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Latest News

September 2012
Date Published	News headline and description
12 September 2012	YouTube’s iPhone app includes closed captions Google has beaten Apple in the accessibility stakes by releasing its own YouTube app for the iPhone which includes a host of new features, including support for closed captions.
10 September 2012	Had technical issues at the cinema? Let us know and you could win a DVD Media Access Australia’s accessible cinema questionnaire is gathering feedback from moviegoers on technical issues for closed captions and audio description. By providing your answers you’ll not only be helping improve cinema access, but also go in the draw to win a new release DVD of a Hollywood blockbuster movie.
07 September 2012	Red Bee Media wins access contract with BBC Following a tender process, Red Bee Media has won a 7-year contract to provide access services for the BBC, including captioning, audio description and signing. Given the high levels access provided by the UK’s public broadcaster, Red Bee will play an important role globally.
06 September 2012	First Australian TV programs audio described tonight For the first time in Australian television history, locally produced programs will be broadcast with audio description. With Rake chronicling the adventurers of a scurrilous Sydney lawyer (played by Richard Roxburgh), and Lowdown set in the offices of a tabloid newspaper, viewers can look forward to some descriptions of very bad behaviour.
03 September 2012	Windows 8 introduces accessibility features for touchscreens Microsoft Windows 8 is set to be released on 26 October and has a number of enhanced assistive features to increase accessibility for blind and vision impaired users. Most significantly, these features have been adapted for touchscreen devices such as tablets.
03 September 2012	Captioning Awards 2012 nominations open Entries are now open for the 2012 Deafness Forum of Australia Captioning Awards which recognise the contributions and achievements made towards improving the quality, frequency and use of captions in Australia.

August 2012
Date Published	News headline and description
31 August 2012	Race against the clock: the challenges of captioning live sport Special feature: With the Paralympics gripping the nation’s attention, Media Access Australia’s Eliza Cussen takes a look at the work going on behind the scenes to let Deaf and hearing impaired Aussies in on the action.
31 August 2012	October accessibility course for web professionals open for registrations Registrations are filling up fast for our last intake for 2012 of The Professional Certificate in Web Accessibility, running 8 October – 16 November. With the first deadline of the Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy (NTS) at the end of the year, this six-week online course offers web professionals working for Government the chance to build their accessibility expertise in time to meet compliance.
27 August 2012	The literacy tool making a difference in Australian schools NSW Senator the Hon Ursula Stephens has called on all Australian teachers to become Captions Champions during National Literacy and Numeracy Week (27 August – 2 September) to boost literacy and inclusion for all students.
27 August 2012	Closed captions required for online TV in USA The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced a September 30 deadline for TV networks and online video providers to include closed captions on their content as required by the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA). The act makes it a legal responsibility of TV networks to provide closed captions on content streamed online if it has already been broadcast with closed captions on TV.
27 August 2012	Inaccessibility even faster: Facebook’s latest update Facebook's latest app update has improved the speed of the software but has failed to increase the app's accessibility, and made performing some tasks impossible for blind users.
24 August 2012	Paralympics audio described on UK TV The Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games will be audio described on British television after campaigning by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
23 August 2012	Delivering for consumers: the 2012 ACCAN National Conference The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) advocates to make Australia’s communications industry more equitable. Its National Conference explores how the rapidly changing communications environment is affecting consumers, including those with disabilities.
22 August 2012	Audiobook encourages blind and vision impaired seniors to get online In July, Media Access Australia, in partnership with Council on The Ageing Western Australia (COTA WA) and funded by the nib foundation, released a kit to assist seniors with disabilities participate online. This has now been provided as an audio book, catering specifically to the needs of those who are blind or vision impaired.
21 August 2012	Live captions made easy Providing professional live captions just got easier thanks to the launch of a new online portal by Ai-Media. The captioning provider hopes that this will ultimately lead to greater social inclusion for people who are Deaf or hearing impaired, particularly in education and the workplace.
20 August 2012	Captions in schools for Hearing Awareness Week This Hearing Awareness Week, Media Access Australia’s education campaign, cap that! is asking teachers to increase inclusion for Deaf and hearing impaired students by becoming Captions Champions.
16 August 2012	Event Cinemas add seven accessible locations Event Cinemas commences captioned and audio described movie sessions at seven new locations from today, bringing the national total of accessible cinemas to 55.
15 August 2012	YouTube now lets you correct automatic captions An intern has developed a way of editing captions within YouTube, drastically increasing the quality of auto-generated captions across the video sharing service.
15 August 2012	Accessible DVDs released in July After scouring the new release shelves, Media Access Australia can report that of the 82 titles researched, 59 were captioned and 22 audio described. This equates to 72 per cent with captions and 27 per cent with audio description, a decrease from May’s all-time high of 40 per cent.
10 August 2012	Exhibition celebrating blindness comes to the Melbourne Museum An exhibition that celebrates people living with blindness or low vision and their achievements is now on show at the Melbourne Museum. According to the museum website, the exhibition “shows how Australians with blindness or low vision participate in every aspect of community life - thanks to developments in education and training, technology, legislation and social change over the past 140 years”.