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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.
A closeup image of a person typing a text message on an iPhone.

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.
teacher and two students in accessible classroom

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, 10 February 2012
     CNN sued for not captioning its online videos

    A judge in California has refused to dismiss a suit by the Greater Los Angeles Agency for Deafness (GLAD) against CNN for not captioning news clips on its website.

  • Tuesday, 7 February 2012
     New iPhone app could rival telephone relay services

    A yet-to-be-released iPhone app called Deaftel will let people who are Deaf, hearing or speech impaired make phone calls to hearing people without a third person acting as a relay operator. By providing a service where a person’s voice is converted to and sent as text, the Deaftel app will improve the ability for Deaf and hearing impaired users to communicate on iOS devices.

  • Monday, 6 February 2012
     UK discount airline faces legal action over inaccessible website

    The UK discount airline BMI Baby faces a legal case for its inaccessible website. The complaint was made this week by the Royal National Institute of Blind People, which claims the BMI Baby website is inaccessible for people who are blind or vision impaired.

  • 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.

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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