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Accessible cinema questionnaire results

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From June to December 2012, Media Access Australia ran a questionnaire for the general public on technology issues surrounding the use of closed captions and audio description in cinemas. The answers have now been collated and shared with members of the Accessible Cinema Advisory Group, as well as post-production houses creating captioned and audio described movies.

The questionnaire was designed to pinpoint technical issues that affect the quality of the access feature delivered that could possibly be fixed during the post-production phase of a movie. It was hoped that answers could also point towards issues around specific cinemas which could be addressed.

There were just 51 complete responses to the questionnaire. 41 were around captions and the remaining 10 for audio description. Due to the small number of responses, the results cannot adequately identify the post-production issues that may be present.


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Canadian counterpart honoured with Jubilee Medal

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The CEO of our sister organisation, Media Access Canada, Beverley Milligan has been awarded with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.  The medal recognises the enormous contribution Milligan has made to the lives of Canadians with sensory impairment.  Over 20 years, Milligan has been a pivotal force in making closed captions a guarantee on Canadian TV.

In the 1990s, as the founder of Canada Captions Inc, Milligan applied a corporate sponsorship model to captioning so that advertisers could sponsor the provision of captions and receive a “closed captions provided by…” credit for their efforts. This system is still in place in Canada and the USA and has helped Canada achieve 100 per cent captioning across TV networks.


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Older people with sight loss excluded online

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Research conducted by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and BT Group in the UK has highlighted the impact of older people being excluded online.

The study, Tackling Digital Exclusion,found that 87 per cent of older people who are blind or partially sighted have never used the internet.  Researchers attribute this to a perception amongst this group that blindness or low vision makes using computers and websites impossible.

Digital media and technology: 

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Fetch TV applies for caption exemptions

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Fetch TV, a subscription service which delivers its content over the internet, has applied to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for exemptions to caption requirements for 21 of its channels, and a caption target reduction for one additional channel.

Amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act passed last year introduced captioning requirements for subscription TV services.

Fetch TV has requested exemptions for the following 21 channels:


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