Access on Demand: audio description on video on demand services

Transcript

26 April 2015

Roberta: Media Access Australia Project Manager, Chris Mikul, is here with us today to discuss a new Video on Demand report that they have just released. Welcome, Chris.

Chris: Hello, Roberta.

Roberta: Now, what's this report about?

Chris: Well, it's a report that looks at the level of access services that is caption and audio descriptions on Video on Demand or VOD services in Australia and comparing them to the situation overseas, mainly the US and the UK. So by VOD services I mean things like the catch-up services that the TV networks have on the internet, like the ABC iview, and also subscription services like Netflix and Stan and so on. So we thought it was the right time to do this because the media has been touting 2015 as a watershed year for VOD with the new services like Netflix starting here and everyone is going, "Well, this will be the beginning of the end for traditional TV and everyone will be watching TV online and so on," which is a bit of an exaggeration as most TV viewing is still people looking at a TV set but there's no doubt that viewer habits are changing.

Roberta: What are the levels of access on the VOD services?

Chris: I think you can say very, very patchy. So, for example, in the world of captions, although most TV programs in Australia and overseas, the US and the UK, are now captioned, only three of the five catch-up TV services here have captions and most of the subscription VOD services don't. The exception is Netflix which has pretty well one hundred percent captioning and we can thank strong access legislation in the US for that. Audio description unfortunately is way behind that. In fact, the only catch-up TV services that I could find that have AD in the world are for services in the UK, apart from the ABC trial, which I'll talk about in a sec. Again, Netflix is the odd one out as it just recently introduced audio description initially for a series called Daredevil which is about a blind superhero. So there was a lot of outcry in the US when they released that without audio description. So they've put that on audio description now and that's available on the Netflix site in Australia and they've promised to add some more audio description to other programs in the next few weeks. So that is a really fantastic development, I've got to say. I love Netflix. I don't usually get on the radio and promote multinational companies but I'm very excited about this.

Roberta: That's good. How does the trial of audio description iview fit in to all of this?

Chris: Well, it's interesting. Just in case listeners don't know, the trial began on 14 April and it's going for 15 months. It's a bit of an anomaly in that it's the first time that audio description has been created for a catch-up service other than for the TV broadcast. Look, admittedly, it's no substitute for what everyone wants and has been lobbying for for years now, which is the audio description service on TV. Two thirds of blind people don't have access to the internet, so the iview trial is not going to be much use to them, but at the same time video online is the way of the future and so I think it's an important step.

Roberta: So how can we get more audio description on VOD services?

Chris: Well, the first thing I would say is as many people as possible should get behind the ABC trial, the iview trial, and watch the audio described programs on it. The ABC will be recording all the numbers and reporting to the Government when the trial ends in 15 months. So we have to demonstrate that it's a service that people actually do want. Ultimately, you know, it's probably down to legislation as unfortunately most things to do with access are. So that's one of the recommendations of our report that the TV networks be given a chance to introduce AD on their catch-up services and if they don't the Government should step in and make them.

Roberta: Well, that's very good news. For information on Video on Demand accessibility you can call Media Access Australia on 02 9212 6242 or email info@mediaaccess.org.au. Thank you, Chris, for that good news.

Chris: Thank you, Roberta.

Roberta: Media Access Australia Project Manager was with us today, Chris Mikul, to discuss a new Video on Demand report that has just been released. You can also visit the website www.mediaaccess.org.au. Media Access Australia is a supporter of this program.

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