VGT is a language choice
VRT identifies Vlaamse Gebarentaal, abbreviated VGT, as the sign language used in Flanders. Its official access page emphasises that it has its own grammar and differs from Nederlandse Gebarentaal. A Dutch-language television service therefore should not lead a viewer to assume that its signed edition uses the sign language of the Netherlands.
Choose an edition marked with VGT when that is the language the viewer needs. A small interpreter image in an unrelated clip is not enough to identify the language. Preserve the VGT wording in the programme title or shared reference so another household member can locate the same edition.
Choose adult or children’s news deliberately
The official offering includes the main adult news and Karrewiet with VGT, with live, delayed and replay routes. These are separate editorial choices. A child news programme is designed around a different audience and should not be described as the adult bulletin with an interpreter added.
For a family, decide whether the goal is to follow the day’s adult bulletin or discuss a story in a child-oriented programme. Then find the dated signed edition. When a schedule is changed by another event, the programme’s own record is a better replay reference than a remembered channel time.
The live signed stream has a specific caption exception
VRT says optional captions are unavailable on the live signed 19:00 news stream for technical reasons, while the delayed Ketnet transmission or later VRT MAX viewing permits captions. This matters when a household wants both signing and text at once. Changing a device-wide caption setting cannot create a track that the particular live feed does not offer.
Plan around the required combination. If captions and VGT are both necessary, check the delayed or replay edition and its controls. If following live is the priority, understand the stated limitation before the bulletin begins. These are choices about an edition, rather than a general problem with the viewer’s television.
Do not judge timing as word-for-word duplication
VRT also explains that signing and Dutch captions may not align line for line because VGT has a different grammatical structure. Watch the whole interpreted idea before concluding that a slight difference in timing means the programme is faulty.
The service offers discovery through a VGT search and a profile preference that raises signed content in the catalogue. Use those to find the edition, then verify its date and available access features. The checked page supplies the distinctions; this guide does not claim a tested profile setting, universal replay duration or playback result.
Questions answered
Why are captions missing from VRT’s live signed 19:00 news feed?
VRT identifies a technical exception for that feed. Its delayed Ketnet or VRT MAX replay route can offer captions.
Is VGT the same as sign language from the Netherlands?
No. VRT explicitly distinguishes Flemish Sign Language from Nederlandse Gebarentaal.
Sources & further reading
Official references for the subjects discussed. Service terms and device software can change.