In the 1990s, as the founder of Canada Captions Inc, Milligan applied a corporate sponsorship model to captioning so that advertisers could sponsor the provision of captions and receive a “closed captions provided by…” credit for their efforts. This system is still in place in Canada and the USA and has helped Canada achieve 100 per cent captioning across TV networks.
Alex Varley, CEO of Media Access Australia, said “Bev has done outstanding work on practical access standards and boosting levels of accessible media in Canada, including being the primary driving force in the establishment of the Broadcasting Accessibility Fund last year.
“Her approach is the same as ours – grounded in real-world, practical solutions and collaboration with like-minded organisations around the world.”
Milligan has been the CEO of Media Access Canada since 2009. The organisation works to increase access to broadcast media for Canadians with disability, particularly through closed-captions and audio description.
The regulatory framework in Canada is stronger than that of Australia when it comes to broadcast access. The Broadcasting Act 1991 states that "programming accessible by disabled persons should be provided within the Canadian broadcasting system as resources become available for the purpose." Importantly, Canadian broadcasters will now need to introduce audio description for blind and vision impaired audiences as a condition of receiving a license.
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