BBC Radio 4 program In Touch: News for Blind People has an interview with Ed Vaizey, the UK Communications Minister. In it he talks about the voluntary approach to audio description quotas on television.
He has recently challenged the major broadcasters to voluntarily take up a 20% quota (which some of them are already doing). Vaizey has signalled that the new government is not interested in regulation, but prefers to work in 'partnerships' with industry and charities, such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). He points to his new e-accessibility forum as an example of how he believes access can be progressed through dialogue (Vaizey chairs the forum).
Head of Policy and Campaigns at RNIB, Steve Winyard agrees that a voluntary approach is working well, with several broadcasters already at the 20% level.
He also feels that more work needs to be done on getting people to use audio description, and that having 20% of programs audio described gives an incentive for blind and vision impaired people to go out and buy a set-top box. This interview coincides with the release of the new Goodmans Smart Talk set top box that features talking menus.
A podcast of the Radio 4 program can be found on the BBC website.
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