For the first time, subscription television caption quotas will be included, and the regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, will be equipped to introduce properly defined quality standards. Free-to-air television channels will also have additional captioning quotas.
The Review examined policy and regulatory frameworks that apply to ‘converged media’, media that is a combination of diverse communications platforms, for example, television content that is now available online.
On release of the Background Paper last year, The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy, said “Media and communications industries affect the lives of every Australian, and the Convergence Review will have important outcomes for our society.”
The technology will provide a high-definition video link to Department of Human Services (DHS) service centres via the high-speed internet currently being rolled out nationally. Although not specifically mentioned in the announcement, people with a disability are one section of the community who stand to benefit most from the service.
The FAQs released this week confirm that the trial, which will consist of 14 hours of prime time programs being audio described for thirteen weeks, will commence in August. The intention is for the trial to be made available nationally, and the ABC is expected to report on it by late 2012.
