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A teenage boy and girl are smiling while watching a movie in a cinema.

Accessible cinema

More cinemas across Australia are using captions and audio description so that all their customers can get the most enjoyment out of going to the movies.

Find an accessible cinema near you.
A closeup image of a person typing a text message on an iPhone.

Digital technology

A guide to the mainstream technologies that are affordable and accessible, helping people with a disability access information when and where they choose. 

Visit this section to get the latest on the technologies making the most impact.
teacher and two students in accessible classroom

Accessible education

It is vital that teachers who have students who are deaf or hearing impaired in their classrooms create an equitable educational environment through the use of accessibility practices.

Visit our teacher section for information on maintaining an accessible classroom

Latest News

  • Thursday, 17 May 2012
     Google maps app takes accessibility indoors

    An upgrade to the Google Maps app for Android smartphones has the potential to increase mobility for blind and vision impaired users through the introduction of navigation for indoor environments.  The app combines global positioning system (GPS) technology with voice-guided directions to help people find their way around indoor spaces. 

  • Wednesday, 16 May 2012
     Outcry as Irish TV reduces captioning

    TV Access, a coalition of organisations in the disability and ageing sector, has strongly condemned new Access Rules released by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) which will see reduced levels of captioning on television and no increase in the already low levels of sign language and audio description.

  • Tuesday, 15 May 2012
     Accessible Cinema Advisory Group’s latest communique

    The Accessible Cinema Advisory Group (ACAG) is a body convened by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs to oversee and advise on the implementation of captioning and audio description in Australian cinemas. The group has released a fourth report to the public from its meeting held in March.

  • Thursday, 10 May 2012
     Free screen reader released for BlackBerry smartphones

    The company behind the popular smartphone BlackBerry, Research in Motion, has released its first screen reader application for the BlackBerry operating system.

  • Thursday, 10 May 2012
     Exhibition celebrates the art of audio description

    An art gallery in Poland has shown an exhibition featuring only audio description of artworks. The exhibition is intended to reveal how visual art is made accessible for people who are blind or vision impaired and celebrate audio description as an art form in its own right.

  • Wednesday, 9 May 2012
     9 May marks the first Global Accessibility Awareness Day

    What started as a simple blog post calling for developers to raise awareness about the importance of creating accessible websites for people with a disability, has turned into the first ever Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). A community of web professionals has formed to take part in raising awareness of the importance of making the web usable for everyone, regardless of ability.

  • Tuesday, 8 May 2012
     More captioning on pay TV

    An agreement reached between the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) will see captioning levels on FOXTEL and AUSTAR increase over the next three years.

View all news

Welcome to Media Access Australia

This website provides information on access to media using technology. It covers a wide range of practical information on access issues involving TV, DVDs, cinema-the-arts, the artsXXX, new media and education; and access technologies including captioning (primarily used by people who are Deaf and hearing impaired) and audio description (primarily used by people who are blind and vision impaired). You will also find information on rules and regulations affecting access, and levels of access on various types of media in Australia and the rest of the world. The key to our service is keeping people up-to-date with the world of accessible media.

Read more about us


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