Subtitle display and positioning

[Myke+B]

Is there any reason why the subtitles on Sky are so obtrusive and positioned so they pretty much always obscure the important parts of the screen?

Surely they can be positioned consistently at the bottom or top of the screen out of the main viewing area? Or even scale the picture so it's all displayed and the subtitles sit underneath the picture.

Kinda hard to believe that with all the technology in the Q system we're still looking at what looks like teletext.

Mike

[DaveAccess]

Hi @Myke+B 

Thanks for posting. The whole area of how subtitles look is certainly one of the more common topics on this board.
What I can say is that it is under investigation. Our colleagues are looking into how to ensure any improvements meet the wide range of needs for customers who use subtitles, while also meeting Sky’s regulatory obligations.
We don't have a timeline right now, but will update here when we have more info to share.

[Myke+B]

@DaveAccess Thanks for the reply. It does seem to have been dragging on for a long time unfortunately. Trying to watch Bake Off the other night was impossible. The titles were all over the screen which is distracting when you're trying to follow them and the main position seemed to be bang in the middle of the "Lower Third" area which is where most of the detail is in most shows of this type.

I've not seen any questionnaires or surveys made by your colleagues asking what deaf customers actually want, but if there are any I'd be more than happy to fill one in.

Mike

[mahcq]

Subtitles are of course hugely useful way beyond the deaf community. What's frustrating is that this should not require "investigation". Amazon and Netflix have way more options. Not all work well but the choice means it's quite difficult to not find the right option. 

[Pottlewell]

Yes I have the same query. Just put it on for my husband who is very hard of hearing. I couldn't believe it came up right across the middle of the screen. Its so distracting & I don't need it. Dreadful. 

[Nick+Tyrer]

How can SKY take this long to sort out subtitle positioning and font size. If you go to iPlayer, Netflix or any other streaming service the subtitles are at the bottom and the right size font. It just seems that the voice of people who use this service isn't loud enough! 

[Mark39]

@Nick+Tyrer have you contacted Sky about it, to make your voice heard?

[Shripad+S]

The subtitle are annoyingly disturbing & appearing on the  picture and disturb view. Sky is taking more than 18Months to sort out a simple problem.   

[Mrs+C+Lancs]

Had this ever been resolved.? 

[kpellam]

Why has this problem still not been resolved as its so annoying and surely can't be hard to solve !! 

Action needed quickly please ! 

[Mrs+C+Lancs]

The sub titles are great. They just done need to be stamped over the picture. 
My poor mother had to chose between watching the coronation or reading it. Mutually exclusive it seems. 

[Myke+B]

They're still all over the place as others have already mentioned. We don't actually use them now as we found that a set of bone-conductance earphones (the Shokz open-run) let wife hear the sound quite clearly. She has eardrum damage, but as the bone conduction tech effectively bypasses the eardrums she can now listen to tv/music etc with both ears and hear everything clearly.

[Kat70]

Who can we actually contact with regards to this. Over the last few months the position of the subtitles has been rising. They are now smack in the middle of the screen and obscure actors faces. 
it's simply not acceptable when other platforms have smaller text and no black background. 
It annoys me every time I'm watching TV now and I struggle to follow programs without subtitles. 

[kpellam]

Totally agree!  Sky just say they are working on it, but as you point out they have been working on it for a very very long time,! 
any ideas anyone??

[Nick+Tyrer]

I tried to speak with someone regarding this but they could/would not put me through to "technical" because they don't take customer calls. I replied that they don't do subtitles in the correct position or font size either but the person I was speaking to simply didn't get it!  I've thought of not paying my monthly subscription and leaving but that doesn't really serve my purpose 🤷🏻‍♂️.