RNIB audio description app trial for video-on-demand services

Transcript

1 March 2015

Roberta: Media Access Australia Project Manager, Chris Mikul, joins us today to discuss an interesting new app to deliver audio description for programs on video-on-demand services which are being trialled in the UK. Welcome, Chris.

Chris: Hello, Roberta.

Roberta: This sounds very exciting.

Chris: I think it is. It's a very interesting development.

Roberta: So tell us about the audio description app.

Chris: Okay, it's an app that's been developed by an Italian company called Universal Multimedia Access and the trial is being organised by the Royal National Institute of Blind People or RNIB. It's basically an app that will allow you to listen to the audio description in your mobile phone or tablet as you are watching a TV program or a movie. It's actually similar in the concept to a captioning app that the same company released last year that allows Deaf people to go into a cinema that doesn't have any captioning and they can watch the captions for the movie on their phone and that seems to be working quite well from what I've heard so far.

Roberta: Well, you say that seems to be working quite well, Chris, but how does it work?

Chris: Okay, well, with the audio description one the trials are unfortunately only open to people in the UK but basically what they do is register with the RNIB that they want to take part. They'll then download the app onto their mobile device and that will give them access to the audio description files for eight movies and four TV series that are currently available on various video-on-demand services in the UK. So that's iTunes and Netflix and those sort of places. The way it works is theoretically very straightforward. The program or the movie starts. The microphone on your phone or whatever will pick up it soundtrack and then speech recognition software will kick in and synchronise the audio description with that soundtrack so that you hear all the bits of description in the right places. Now, I suppose the most interesting thing that will come out of this trial – and this is all very new, this is the first time anyone's actually tried to do this – is how well it does the synching of the audio description. So listeners who have actually hear audio description will know that it's a bit of a precise science. You have to have the audio description in exactly the right place. It can't overlap the dialogue because then you cease to be able to follow anything. So we'll see how it goes with that.

Roberta: So, Chris, would it work in Australia, do you think?

Chris: Well, in one sense, you know, if it's going to work there it's going to work everywhere. I can see that there's going to be a few sort of challenges for the system, though. For one thing, you will get slightly different versions of TV programs and movies around the world. So if you're watching, for example, a British TV program you might not see exactly the same version as they see in the UK. It might be edited a little bit. In that case if you're trying to use this app and it's a British audio description file it might sort of go out of synch. But having said that apparently the app gives you the chance to reset the audio description periodically, so it might work but it's early days. As I say, no one's tried this before, you know, and as with anything, you know, once it works it becomes a universal thing that can be put on all devices. It's been really exciting.

Roberta: It is and with the technology we've got I guess we shouldn't be complacent about it but it stands to reason that it should work.

Chris: Yeah, well, exactly. Well, it will work eventually but they just need to put a bit of time and money it, I suppose.

Roberta: Now, could you give us an update on audio description in Australia?

Chris: Okay, well, just very briefly, the negotiations about getting the audio description on ABC TV are still ongoing, as they have been for, oh, it feels like years now.

Roberta: A couple of years now, yeah.

Chris: Yeah, but the good news is that the trial of audio description on the ABC iView service is still scheduled to start in April. So that will mean that people have access to audio description when they watch programs on iView on their iPhone or PC or whatever. Now, to me that's no compensation or no replacement for a service on TV but in itself that's an interesting thing that will give some access to people who have an iPhone or PC and, you know, again, it's good development and we'll see how it goes.

Roberta: Follow through that with that one. For more information on accessible TV and video you can visit the Media Access Australia website at www.mediaaccess.org.au or you can call 02 9212 6242. Thank you, Chris, for all of that today.

Chris: Thanks, Roberta.

Roberta: I've been speaking with Media Access Australia's Project Manager, Chris Mikul. You can also email, actually, info@mediaaccess.org.au for more information. Media Access Australia is a supporter of this program.

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