Blind and vision impaired

Study of Canadian TV access levels released

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Media Access Canada has just released a study of captions and audio description on Canadian television which found that broadcasters are fulfilling their captioning obligations but falling behind on audio description.

The study found that all ten broadcasters were meeting or exceeding the caption quotas set by the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission, although the quality of captions was variable. However, seven broadcasters were not meeting the requirement to provide 4 hours of audio described programs per week.

The study, which was carried out by Analysis and Research in Communications Inc., is the first to measure accessibility in Canadian Broadcasting since 1992.

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American disabilities association argues for sensible audio description regulations

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The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) has made a submission to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), making numerous recommendations about how audio description should be regulated when it is introduced as a compulsory service on television next year.

Under provisions of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 rules regarding mandatory levels of audio description will be reinstated on 8 October 2011, with required hours of described programming beginning in the first quarter of 2012.

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General

Television

International policy and legislation

Blind or vision impaired

Audio description

News

FCC, Federal Communications Commission

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World Blind Union releases audio description toolkit

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The World Blind Union (WBU) has released a comprehensive document which aims to increase the awareness and availability of audio description throughout the world.

The ‘World Blind Union Toolkit on providing, delivering and campaigning for audio description on television and film’ was developed with input from WBU members in many countries. It explains what audio description is, describes the technical methods used to deliver it on various media, and provides sample of audio description and real-life case studies of people who use it.

Taxonomy:

General

Television

Video

Blind or vision impaired

Audio description

News

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Call for set-top boxes to be replaced with new accessible models

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Vision Australia has called for the digital set-top boxes distributed to blind and vision impaired people in Mildura and regional South Australia to be replaced with newly-developed models which include feature such as talking menus.

These boxes did not exist when digital switchover took place in Mildura and regional South Australia in 2010, but prototypes are currently being trialled as part of the Digital Switchover Taskforce’s Household Assistance Scheme in regional Victoria.

Taxonomy:

General

Television

News

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