TV terms

Video-on-demand (VOD) or streaming video services are seen as the new way of delivering content to people where they can choose how and when to view that content, rather than rely on time-limited broadcast schedules. In Australia, services such as Netflix, ABC iview, Foxtel on Demand, Presto and Stan have gained lots of publicity and secured new customers quite rapidly.

Dr Katie Ellis, senior research fellow in the Department of Internet Studies at Curtin University, is calling for a new policy on audio description to be introduced in Australia to bring it in line with captioning.

The trial of audio description on the ABC’s iview service is about to enter its third month, with feedback from viewers on the choice of programs and quality of the description being very positive.

The UK communications regulator Ofcom has released the third of four planned reports on the quality of live captioning on television.