Maputo — The Mozambican Association of People with Disabilities (FAMOD) has called for the mandatory inclusion of all sign languages in the new mass media laws currently under review in the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic (AR).

According to FAMOD chairperson Clodoaldo Castiano, speaking to reporters on Wednesday after participating in a hearing of the Parliamentary Committee on Social Affairs, Gender, Technologies and Social Communication (CASGTCS), audio description and subtitles must also be mandatory in the new media laws.

"What we see at the moment, in the versions we currently have of the new laws, is often selectivity. There is much mention of people with visual impairments, people with hearing impairments, but we do not see sign languages mentioned', he said.

According to Castiano, mandatory transmission or encoding in sign language should not be limited to the publicly-owned television station, TVM, but should also be included in private television channels.

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"Accessibility is a general duty, a general obligation for all media bodies. The law should encompass all types of mass media in the country', he said.

According to FAMOD, the future Regulatory Authority for Social Communication, foreseen in the legislative package, should include among its responsibilities the effective and regular verification of the implementation of accessible versions in sign languages.

"It is important that this entity also assumes the obligation to oversee compliance with these accessibility standards. There is a need to ensure consistency in the application of the standards, taking into account the specificities and differentiated capabilities of the media', he said.

"The provisions on accessibility should be binding', he added.