Human Rights Commission: "KBS Election Vote Counting Broadcast Must Provide 'Sign Language Interpretation' for the Hearing Impaired"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has ruled that terrestrial broadcasters' failure to provide sign language interpretation for the hearing impaired during election vote-counting broadcasts constitutes discrimination against persons with disabilities.

On the 21st, the Human Rights Commission recommended that the president of the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) provide sign language interpretation so that hearing-impaired individuals can equally watch the election vote-counting broadcasts.

The disability rights organization "People Breaking Down the Walls of Disability" filed a complaint stating that during the vote-counting broadcasts of the 21st National Assembly election held on April 15 last year, the three terrestrial broadcasters did not provide sign language interpretation services, making it impossible for hearing-impaired viewers to understand parts of the broadcast conducted in spoken language, such as election explanations and expert panel discussions, beyond just the vote counts. They argued that sign language interpretation should be provided during election vote-counting broadcasts.

During the Human Rights Commission's investigation, MBC and SBS promised and implemented sign language interpretation services during the local and by-elections on April 7 this year. The Commission dismissed complaints against these broadcasters, considering that no separate remedial measures were necessary.

On the other hand, KBS claimed that it broadcasts closed captions for the hearing impaired during election vote-counting broadcasts and includes detailed information in the lower captions to ensure that all viewers, including the hearing impaired, can understand the election situation without difficulty, thus arguing that separate sign language interpretation services are unnecessary. KBS also responded to the Commission that providing sign language interpretation could impose constraints on graphic composition and that sign language interpretation services are provided during the news segment between the first and second parts of the vote-counting broadcast.

The Human Rights Commission’s Disability Discrimination Remedy Committee acknowledged that although KBS provides closed captions for the hearing impaired, just as non-disabled viewers sometimes cannot fully understand content through captions alone within a limited time, hearing-impaired viewers may also not fully comprehend the content through captions alone. Furthermore, the committee judged that the inconvenience experienced by non-disabled viewers due to part of the screen being obscured by the sign language interpretation window is incomparable to the inconvenience and deprivation experienced by hearing-impaired viewers who cannot understand the vote-counting broadcast at all.

Additionally, the committee noted that election broadcasts provide comprehensive information such as political commentators and experts predicting election results and forecasting or evaluating changes, and without sign language interpretation, hearing-impaired viewers cannot access this information at all.

The Human Rights Commission stated, "Voters’ desire to know the results of their exercise of suffrage through election vote-counting broadcasts is a right continuous with their suffrage rights. Since election results have a profound impact on citizens’ lives, election vote-counting broadcasts are critical and priority programs in terms of guaranteeing the public’s right to know, and this cannot be an exception for hearing-impaired individuals who use sign language as their first language."