The Arts

Audio description (AD), which conveys the visual elements of the event, will be broadcast live on Radio Adelaide 101.5. The AD is being provided by Access2Arts, a newly established Adelaide-based company which specialises in audio description of live events.

Gaelle Mellis from Access2Arts said, "It is hugely exciting that the Adelaide Fringe is audio describing its iconic Fringe Parade. This opens up a highly visual event to many people who are often denied these experiences, and is demonstrating that arts and cultural events can be more accessible.”  

The Arts Access Australia survey is aimed at all arts and cultural venues regardless of whether they currently offer audio description. Taking between five and ten minutes to complete, the survey will gauge the level of audio description offered compared to other access services venues are providing.

A text alternative, or alt-text, is a line of text hidden within a website which conveys the meaning of an image. A person using assistive technology, such as a screen reader or braille device, can have the technology read out this description. Providing alt-text is essential for those wanting to make their websites accessible.

Running from 5 to 27 January, the Sydney Festival is being held around premier Sydney venues. Audio description will be provided for two performances at the Sydney Opera House including 2001: A Space Odyssey on 25 January and The Secret River on 26 January. Patrons can also take a tactile tour prior to the performance of Secret River. A separate tactile tour of the set and costumes for Semele Walk will be conducted on 15 January.

Open captions will be provided for two performances of The Secret River on 30 January and 8 February.

Audio description is normally provided for content that has a range of other aural elements, such as dialogue, sound effects and music, all of which play important roles in storytelling. The challenge presented by a silent film for audio describers is that apart from music, all elements of the movie must be described, as there is no dialogue or sound effects.

In keeping with the House’s recent captioning award for entertainment, cinema & the arts captioning, its commitment to providing accessible arts continues with the development of a new accessible video player and the top four FODI session videos captioned for everyone’s enjoyment.

Michael Small, formerly of the Australian Human Rights Commission, was a joint winner of the Minister’s Award for Excellence in Disability Reform. During his time at the commission, Small was instrumental in achieving significant improvements in access to television, cinema and DVDs through increased levels of captioning.

CaptionMatch gives the example of a man with a hearing impairment who wants to attend a lecture in a museum, but realises he will need real-time captioning to be able to follow it. He registers the job on CaptionMatch, and a local captioning company expresses interest in doing it, providing a rough costing. The man contacts the museum, which agrees to pay for the captioning. CaptionMatch requests that the caption provider pay a matching fee of $10, plus 8% of actual billing to cover their costs.

Ten new family-friendly short films have also made the cut, including award winners The Maker (Best Animation at Sydney Film Festival 2012) andThe Missing Key (Best Short Animated Film, Inside Film Awards). Another program favourite will be the Dr Seuss-style What a Debacle, Freddy Farkle narrated by Barry Humphries.

Supported by Vision Australia, Living in a Sensory World: Stories of People with Blindness and Low Vision gives visitors an understanding of the blindness and low vision community through personal stories, objects from Vision Australia’s heritage collection and examples of new technologies that are increasing the independence of thousands of Australians.