moreover, the actress dreams of working in concert with the media, or of creating partnerships with them on these questions. The call is launched.