Channel Four Television

Programming

Channel 4 aims to commission programmes that show disabled people in all their diversity, across all genres and parts of the schedule, from Shameless to Big Brother. We encourage producers to employ disabled reporters, presenters and experts to talk about non-disability issues. We ask all producers to think about ways to include disabled people in the mix, whatever the subject matter or programme genre.

See our Guide to Improving On-Screen Diversity

Channel 4 programmes portray disabled people as they are - not always likeable, not always admirable, just human. This has helped us engage a broader audience, many of whom may feel they have no interest in the subject, in the issues raised by disability through distinctive, breakthrough programmes like Cutting Edge: Blind Young Things, The Doctor Who Hears Voices, The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off, Make Me Normal, The House of Obsessive Compulsives, Truly Madly Deeply, Comedy Lab: I'm Spazticus.

Training & Talent Development

We are investing more than £200,000 annually in genuine opportunities for disabled people to work in tv including:

a) Diversity Production Training Scheme offers six places for disabled people who want to work in one of the following genres: Factual, Comedy & Entertainment, Drama, Production Management or New Media. It's a one-year scheme for trainees who are based with our suppliers, salary costs shared 50:50 with the production companies providing on the job experience plus two days per month structured training provided by Think Bigger at Channel 4, National Film and Television School and other locations.

b) Channel 4 News: one year support for trainee working at ITN across C4 and More4 News programmes including websites.

c) New Shoots (2007) / The Shooting Party (2008): 12x30 documentary series transmitting April-June, opportunity for disabled directors and other crew.

See also our Guide to Improving Off-Screen Diversity which has been sent to our suppliers.

Access

Ofcom sets quotas for subtitling and sign language provision (for deaf and hard of hearing viewers) and audio description (for blind/partially-sighted viewers). We exceed Ofcom quotas for all services on Channel 4 and E4 and we also provide subtitles, in-vision signing and audio description on More4 and Film4. Read about signed and audio-described programmes here:

http://www.channel4.com/microsites/A/access/signed_programmes.html

(or you can go via www.channel4.com/access)