Subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing (SDH) contain not only dialogue, but also the description of all the sounds necessary to understand the meaning of an audiovisual programme. In Poland SDH have been available since 1994 on two major channels of the public television TVP (accessible via teletext, page 777). SDH are also available on DVDs released by TVP. Recently other commercial distributors have joined in. Initially, TVP made only pre-recorded SDH (with inserted time-codes), which were broadcast automatically. Since 2003 TVP has been broadcasting semi-live subtitles for its two news programmes every day. Viewers with hearing impairments do not comprise a uniform group. There are those whose fi rst language is Polish Sign Language; those who lost hearing after having acquired Polish as their mother tongue; and those who are hard of hearing, mainly the aged. Each of these groups has different language competences and different expectations concerning SDH. Thus, preparing SDH that would satisfy the expectations of all the viewers seems to be an impossible task. It is up to researchers to answer why some hearing impaired viewers are not completely satisfi ed with SDH, or to what degree viewers are able to follow and comprehend the content of subtitled audiovisual materials. We, the practitioners, face other challenges. The fact that public broadcasters may soon be legally obliged to have all their programmes subtitled means not only an increase in the volume of subtitles produced, but also a greater variety of genres and the need to re-defi ne SDH standards.