The accessibility of online television in Spain: analysis of the programming of Antena 3 and Telecinco

Abstract

Access to information is a fundamental right that is particularly relevant in the case of television because of its origin as a public service and its role of social inclusion. Therefore, European and Spanish legislation provides that television content must include subtitles, audio description and sign language to be accessible. This argument also extends to online television in a society in which the Internet penetrates in all areas of life by changing the habits of communicative consumption. This article analyzes the accessibility of the online content, live and on demand, of the two most watched television channels in Spain -Antena 3 and Telecinco- and demonstrates the hypothesis that the levels of accessibility of online content are non-existent or very inferior to those of traditional television, preventing the access of people with a visual or hearing disability.