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:
“On competition days, Nine will deliver 14.5 hours of continuous live coverage with closed captions from 6.30pm until 9.00am the following morning on London Live,” said a Nine spokesperson. “Then from 9.00am to 11.00am each morning, you can see all the day’s highlights in London Gold, which will be replayed from 4.00pm-6.00pm every afternoon. London Gold will also be captioned.”
Kinect is a motion sensor device that is used with the video games console Xbox 360. The motion sensor allows users to interact with video games using their voice and body. As well as a video games console, Xbox 360 provides access to music, television shows, movies and Foxtel programs.
By using Foxtel’s service through Xbox 360 Kinect, users are able to pause, play, rewind and navigate menu items by speaking and using their hands to make gestures, providing those who are vision impaired with an alternative to using a remote control.
Amanda Heal, a FOXTEL subscriber, has been in negotiations with the company for two years after lodging a disability discrimination complaint against it with the Australian Human Rights Commission. So far, however, FOXTEL has failed to commit to the development of an accessible IQ box with audio features such as talking menus and program guides, or the introduction of audio description on its programs.
