Audio description on Australian TV: ABC iview trial, who's involved and what's next

Transcript

28 September 2014

Roberta: The Minister for Communication, Malcolm Turnbull, has quietly announced that there is no planned audio description service for the ABC, but a trial for audio description will commence on the ABC’s catch up service, iview, in April 2015. Media Access Australia CEO Alex Varley is here to tell us more. Welcome Alex.

Alex: Thank you Roberta.

Roberta: Now what is the service that has just been announced?

Alex: Okay, the service, as you said, is actually on the iview platform and it’s actually very similar in scope to the original trial that was held on the main ABC. So that’s 14 hours a week, in this case it will be open audio description and it will be a catch up service and it will have a mix of programming like last time. So some Australian programming, some overseas programming.

Roberta: So Alex, why do we need another trial?

Alex: Well I suppose on one level you could say that it’s on a completely different platform, that is an online service, a catch up service. And so an audio description service online has never been delivered in Australia before like this. So they’re saying well with all the different devices that could access it, like either a laptop or via various mobile devices, they’re not sure exactly how it’s going to work so they want to test that.

Roberta: Will blind and vision impaired people be involved in the planning and preparations for this trial?

Alex: Well yes, the minister, when he contacted ourselves and also Blind Citizens Australia and Vision Australia and some other blind organisations, said that he wanted the ABC to fully involve people in both the planning, so what’s actually on there, and also the delivery of the service, because I guess the issue for blind people accessing something that’s on the iview platform is to make sure that they can actually access it, that it’s fully accessible to screen readers and other devices and systems that blind people might use. So the plan is for people to be involved from the whole planning stage onwards and hopefully deliver a decent service.

Roberta: Is this an adequate substitute for a full audio description service on ABC television?

Alex: Well clearly not. The, and this is something that the blind organisations picked up on straight away and said look, you know, we’re happy that you’re putting an iview service on, that’s a good thing in its own right. But things to remember about the iview service is firstly it’s a catch-up service, so you are going to be watching it two or three days after it’s broadcast and it’s only going to be around for a couple of weeks after broadcasting, so it’s not a permanent thing. And of course you’re not watching it with friends and family. And the fact that it’s online means that will people who have problems getting online, either they may not have a computer or they might live in an area where the internet connections aren’t very good and that’s obviously an issue if you’re trying to stream what’s actually video material. And of course the other big problem is that that’s quite a big data usage issue for people as well, because television programs use up lots of data. And again, if you’re trying to access it via a mobile device or something where you’ve got a limited data plan, that’s actually going to cost you money. So it’s not really a substitute for a proper television service and I think the blind organisations are making that really, really clear to the minister.

Roberta: So what is happening next with the campaign for audio description on TV in Australia?

Alex: Well as you can imagine, a lot of people are seeing this attempt to placate people by providing an iview service as really just saying well there ain’t going to be anything else, so in fact the reaction from the blind organisations has been very good and what they’re doing is they’re now ramping up their campaign to get more audio description and what they’re actually saying is they want it across the board on all television stations, not just the ABC. So there’s a campaign that’s being rolled out now and what you will see on the audiodescription.com.au website is some changes in the next week or two which will sort of outline that. But really there’s going to be some national targeting of all television stations to really make the government realise that this is a serious issue and it’s about time Australia got this.

Roberta: For further information on audio description you can call Media Access Australia on 02 9212 6242 or e-mail info@mediaaccess.org.au. Or as Alex just said, audiodescription.com.au. Thank you for all of that Alex, I hope that this will really take it forward now. And thank you also for allowing me to catch you with this very important news as you travel through the Adelaide airport.

Alex: Thank you very much Roberta, great to talk to you again.

Roberta: I’ve been speaking with Media Access Australia CEO Alex Varley. And Media Access Australia are supporters of this program.

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