{"id":"AIBD-1150","title":"Ofcom finds that UK live TV subtitles, made by respeakers with speech recognition and by stenographers, were generally accurate but arrived late","summary":"In Ofcom's sampling of live subtitles from late 2013, accuracy was generally good and above 98% for news, but the median delay of 5.6 seconds exceeded its 3-second guideline.","date_observed":"2014-04-30","date_basis":"source publication","date_precision":"day","benefit_status":"mixed","source_collection":null,"source_entry":null,"account":"Ofcom must guide UK broadcasters on serving viewers with hearing impairments. Live subtitles come from stenographers and from respeakers, who repeat what is said into speech recognition software. Ofcom selected samples of live subtitles on BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky from October and November 2013. The broadcasters measured them with the NER model, and reviewers from the University of Roehampton checked 66 ten-minute clips. On 30 April 2014 Ofcom reported that accuracy was generally good but variable and generally higher than 98% for news. The reviewers found that the average accuracy rate was 98.5%, with one fifth of programs below the threshold. The median delay was 5.6 seconds, against Ofcom's 3-second guideline, with spikes of up to 24 seconds. Respeakers' subtitles lagged more than stenographers'. Recognition errors, from the interaction of subtitlers with steno machines or speech recognition software, made up 37% of errors. The report gives no accuracy by technique and names no software. A later study by the lead reviewer reports that almost all captions in Ofcom's 2013-2015 study came from respeaking.","category":"aggregate result","unexpected":false,"purpose":"Unnamed developers built the speech recognition software that respeakers use to turn their repetition of live speech into subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.","system":"Live subtitling by respeakers using speech recognition software, alongside stenographers","model_version":null,"developer":"Not named (speech recognition software used by subtitling providers)","deployer":"BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky and their subtitling providers","location":"United Kingdom","domain":"Broadcasting / live subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers","segment":null,"benefit_type":"Improved Accessibility","work_activities":["4.A.3.b.6"],"taxonomy_note":null,"registry_ids":{},"ratings":[{"group":"personal","depth":2,"reason":"The reviewers found that accuracy averaged 98.5%, a considerable improvement on their 2012 analysis, but that long delays caused omissions and misreporting."}],"ai_role":{"status":"unassessed","statement":"Ofcom measured subtitles made by respeakers, who rely on speech recognition software, and by stenographers, without separating the two techniques. The reviewers attributed 37% of errors to recognition, through the subtitlers' interaction with steno machines or speech recognition software. The report names no software and does not show that it learns from data. A later study by the lead reviewer reports that almost all captions in Ofcom's study came from respeaking."},"evidence":[{"kind":"regulatory document","citation":"Ofcom. Measuring live subtitling quality: Results from the first sampling exercise. 30 April 2014, with an external review of the measurements by Pablo Romero-Fresco and Inma Pedregosa (University of Roehampton) in Annex 1. Archived copy of https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/45136/sampling-report.pdf. Section 1, para. 1.10.","title":"Measuring live subtitling quality: Results from the first sampling exercise","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20180424104217id_/https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/45136/sampling-report.pdf","date":"2014-04-30","written_by":"independent","quote":"In the first set of samples, accuracy was generally good, but rather variable. Accuracy rates by genre and broadcaster are shown in the graphs in section 2. Accuracy varied significantly by genre, and was generally higher for news than 98%."},{"kind":"regulatory document","citation":"Ofcom. Measuring live subtitling quality: Results from the first sampling exercise. 30 April 2014, with an external review of the measurements by Pablo Romero-Fresco and Inma Pedregosa (University of Roehampton) in Annex 1. Archived copy of https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/45136/sampling-report.pdf. 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Section 1, para. 1.11.","title":"Measuring live subtitling quality: Results from the first sampling exercise","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20180424104217id_/https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/45136/sampling-report.pdf","date":"2014-04-30","written_by":"independent","quote":"For all broadcasters, latency in the first set of samples was generally worse than the maximum recommended 3 seconds in Ofcom's guidelines. Typically, it was 75% more (the median latency was 5.6 seconds), with spikes of up to 24 seconds.","supports_benefit":false},{"kind":"regulatory document","citation":"Ofcom. Measuring live subtitling quality: Results from the first sampling exercise. 30 April 2014, with an external review of the measurements by Pablo Romero-Fresco and Inma Pedregosa (University of Roehampton) in Annex 1. Archived copy of https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/45136/sampling-report.pdf. 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