Act of 30 September 1986 on freedom of communication: accessibility of television programmes and on-demand audiovisual media services for deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind and partially sighted people

Under Article 28 of the Act of 30 September 1986, an authorisation to use the radio frequencies for a new terrestrial service, other than those run by the national programme companies, depends on a convention concluded with Arcom.

The convention covers the substantial proportions of programmes made accessible to deaf or hard-of-hearing people by suitable means, in particular at peak hours, and for television services above the audience threshold the Act states the duty applies to all their programmes except advertisements, with the derogations the convention may provide for particular programmes.

The Act gave the services above the audience threshold at most five years after the publication of the Act of 11 February 2005 to extend the duty to all their programmes, and for local television services the convention may lighten the adaptation obligations. For digital terrestrial television services above the audience threshold, the convention also covers the proportions of programmes accessible to blind or partially sighted people by suitable means, in particular at peak hours.

Under Article 33-1, radio and television services that are not mere simultaneous retransmissions of certain services cannot be broadcast on networks that do not use frequencies assigned by Arcom until a convention defining their particular obligations has been concluded with Arcom.

Under Article 33-1, the convention covers the proportions of programmes made accessible to deaf or hard-of-hearing people, with the same extension to all programmes for television services above the audience threshold. Under Article 33-3, on-demand audiovisual media services conclude a convention with Arcom that determines the proportions of programmes accessible, by suitable means, to deaf or hard-of-hearing people and to blind or partially sighted people.

The contractual penalties in those conventions may not exceed the sanctions of 1° to 3° of Article 42-1. Every distributor of services makes available to the public, free of charge, the services for deaf or hard-of-hearing and blind or partially sighted people that go with the television programmes it offers, the technical provisions being at its charge.

Arcom sees to the accessibility of the programmes of television services and on-demand audiovisual media services for persons with disabilities, and makes sure that programmes accessible on the television service are also accessible when offered by a catch-up service.

Service publishers report to Arcom each year on the accessibility of their programmes and of the online services they publish, distributors report on the accessibility of the means of access to the services they distribute, and both draw up action plans for continuous improvement in line with Arcom's guidelines and recommendations.

Arcom's guidance states that private channels below the audience threshold carry subtitling obligations defined in their conventions, and that it has put French Sign Language interpretation obligations into the conventions of some publishers, mainly continuous news channels and channels for young audiences. Arcom's 2011 charter on subtitling quality is soft law, which most digital terrestrial channels have given contractual force by referring to it in their conventions.

Those reporting and action-plan duties bind service publishers and distributors without excepting the national programme companies. The service that Arcom publishes under Article 20-6 allows complaints about programme accessibility. Article 42 allows Arcom to put publishers and distributors of audiovisual communication services on formal notice to comply with the obligations the legislative and regulatory texts impose on them, and to publish the notice.

If the person on notice does not comply, Arcom may, according to the gravity of the breach, suspend the service for up to one month, reduce the duration of the authorisation or convention by up to a year, impose a pecuniary sanction, or withdraw the authorisation or terminate the convention, provided the breach rests on facts, or covers a period, distinct from those already the subject of a formal notice.

Article 42-2 caps the pecuniary sanction at a share of the turnover excluding tax achieved in the last closed financial year, with a higher share for a new violation of the same obligation. Article 56-1 requires all the television programmes of the national programme companies, except advertisements, to be adapted for deaf or hard-of-hearing people.