Audio description is offered on almost half of DVDs released in Australia and in some cinemas and theatres. Many countries, including the UK, New Zealand and Canada, broadcast several hours of audio described television each week. The trial is Australia’s first step towards catching up.
Lauren Henley, of Blind Citizens Australia, gathered with friends to share the historic moment and watch the David Attenborough documentary Nature’s Great Events.
“When I heard that the first television program to be described would be a documentary, I thought this was a strange choice since they more or less narrate the whole thing anyway. It wasn’t until accessing it with audio description though, that I realised just how much I would have missed out on had the description not been there,” said Lauren.
“The description provided detailed information about the landscape, colours and animals that were being portrayed on-screen. I was also informed when scene changes occurred, and I found that the description served to enrich my viewing experience by giving me a true sense of the events that were unfolding in front of me.”
Scott Hollier, Media Access Australia’s Western Australia Manager, was also impressed. “To be honest I was surprised that it worked so well given that the trial is partly designed to address technical issues: the quality of the voice was perfect, the volume was perfectly aligned with the general volume of the show, and the AD itself was well produced,” said Scott.
“While AD has been around in cinema, DVD and the arts for some time, there’s something different about having it on TV. I think it’s the fact that there’s no need to do something ‘special’ to make it happen; once the TV is set up, you just sit on the couch, turn on the TV and it’s there.”
After the trial, the ABC will report back to the Federal Government on the viability of broadcasting audio description on Australian TV. The government will then decide whether AD, like captioning, will become a mandatory.
The audio description trial will run for the next 13 weeks on ABC1. The schedule of described programs includes British content, with Australian shows being added in the coming weeks. Instructions on how to turn on audio description (.DOC 2.7MB) have been released by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.
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