Editing Ceefax (section)

{{Short description|Teletext information service operated by the BBC}}
{{distinguish|Ceephax}}
{{For|the album by Fridge|Ceefax (album)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox television
| image       = BBC Ceefax logo.svg
| caption     = ''Pages from Ceefax'' title card
| alt_name    =
| genre       = 
| country     = United Kingdom
| language    = English
| runtime     = 
| company     = [[BBC]]
| network     = {{plainlist|
* [[BBC]] [[Analog television|analogue]] (via "Text" button)
* [[BBC One]] (1980–1997)
* [[BBC Two]] (1980–2012)
}}
| first_aired = {{Start date|1974|09|23|df=yes}}
| last_aired  = {{End date|2012|10|23|df=yes}}
| related     = [[ORACLE (teletext)|Oracle]] (1978–1992)<br />[[Teletext Ltd.]] (1993–2010) 
}}
{{BBC sidebar}}
'''Ceefax''' ({{IPAc-en|'|s|i:|f|ae|k|s}}) was the world's first [[teletext]] information service and a forerunner to the current [[BBC Red Button]] service. Ceefax was started by the [[BBC]] in 1974 and ended, after 38 years of broadcasting, at 23:32:19 BST (11:32 PM BST) on 23 October 2012, in line with the [[digital switchover]] completion in [[Northern Ireland]].<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Pete Clifton]] Points of View 9 November 2008</ref><ref name="Test Cards and Ceefax">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/testcards_ceefax.shtml?chapter=9 Test Cards and Ceefax] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823163107/http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/testcards_ceefax.shtml?chapter=9 |date=23 August 2018 }} BBC Archive</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17745100 |title=Ceefax: A love letter |publisher=BBC |date=18 April 2012 |access-date=25 May 2012}}</ref>

To receive a desired page of text on a teletext-capable receiver, the user entered a three-digit page number on the device. The selected page was displayed on the user's screen as it was transmitted, requiring a wait of several seconds. There were many pages to choose from, and they could be displayed either on a black background or superimposed over the broadcast programme picture. This latter feature made it technically possible for the first time for British broadcasters to transmit [[Subtitle (captioning)|subtitles]] that could be turned on or off by the viewer, rather than as part of the broadcast image.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Teletext Museum|url=http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/timeline/early-ceefax-subtitling.shtml|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-24|website=teletext.mb21.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010803155930/http://teletext.mb21.co.uk:80/timeline/early-ceefax-subtitling.shtml |archive-date=3 August 2001 }}</ref>