The Arts

Shakespeare WA has paired up with the Association for the Blind WA to bring A Comedy of Errors to blind and vision impaired theatre fans. A special session of the comedy will be held on 1 February with audio description to convey the visual elements of the performance.

Vision Australia will be providing audio description for the first time during the Sydney Festival this month. Three diverse events in late January will offer patrons who are blind and vision impaired the opportunity to listen to audio description delivered live, describing the visual elements of the performance.

If someone you know is blind, vision impaired, Deaf or hearing impaired, there are a number of accessible gifts that can help improve their access to and enjoyment of media this festive season.

A captioning services provider has won a Human Rights Award for its contribution to the inclusion of people with hearing loss. The Australian Human Rights Commission awarded The Captioning Studio in the business category.

Sydney siders will have the chance to see open captioned and audio described performances as part of the annual Sydney Festival, held from 7-29 January.

One of Australia’s most enduring theatre companies, Belvoir, has announced audio described and captioned performances for 2012.

GoTheatrical! Kids is a new project that aims to increase access to children’s theatre performances in Australia through captions.

The National Center for Accessible Media, the development division of WGBH in Boston USA, has developed a mobile system to enhance the experience for visitors to cultural institutions who are deaf, hearing impaired or speak languages other than English.

Arts Access Victoria has confirmed a three-year funding commitment by the City of Melbourne to support The Other Film Festival, Australia’s only disability film festival. City of Melbourne’s Arts and Culture Program has committed $45,000 per year to the festival for the next three years, a 12.5% increase over previous triennial funding for the festival.