World TV Day
Established in 1996 by the United Nations, 21 November marks World TV Day (WTVD). Every year, egta joins forces with industry partners to promote and celebrate the power of TV through a dedicated 30-sec TV spot. Each year, the WTVD spot focuses on one of the many strengths of the medium, from the trustworthiness of TV to the high levels of attention it commands.
TV publishers around the world support WTVD by localising the clip for their own market, often translating the spot into local languages. The clip is broadcast on TV and shared online in countries around the world. TV companies are encouraged to organise creative initiatives to celebrate the day and put the spotlight on the special topic of the year.
Find out more about World TV Day here.
Championing accessibility
At we strongly believe TV, content and advertising, should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their disability status and we are committed to working with industry partners to make TV more accessible.
For 2023, we wanted to walk the talk, by making World TV Day a call to action for greater accessibility, focusing on TV’s commitment to being an accessible medium, available to everyone, including those with vision or hearing loss.
The 2023 WTVD spot was reinvented to align with the focus on accessibility.
An accessible TV spot
The new TV clip for 2023 was crafted with accessibility in mind. Including integrated audio description for the blind and people with vision loss, open captions for the deaf and people with hearing loss, and on-screen representation of people with vision / hearing loss enjoying TV.
Sign language
With the support of Clearcast in the UK, we were able to produce an additional version of the clip with British Sign Language interpretation.
This example could then be used as inspiration for TV publishers in other countries, who also added their own local sign languages to the WTVD clip.
Localised around the world
The clip was localised for markets around Europe and beyond, with captions, voice over and sign language translated into local languages. On the 21 November, the clip was broadcast on linear TV and shared online in countries around the world.
Advertising and content
Many TV companies used the occasion as an opportunity to bring advertisers on board, creating entire accessible ad breaks around the clip with TV commercials that have access services like audio description or captions.
Some broadcasters even dedicated parts of their programming to accessibility, with news features and talk show segments dedicated to the topic.