Deaf/hearing impaired Digital Technology & Online Media news

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US adopts rules to make electronic devices more accessible

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted a set of rules which will make a wide range of electronic devices more accessible for the Deaf or hearing impaired and blind or vision impaired.

The rules cover any device which is used to receive or play digital video, including televisions, set-top boxes, computers and smartphones. From now on, these will need to have on-screen text menus and program guides which are audibly accessible (i.e. the user can opt to hear them spoken), and a single button, key or icon to activate accessibility features such as closed captions.


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2013 Captioning Awards winners announced

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The annual Captioning Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in captioning. The winners in 2013 were announced on Friday in Sydney at a presentation dinner hosted by Deafness Forum of Australia and Foxtel.

The awards promote better quality, frequency and wider use of captions on television, in cinemas, DVDs, theatre, live events and in other situations such as public transport. Captions are such a benefit to the one in six Australians who are Deaf or have a hearing impairment or chronic disorder of the ear. Captions are an essential part of daily communications, entertainment and social needs, providing enjoyment and information about what is happening in the world around us. 


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Web awards encourage accessibility in Australia

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The annual Australian Web Industry Association’s (AWIA) Awards were held last night in Sydney. This was the culmination of a number of state finals held in the previous month. The Awards recognise achievement and innovation by web agencies over the last year.

Media Access Australia supports the Awards and is a sponsor of the Government category. Our project manager Dr Scott Hollier was one of team of experts who assessed the accessibility of each nominated website.

Accessibility, which in past years had its own award, was a strong theme through the ceremony, advocated passionately by AWIA Chairman Bret Treasure. He told the audience that accessibility was a key criterion for judging and that all of the chosen entries had to have some notable levels of accessibility to eligible.

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Lack of records hampers captioning complaint decision

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The broadcasting regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) was unable to make a judgement on a complaint about delayed captions on Da Vinci’s Demons on FX+2 due to a lack of records.

The complaint alleged that the captions were displaying considerably behind the dialogue on the +2 hours version of the program broadcast on 4 May 2013 on Foxtel. The investigation by the ACMA showed that although Foxtel was able to demonstrate that the original broadcast of the program two hours earlier was error-free and that it had no internal log of any problems on the plus 2 hours version, it did not have a copy of the program as transmitted and therefore could not show that there was no error.


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