The Delhi High Court took on record the submission of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that it will finalize the accessibility guidelines on OTT platforms for people with hearing and visual impairments in the next three months. The Central Government’s lawyer told the court that the Ministry has released the draft of these guidelines on its website and has sought suggestions from the public and stakeholders.
Justice Sachin Dutta in Delhi High Court, while disposing of the petition on the basis of written assurance from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said that the Ministry has assured that the suggestions of the petitioners will be considered and the final guidelines will be issued within three months.
Disabled petitioners filed the application
This petition was filed by blind people in Delhi High Court. He had said that many recently released Bollywood films are being released on OTT platforms without disabled-friendly features, such as audio description, closed captions or sign language interpretation. In the last hearing, the court had directed the ministry to prepare guidelines as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016.
During the hearing in the Delhi High Court, the petitioner’s lawyer said that while preparing the draft guidelines, the ministry took opinion from the film and OTT industry, but did not consult the disabled people, whereas they are the most important stakeholders in the process.
Freedom to give feedback to petitioners
Delhi High Court gave freedom to the petitioners to give their feedback on the draft and said that if they have any objection, they can adopt legal route. The title of the draft prepared by the Central Government is ‘Guidelines for Accessibility of Content on OTT Platforms for Persons with Hearing and Visual Impairment’. Suggestions on this have been sought till October 22.
According to the guidelines, OTT platforms will have to include at least one feature such as closed open captions, audio description or Indian Sign Language in their new content within six months. However, these guidelines will not apply to live events, podcasts, music or advertisements.
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