The BBC has put on hold plans to remove the text elements of its Red Button service.
The announcement, just a day before the service was due to have started being phased out, followed a petition organised by the National Federation of the Blind of the UK was handed in to the BBC and Downing Street.
BBC director general Tony Hall promised to take another look at the proposal ahead of “a fresh decision” in the spring.
“The BBC has a number of financial pressures and challenges which mean we must think carefully about what we can afford to do,” said Matthew Postgage, chief technology and product officer. “We want to understand more about the possible impact the closure of this service would have, particularly on the elderly and people with disabilities. We will listen carefully and with an open mind to the views which have been expressed. And we will be talking to representative groups and gathering evidence from them.”
The issue illustrates the extent of the problems facing the BBC as its looks to reduce its expenditure amid increasing pressure on the Licence Fee. While many agree that the BBC needs to become smaller, everyone wants the bits they enjoy to remain.
