Push the red button

Five million homes in the UK now watch Freeview digital television, with set-top boxes being one of the most popular presents to give last Christmas. We thought it was time to take another look at the wide range of new products around to help you make the best choice when going digital. Freeview is the free-to-air terrestrial digital TV service which you receive through your normal rooftop aerial (no need for a satellite dish or cable service). It allows you to watch more than 40 television channels. For deaf and hard of hearing people, the main advantage of digital television is that it’s so easy to receive and record digital subtitles, when they are available.

Work it out

Barbara Green, a hearing aid user from Enfield, has faced many problems while trying to find work, including at her local Jobcentre Plus. She finds it difficult to hear in the busy office but has not been offered the option of having an appointment in a quieter room. There is an induction loop, but none of the staff can tell her whether it is switched on or not. "I've even been passed a phone and told to speak to the person on the other end!" says Barbara. Awareness is a big part of the problem.

He's got rhythm

Steve is being photographed next to a life-size statuette of a 1920s jazz musician in his South London front room. It looks like a collector's item; is it his? "No, it's my wife's," he says, "but I water it." Deaf comedian Steve Day has just been listening through headphones to his interview on Radio 4's "No Triumph, No Tragedy" programme. It was all about him. He finds it embarrassing listening to his own voice on radio, but "it's a half-hour advert for myself," he reasons.