The Communications Authority is currently conducting a public consultation on the license renewal of three local free-to-air television stations to gather stakeholder feedback.

Earlier, we organized a “Local Television Program Accessibility Exchange Session” where we engaged in in-depth discussions and exchanges with our members on topics such as program theme selection, production, broadcast timing, and accessibility support. Members actively shared their experiences in watching television programs and put forward numerous concrete suggestions for enhancing information accessibility and diversity and inclusion.

We were also invited to express our views at the “Television and Online Public Consultation Session” organized by the Communications Authority on September 20. Management representatives from the three local free-to-air television stations—Hong Kong Television Entertainment Limited, Cable Broadband TV Limited, and Television Broadcasts Limited—were present to listen to stakeholder feedback.

We consolidated members’ feedback from the exchange session and presented multiple recommendations during the consultation meeting:
1. Introduce AI-generated captions for live broadcasts, breaking news, and informational programs to enhance information accessibility;
2. Increase the diversity and availability of sign language interpretation programs;
3. Improve the scheduling of health information programs;
4. Reinstate captions for children’s programs to facilitate spoken language learning for hearing-impaired children;
5. Drama content should avoid deliberately portraying negative stereotypes of persons with disabilities, and instead fulfill the social responsibility of community education and promoting diversity and inclusion;
6. Television programs should offer an extra-large subtitle setting to facilitate viewing for seniors and individuals with low vision;
7. Program production budgets should be increased to provide audio description tracks, enabling persons with visual impairments to enjoy television programs;
8. Program themes should promote diversity, such as featuring accessible outings and city tours to advance social inclusion.