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A teenage boy and girl are smiling while watching a movie in a cinema.

Accessible cinema

More cinemas across Australia are using captions and audio description so that all their customers can get the most enjoyment out of going to the movies.

Find an accessible cinema near you.
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Digital technology

A guide to the mainstream technologies that are affordable and accessible, helping people with a disability access information when and where they choose. 

Visit this section to get the latest on the technologies making the most impact.
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Accessible education

It is vital that teachers who have students who are deaf or hearing impaired in their classrooms create an equitable educational environment through the use of accessibility practices.

Visit our teacher section for information on maintaining an accessible classroom

Latest News

  • Friday, 3 February 2012
     Latest accessible DVD releases – January 2012

    Each month, Media Access Australia conducts an audit of new release DVDs. Of the 73 DVD titles researched during January 2012, 34% feature audio description and 75% feature captioning.

  • Friday, 3 February 2012
     SKY New Zealand launches captions

    On 1 February, New Zealand’s main subscription TV provider, SKY Television, introduced closed captioning on 13 of its channels: Animal Planet, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, TCM, TV1, TV2, TV3, Cartoon Network, and Crime & Investigation.

  • Thursday, 2 February 2012
     Online video service brings treatment to children with disabilities

    A new initiative will mean that more children with hearing or vision impairment living in regional and remote Australia will be able to talk to a specialist right from their living rooms.

  • Tuesday, 31 January 2012
     Canadian access company modernises its brand

    Accessible Media, the not-for-profit organisation which operates The Accessible Channel, is rebranding all its media operations under the name AMI as part of a strategy of branching out into new media.

  • Monday, 30 January 2012
     American churches apply for caption exemptions

    Around 80 churches in the USA have filed new applications with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for an exemption from closed caption rules, following a change to the way the FCC treats these applications.

  • Saturday, 28 January 2012
     Phone support now offered for NVDA users

    NV Access, the organisation behind the NVDA screen reader, has announced it will provide phone support for its services. The NVDA screen reader is free, open source screen reader software for Windows computers. The software can be downloaded to a USB and used on multiple computers.

  • Wednesday, 25 January 2012
     American cinema formalises commitment to accessible movies

    After an informal announcement in August, American Multi-Cinema Inc (AMC) has officially committed to captioning in its complexes across the USA. Although audio description has not been a part of the announcement, the rollout will also include this feature.

View all news

Welcome to Media Access Australia

This website provides information on access to media using technology. It covers a wide range of practical information on access issues involving TV, DVDs, cinema-the-arts, the artsXXX, new media and education; and access technologies including captioning (primarily used by people who are Deaf and hearing impaired) and audio description (primarily used by people who are blind and vision impaired). You will also find information on rules and regulations affecting access, and levels of access on various types of media in Australia and the rest of the world. The key to our service is keeping people up-to-date with the world of accessible media.

Read more about us


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