By 2014, the tried and trusty Cebra Text editor used to facilitate teletext events was becoming incompatible with modern versions of Windows.
In response, Simon Rawles released his edit.tf (Edit Teletext Frames) Javascript teletext editor (initially named the Teletext40 Editor), which allowed any system with a web browser to make pages. All data was stored in the page’s URL, meaning the user could bookmark pages to revisit or share with others.
The first project to take advantage of edit.tf was Teletext40, an exclusively web-based teletext service that utilised another of Rawles’s tools to convert teletext pages to a browser-compatible viewer. Launched in 2014 to celebrate the medium’s 40th birthday, it ran for two years and featured art from numerous contributors including Raquel Meyers, Peter Kwan and visitors to workshops in St Helens, Wigan and Manchester.
Block Party London
The development of edit.tf enabled the facilitation of two teletext projects with Tate Britain, commissioned by Tate Collective: a teletext exhibit and accompanying workshop held at ‘Late at Tate’ on 5 June 2015.
Dan Farrimond’s From 1910 to 198X, shown in the Octagon, translated Tate collection artworks to teletext form, while the Teletext Block Party workshop encouraged visitors to experiment with the software or design pages with teletext worksheets. The general public was also invited to create pixel artworks of the pieces in Tate Britain’s Room 1910.
Block Party London also featured Peter Kwan and Alistair Buxton’s Raspberry Pi teletext software, seen in a ‘teletext time machine’ exhibit – a browsable teletext service rescued from the 1990s displayed on an era-specific CRT television.
Sources
- Den glemte tv-kunsten, Endre Ugelstad Aas, Klassekampen, 20 August 2025
- edit.tf development blog, archived from the original, rawles.net, Simon Rawles, accessed 15 March 2026
- Teletext40: 40 Years of Teletext, Dan Farrimond, danfarrimond.co.uk
- Teletext40 (2014), Raquel Meyers, raquelmeyers.com
- Transform, the third in this series of Late at Tate events (Press Release), tate.org.uk, 15 May 2015
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